From Shannon:
Saturday at Galway was a fairly seamless day of FEI and T3D cross country. Talking to Katie and Christina, the women behind the flawless organization of the show, they were extremely happy with how the day turned out. As I said before, Robert Kellerhouse, the organizer, did an incredible job catering to the spectators. He had three oases out on course with different types of food, live bands, and beer and wine. The guests were still listening to the music long after the three star cross country had been over, and they were begging the artists to play one more song! Most people raved about the experience and it seemed too attract quite a few spectators.
The weather was gorgeous for a November day, but it was a little hot for the horses who had to run cross country, especially with the three star going so late in the afternoon. There were some tired horses coming through the finish. Ian stark designed fantastic courses that matched the difficulty of each level really well.
The day started off with the T3D with a coolness in the air that made our job in the vet box very easy. The leader after the endurance phase, Lindsey Weaver and Sintra, had a great trip around and her horse recovered very easily. Kelly Pugh and Tito, from Flying Tail Farms, reminded all of us why we love the thoroughbred horses in full format events. He breezed around steeple chase and came in after D with slightly elevated numbers, which came down in a few minutes. Sophie Hulme and Sportsfield Delight, also from FTF, had a wonderful trip around the course. The beauty of the T3D is that so many different types of horses can and complete the full format.
The one star cross country was also an overall success. Erin Kellerhouse and Roxabelle are the overnight leaders. But 7.5 point separate the top seven spots. Show jumping could prove to be a nail biter. I watched many rounds, but our own Kelly Pugh and Spot On had a round that was indeed that–spot on! They stand in 7th for now but have a good chance to put pressure on the top riders tomorrow.
There were some exciting rounds in the two star that caught some people’s eyes, not for the right reasons. For the most part the division was well represented by the riders. Lauren Billys’ and her Pan Am mount, Ballingowan Ginger, are standing in first going into show jumping. Another FTF rider, Zachary Brandt and Cavallino Cocktail, had an incredible round moving them up to 5th place.
Last to go was the three star, which was inspirational to watch. The trail blazer was James Alliston on Jumbo’s Jake, not only because he was assured to get around but also because he had three horses in the division. All three of his rides were impressive. Tivoli was his last ride of the day and was fantastic to watch. James is a brave soul to ride him. Hawley Bennett-Awad is back in action and had a very solid, almost easy looking, trip around the course. Buck was shortly after Hawley and, although Buck felt like the horse is still green at this level, he got better and better throughout the course. Michael Pollard, needless to say, has had a rough go of it this year but he had a clean trip around with a few time faults. It is a great way to put light on a very sad and unlucky year. As the three star grew nearer to the end, many people started to have problems. Three of the four riders at the end fell off including Hawley on 5 o’clock Somewhere. It sounded like he misjudged the ditch and wall going into the infield and Hawley came off. The most important thing is that Hawley and chunky are ok!
Tomorrow will be an exciting day of show jumping, starting with the training three day at 9:30. Setting our clocks back an hour will give us one more hour to rest up before having to prepare for the jog.
Good luck and go eventing!
