All five American riders are safely through to Show Jumping at the FEI World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, after passing the final horse inspection on Sunday morning.
The hard work and dedication of all of Team USA’s grooms was clearly evident - the five horses looked healthy, happy, and beautifully turned out, their coats gleaming in the bright morning sunshine.
The U.S. team are currently in silver medal position and has a strong chance of winning the USA a first team medal at a World Championships since they took gold in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 2002. Germany is currently in gold, but less than a show jump ahead of the U.S. Team Great Britain is in bronze - again, with less than the four penalties for a fence down behind America.
Tamie Smith, on a score of 24, is in bronze medal position individually with Alexandra and Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell’s 16-year-old German Sport Horse gelding Mai Baum (Loredano 2 x Ramiro), just behind Germany’s Michael Jung and DOKR, Klaus and Sabine Fischer, and Hilmer Meyer-Kulenkampfffischer's 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding FischerChipmunk FRH (Contendro I x Havanna) on a score of 18.8. Young British rider Yasmin Ingham and Janette Chinn and Sue Davies' 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding Banzai du Loir (Nouma D'auzay x Gerboise du Cochet) sit in third on a score of 23.2. Close behind is Boyd Martin in sixth with a score of 26.2 aboard Thomas and Tommie Turner’s 15-year-old Trakehner gelding Tsetserleg TSF (Windfall x Thabana).
Will Coleman is in 11th place going into Show Jumping with a score of 27.2 with the Off the Record Syndicate's 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Off The Record (VDL Arkansas x Drumogoland Bay). He is followed by Ariel Grald in 18th on a score of 32.5 with Annie Elridge’s 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Leamore Master Plan (Master IMP IHR x Ardragh Bash), and Lauren Nicholson in 19th with Jacqueline Mars’ 15-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding Vermiculus (Sazeram x Wake Me Gently) on a score of 32.7 - a slight adjustment to Saturday night’s placings, as Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy and Fallulah, the thirteen-year-old Westfalian mare (Fidertanz 2 x Devona, by Di Versace) owned by Amanda and Nicholas Boyle, Di Brunsden, Peter Cattel, and McCarthy, was originally given 11 penalties on the scoresheet for a broken frangible device, which was later removed, and means he is currently in 17th place.
The Show Jumping for the top 25 of the remaining 72 competitors starts at 2:30 p.m. Italian time. Four horses were withdrawn overnight - Japanese rider, Ryuzo Kitajima and Cekatinka JRA who were in 34th place, Danish rider Hanne Wind Raamsgard and his own 10-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding Amequ Torino who were in the 50th position on the leaderboard, Polish rider Jan Kiminski and Marcin Kaminski's 12-year-old Polish Sport Horse gelding, Jard who sat in 61st, and The Netherlands' Jordy Wilken and the 16-year-old KWPN gelding, Burry Spirit owned by J. Wilken who sat in 69th.
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What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
There is so much more to proper grooming than keeping your horse picture-perfect for the horse inspection. Good grooming practices are critical to proper horse management, no matter if you are planning for your next FEI appearance or your Starter level debut. To help you maximize your knowledge of grooming practices, we opened up the opportunity for USEA members to submit any questions they might have on our Instagram and Facebook stories. In this week's episode, Host Nicole Brown sits down with three of the highest-regarded grooms in this industry, Max Corcoran, Emma Ford, and Stephanie Simpson, and asks them all of your questions and more to help you perfect the art of grooming.