After sweeping the board at Pine Top earlier this Spring, Will Faudree made it a repeat performance at Southern Pines, taking home the top two spots in the Adequan Gold Cup USEA and PRO Tour Series Advanced Division. You can find all the final scores here.
Andromaque jumped a flawless clear round to retain the lead she’d held since the dressage phase, adding just 6.8 time penalties to it on the cross country the day before, and even though she may have sounded like she was making an effort over around the stadium course, grunting a little over the fences, she made it look easy! Will was full of praise, unsurprisingly! “Andromaque was amazing! I think she sounded a bit like Serena Williams over every jump but I know when she does that she’s just going higher and wider and I couldn’t be happier with her, it’s really exciting.” Especially so because Southern Pines is Will’s local event, he lives barely ten minutes down the road and as he said, it’s always nice for a local boy to deliver the goods!
Pawlow had just one rail down but that was good enough to keep him in second place, “I had one down but it was totally my fault. I thought the triple combination walked a little tight and so I over-rode a little too much and came down on his back to the vertical and he just tipped it behind, but I’m very happy with him, he jumped well.”
Susan Beebee’s Wolf was third in his second Advanced and they now head to the CIC*** at The Fork. Susan told me she’ll work on cleaning up his changes but otherwise she’s absolutely thrilled with him, that he was practically foot perfect but for one moment where he helped her out at the trakehner cross country and cooled out brilliantly. Again for her, Southern Pines is practically in her backyard, “Bobby, Will, Charlie, this is definitely my hometown now and I feel like I’ve got all my family around me”
Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive had one rail down but maintained their fourth place. Phillip had withdrawn Fernhill Eagle after dressage but was one of a couple who didn’t run cross country to jump after the competition was concluded – many thanks to the organisers for offering this, especially in such horrible conditions. (Fernhill Eagle jumped clear, Phillip told me he didn’t need the run cross country and will go to The Fork)
Leslie Chelstrom and Cecilia actually moved one place up the leaderboard with one down to finish 5th.
Jan Byyny and Inmidair also moved up a place to 6th with just a rail down
Daniel Clasing and Houston put in solid performances across all three phases this weekend to finish seventh after one rail down in the show-jumping
Erin Sylvester’s No Boundaries bounced around the course almost with disdain, clearing everything easily!
Will Coleman gave Donner an absolutely class ride, one of the nicest clear rounds all day, and he paid credit afterwards to the work Lynn Symansky has done bringing the horse to this level – great team effort! 
An expensive two rails dropped Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me from 5th to 10th but it was actually a very nice round and shouldn’t worry anybody unduly. The ground crew worked hard in between horses trying to maintain the integrity of the landings and take-offs as much as possible, but really it was just a horrible day altogether. I have a few more pictures and notes to come, but am running (always late, always rushing!) to catch a plane. Thoughts are with those driving through rain, snow and ice to get home with your horses – please be careful and safe. Thanks for visiting Eventing Nation. An enormous Eventing Nation Thank You to the volunteers and grooms this weekend, and to organisers, connections, riders, and to the horses – what dire and disgusting conditions but I saw smiling faces, kindness, determination and surely madness everywhere! Go away rain, snow and ice, and go Eventing!
