Buck and Absolute Liberty “Libby”
Most riders are lucky to have one really nice moving horse in a lifetime. Tiana showed today that she has two horses right now that can compete with anyone on the flat. Master Hill still can score much lower than the 49 that put them into the lead, but Tiana rode him with the same precision that impressed the Rolex judges so much. Our next generation of team riders is really putting on a show here at Jersey with top two spots in both the CCI3* and CIC3*.
CIC3* Dressage Results:
1. Tiana Coudray and Master Hill 49.0
2. Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda 50.4
3. Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice 52.9
4. Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere 53.3
5. Will Faudree and Pawlow 53.5
6. Ashley Adams and Vaunted 54.8
My apologies to Tiana for not catching her salute, I was distracted by conversation when her test started:
–Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda put together the top performance that we have come to expect from them and it’s hard to imagine them not finishing very close to that score depending on how tough the time is to make tomorrow.
—Pawlow, Cambalda, Here’s To You, and Andromaque had the best flying changes of the morning. Unfortunately for them, the CIC3* test only has two changes. After watching so many bobbled changes at Rolex, it’s nice to see that many of the young horses here look good with their changes.
–There are quite a few younger riders out there with one nice upper level horse. But I always take notice when someone has two nice upper level horses and such is the case with Lucia Strini. I have said before how much I like Oudo, her horse in the CIC3*, and Ideal Contini is a very nice horse that she rode in the CIC2* yesterday.
–Boyd’s new Fench horse Otis Barbotiere is improving every time out. They scored a 53.3 today, which was good enough for 4th and just over a rail out of the lead. This horse isn’t the fastest on the XC but Boyd is certainly one of the fastest riders so we will see how it shakes out tomorrow.
–One of the horses here, Our Questionnaire, ridden by Heather Gillette, competed at Rolex a few weeks ago. They retired at the 10th fence, which was soon enough to give them a chance to get back out and have a positive run this spring.
–Two of Phillip’s young horses looked really good today. William Penn gets nicer and nicer on the flat each time I see him. Mighty Nice has a ton of athleticism which was good enough to get him into third despite looking a bit unconfirmed at times.
–The CIC3* track looks quite tough and it is 2,000 meters shorter than the CCI3*, meaning that the combinations that they share with the CCI3* will come up much more quickly with less galloping time for the horses to get into a rhythm. I haven’t wheeled the course, but my guess is that time will be a big factor tomorrow.
That’s all for now. The CCI2* dressage is just starting. As I mentioned yesterday, keep an eye on these 2* results because there are numerous Pan Am hopefuls for both the US and Canada competing in the CCI2*. Go eventing.
