At lunchtime Tuesday, the US riders were gathered in a breezeway at Chattahoochee Hills. Mike Huber, the head selector, walked up, read the team selections and walked away. With that, dreams were fulfilled for some and crushed for others. Will, Stephen, and Holly left soon thereafter for the long trip home and everyone else will stay at Chattahoochee Hills training until the team leaves for Kentucky. We posted the selections a few minutes after the riders heard about the selections and the USEF sent out a formal press release Tuesday evening confirming the team. As fate would have it, I had to take a friend to the ER this afternoon so Tuesday night’s post is several hours late and we will have much more about the US team on Wednesday. Horses usually don’t wait for convenient times to injure people.
I had expected word about the selections to come a bit later on Tuesday, so I was merrily typing up my US team predictions when I heard the final selections. I guess we will never know what my final team predictions were, but the last time I made my predictions was July 9th, when I wrote: “Gun to my head right now: Woodburn, Ballynoecastle, Neville, Leyland on the team, Mandiba, Comet as individuals” so I obviously like the selections. Of course, I like some more than others.
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The team:
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos: Boyd told me that Remington is four points better in the dressage and Neville is four points faster on the XC, so he guessed Neville would be the pick if the selectors were particularly concerned about the WEG cross-country course. Boyd and Neville were 9th, 1st, and 4th at Rolex ’08, Fair Hill ’09, and Rolex ’10 respectively. Boyd has worked harder than anyone to improve himself as a rider and athlete over the past couple of years and it’s great to see those efforts really paying off.
Phillip and Woodburn: This was probably the easiest pick to make. Woodburn has never stopped with Phillip, the horse hasn’t been outside of the top 6 in his last 8 events, and Woodburn was second at Rolex ’10. The only question now is will Woodburn win his first CCI4* at the WEGs? If the cross-country time is hard to make, Woodburn will be one of the favorites.
Buck and Ballynoecastle RM: After “Reggie’s” stop in the show jumping at Richland, I would have predicted Bobby to make the team and Reggie to be named as an alternate. Obviously, the selectors saw things differently and either horse was a great option for the US. Reggie has never had a single cross-country jumping faults he was 11th at Burghley in 2009. Reggie also has a reputation for being a very sound horse.
Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan–By now, everyone knows the story with Kim and “Paddy”–great dressage, brilliant cross-country, terrible show jumping this spring, and one rail in their last two advanced events. Kim had as many or fewer rails than all but three short listed riders in her last two events combined and the feeling was that Kim and Katie have fixed the problem rather than covering it up. It’s Kim, it’s Kentucky, I like it.
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The individuals:
Becky Holder and Courageous Comet: Remember how I wrote that selecting individuals is different from selecting teams because you can pick riskier combinations with more upside? Comet has been to 9 CCI4*’s in his prolific career and he put together a great performance at Rolex earlier this year, placing 3rd. Seven of Comet’s 9 CCI4* have either involved a stop or more on XC or over 10 faults in the show jumping. However, the other two were when Comet placed 2nd and 3rd at Rolex, so Comet has a history of stepping up big in Kentucky and he certainly has the potential to medal at the WEGs.
Karen O’Connor and Mandiba: After placing 7th at Rolex ’10, they won the Rebecca Farms CIC3* and placed 3rd at Richland, but then picked up an unbelievable stop at the AECs. Like Comet, Mandiba’s cross-country scares me slightly, but I get the feeling that all the pieces are finally coming together for him and Karen is too good of a rider to leave off the team.
The alternates:
Allison Springer and Arthur: If you’re looking for a horse that would either medal at the WEGs or break your heart, Arthur is the horse for you. After clear rides at Rolex ’08 and ’09, Arthur was eliminated at Burghley ’09, stopped at the Blenheim CCI3* ’09, stopped at Rolex ’10, and had 20 time penalties at Luhmuhlen. The coffin that caused Arthur to stop at Rolex this yea is going to be on the WEG course, and even bigger and badder than it was at Rolex. That said, Arthur destroyed the rest of the short list in the dressage at the AECs and I expect that they would be in the top 5 at the WEGs going into the weekend.
Amy Tryon and Leyland: I can honestly say that the pain that Amy has competed through with her knee this year makes her the toughest rider I have ever seen. Layland has not competed in a four-star in 2010 because, along with several of Phillip’s and Buck’s horses, he was not required by the team to run at Rolex. Last year Leyland finished 13th at Rolex and then jumped around Burghley clear, making him one of the only US horses to jump around a XC course that might be as big and challenging as the WEGs. Leyland won the Advanced at Rbecca Farms but finished 8th at Richland and pulled two rails at the AECs, which gave him mixed momentum going into the final selections.
Phillip Dutton and TruLuck: It was just a question of which of Phillip’s horses would be named as an alternate and, with a 4th at Burghley last year, TruLuck is an excellent choice although the selectors really couldn’t go wrong. If Phillip didn’t have any horses left, we’d be sending him to the WEGs on a Llama and he’d get around within the time.
Boyd and Remington XXV: I can’t begin to describe how well Remington has developed under Boyd. If you had told me 3 years ago that “Remi” would be an alternate for the World Equestrian Games I would have thought you were completely insane. I’m glad that Neville made the team instead of Remi because Remi will have many more chances in the future.
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The long drive home:
Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua–Stephen is the kind of rider that all the other riders wanted to be on the team with them. I don’t think that I have heard more riders talk more positively about any other pair that Stephen and Joshua, and for good reason. Stephen has been part of the last two US gold medal winning Pan American teams in ’03 and ’07. In three Rolex tries (’06, ’08, and ’09), Joshua places 3rd, 4th, and 10th respectively. In the end, I think they just didn’t do quite as many events this year as they needed to force the selectors to pick them.
Will Faudree and Pawlow–Pawlow answered every challenge that was put in front of him throughout this entire process. I’m sorry that they had to leave Chattahoochee early, but this is undoubtedly a pair that will compete for the US in the very near future.
**Update: I just spoke with Will and he told me that Pawlow sustained a minor injury at the AECs and that Will withdrew Pawlow from the selection process Tuesday morning before the teams were announced. Pawlow is too nice of a horse and Will is too good of a horseman to take any chances. I had heard that Pawlow left Chattahoochee before the selections were announced, but I wanted to wait until I spoke with Will to mention it. A few weeks off and Pawlow should be back in action at a horse trials near you.
Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch–Like Pawlow, Last Monarch is a young superstar who has done everything within his power to make the team but the WEGs just came a year early. “Stewie” literally doesn’t have a stop on his record but the enthusiasm that makes him a cross-country superstar is a challenge to channel on the flat. Next year Stewie’s dressage will be 10 points lower and they’ll be begging him to compete for the US.
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I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the selectors to choose between so many fantastic candidates who have worked so hard to make the team. If it had been left up to me, I would have sent the WEG entry to the FEI with all 17 horses on it and let them figure things out. Go eventing.
