Millbrook Water Complex
Well, after two days of dressage here in Millbrook, we’ve finally moved on to the fun part…Cross Country! The top 18 riders in our huge 49 horse Advanced division are all within 10 points, so I expect that there will be a few changes in the ranks come this time tomorrow. I wheeled the course and it seemed a little bit tight on time, and there are also several pairs who are using this event as a prep for bigger events this fall, and therefore won’t be running for the clock. The division features many first time horses and first time riders, who will also be aiming for a safe, educational round tomorrow.
Jan Byyny blew them all out of the water on Syd Kent, who performed a lovely test to score a 27.5, sitting above Boyd and Trading Aces on a 29.1 and Lainey Ashker on Anthony Patch on a 30.9. While we can’t all be like Doug Payne and score a 15.2 in Preliminary dressage, there were many excellent tests today. You can find a lot of them courtesy of The Horse Pesterer, who was on site shooting dressage yesterday and today.
[Millbrook Dressage Final Report] [Live Scores]
The lower level divisions already completed their cross country today, and Preliminary, Intermediate, and Advanced go tomorrow. The footing is superb, thanks in part to the disgusting rain that we enjoyed yesterday, and the sun today to make it a bit less mucky. The course has been designed by Tremaine Cooper this year, and he’s made a few changes. The infamous water complex has had the island removed, and he has thrown in a few new obstacles in addition to the classic Millbrook fences. I did miss one fence (#13), but I got pictures of the rest of them, and I hope you enjoy!
The first combination comes after four lovely galloping fences to get you going. 5 ABC is a skinny brush chevron that is actually quite tall, one long-ish stride to the angled ditch, and four strides to a bigger-than-you-think-it-is table. There is a little bit of terrain in between the ditch and the table that could potentially make it awkward for a few combinations. I am personally hoping that my horse jumps so big over A that he can’t think about how scary the ditch is and leaps it before he realizes what’s happening!
8 AB looks scary but it’s actually quite nice. The first fence has a hill and a turn before it that helps you balance and set up, and the B portion looks like a corner but is really just an angled ramp. You also have the option of jumping the left hand side, but I think that the right hand side will ride better and is a totally fair question for this level.
The next really big question is the water jump. Not only is it completely surrounded by loads of spectators, but you come galloping around a turn and BAM there it is! You jump in over a fairly significant brush and head straight for quite a big corner in the middle of the water. Then you kick on to a nice oxer three strides later which I think will be good to roll right on to afterwards, especially as the jump after this is a huge corn-filled solid oxer downhill, you want to have that positive forward feeling.
After going down the hill for a few jumps, you come up behind the water complex to the other classic Millbrook question: the bounce banks. This year they are not preceded by jump first, so you really have to get the right balance coming towards the first bank. You want a good uphill feel, but with more power than you would usually expect, because it is quite a steep incline and the banks themselves are nothing to sneeze at. After those two, you curve right handed to….
A keyhole! Leader Jan Byyny provided for size scale. This jump is quite nice, and it’s four strides away from the bounce bank, so that gives the horses enough time to take a breath after their uphill climb. Then it’s on to a good galloping lane until one of Tremaine’s favorite jumps, and possibly my least favorite.
Angled skinny brush jump over a ditch. Le sigh. Hopefully it’s on such a straight uphill galloping lane that my horse will just look at the top part and only realize the ditch is there after he’s left the ground. That’s the plan, anyway.
Directly after the ditch and brush are these two skinny chevrons on a short one stride, leading up to the notorious downhill slip-n-slide. I tried to take a picture, but it really didn’t do it justice. It’s incredibly steep and I’m sure some first timers will start at a slow trot at the top! Bring your sticky spray!
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- 5 ABC
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- Millbrook Water Complex
