United States Eventing Association

Alyssa Phllips and Oskar Surge Ahead After Show Jumping in CCI4*-S at The Event at TerraNova

Myakka City, Fla.—March 29—Alyssa Phillips (USA) of Fort Worth, Texas, took the lead after show jumping Friday in the CCI4*-S division in The Event at TerraNova, presented by B&D Builders, featuring the Galati Yacht Sales CCI4*-S at TerraNova Equestrian Center. She deftly piloted Oskar (Coriando x Nicole), her 15-year-old Holsteiner gelding, who stood in second after Thursday’s dressage, across course designer Chris Barnard’s flowing four-star course.

Phillips also stands third in The Estates at TerraNova CCI3*-S with Cornelius Bo (Concours Complet x Charlotte), her 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding whose comical personality earned him the barn names “Corny” and “Corn Dog.”

The three top-ranked competitors in the CCI4*-S resembled a United Nations delegation, with riders representing the United States (Phillips), Canada (Karl Slezak), and New Zealand (Monica Spencer).

Phillips was thrilled with Oskar’s performance and called preparing him for the CCI4*-S “a work in progress because he is a bit stronger when the show jumping phase comes before cross-country. I've worked really hard on that this winter.”

She said the course was a difficult show jumping track but found that it rode extremely well. “There were spots when you had to wait a bit, but the time was also tight, so you needed to keep the energy throughout the course. At the same time, you needed to get there perfectly so the horse was able to cover the distances. It was a great track and it was really fun to ride around.”

Most riders found the first part of the course relatively clear sailing, but the lines and combinations in the middle posed serious questions. Several riders overreached by trying to finish within the time allowed of 80 seconds. From start to finish, the pace and striding were exacting. The consensus among riders was that the course was a very fair test and that it readied the horses for the cross-country phase on Saturday.

This was the first course Barnard has designed at TerraNova Equestrian Center. “I'm a big believer in the standard – making sure that everything's up to standard, the height, the width, everything,” he said. “Even though it's early in the season, it's still a four-star, so I like to make sure that it's big enough and wide enough. My philosophy is building courses that flow. I just try to have a course that's big enough, bold enough, and that encourages forward riding.”

Barnard characterized the time allowed as a tool that a course designer has to make the course a bit more difficult.

“If you make them be a little swift, then they can't take their time and get the perfect distance. They've got to bear that in mind,” he said. “So when the time is a little tight, the riders tend to rush a couple of bits and pieces and therefore, might make a little mistake or the horse gets a rail down. If the time allowed is a bit generous, then they can all take their time, and a lot of these riders are good enough to manipulate the whole course to have a clear round."

The Event at TerraNova, presented by B&D Builders, featuring the Galati Yacht Sales CCI4*-S at TerraNova Equestrian Center, concludes Saturday with the cross-country phase which begins at 11:32 a.m. EST.

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