One Horse Eliminated, 34 Forward to CCI5* Competition at Defender Kentucky

Jennie Brannigan and Twilightslastgleam. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We started off Defender Kentucky week with a side of unfortunate drama this afternoon as the 35 CCI5* entries came forward to present to the Ground Jury, presided over by Christian Steiner (AUT) and joined by Anne-Mette Binder (DEN) and Peter Gray (CAN).

Late in the order came Jennie Brannigan with Tim and Nina Gardner’s Twilightsgleam, who was to start his sixth 5* competition this week. “Comic” (also known affectionately as “Grandpa”) was initially sent to the holding area to re-inspect, and after Jennie presented again the Ground Jury took a lengthy amount of time to come to a decision. Sadly, the decision was not to accept the 15-year-old Thoroughbred gelding forward to competition.

Jennie was, understandably, emotional about the situation, made somewhat more stressful earlier on when the announcer had a delay in letting her know that her first ride, FE Lifestyle, was accepted.

“I love this horse so much, and he already has given me so much,” Jennie told EN. “He doesn’t owe us a single thing, and really, wholeheartedly, if he is not quite right, we would never want to run him. We have struggled with his feet over the years, but I pride myself on being a good horseman, and so I am more embarrassed than anything. I’ve not sure I have ever been spun at a jog. The most important thing, though, is that there will ALWAYS be another horse show. There will NEVER be another Grandpa. The Gardners are such experienced owners and have always supported his every need to keep him happy and healthy. He is my heart horse, and I would never want him to run if he isn’t 100%, and I am the most emotional about that. We love him, and we will always put him first.”

Boyd Martin and Luke 140. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Beyond that, the rest of the inspection was without any drama (well, not if you ask Dyri, who was CLEARLY ready to show people exactly how athletic he is), and all remaining 34 horses were accepted and will move on to dressage starting tomorrow afternoon.

You can find ride times for dressage for both the 4* and 5* here. We’ll be back later on with Tilly Berendt’s (in?)famous Golden Chinch Awards, to be sure to check back!

Go Eventing.

EN’s coverage of Defender Kentucky is supported by Kentucky Performance Products. To learn more about Kentucky Performance Products’ science-backed nutritional support products, click here.

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