United States Eventing Association

Yelm, Wash.—Sept. 13—Competition kicked off on Friday at Aspen Farms Horse Trials with over 300 horse and rider combinations taking to the dressage arenas for phase one of the three-day competition, One-hundred and thirty-nine pairs entered in 11 Area VII Championship divisions from Beginner Novice through Intermediate. To earn a qualifying placement, the pairs had to finish first through fifth place at a qualifying event.

In the Area VII Open Intermediate Championship, Tommy Greengard made a strong impression, claiming the overnight lead with That's M Z, owned by himself and Andrea Pfeiffer.

"'Z' is here off the back of his big Advanced win at the American Eventing Championships," shared Greengard. "He's here to stretch his legs and have a nice run before his fall season."

Greengard is also tied for second in the division aboard Balladeer Kilbrickens Lad, owned by Patricia Culleton.

"He won the three-star here back in June," Greengard said. "He continues to get stronger and offer more and more in the ring; we were thrilled with that today!"

Sophie Click and her gelding, Tarantino 54, are tied for second with Greengard on a score of 29.6.

"I'm super happy with him," Click said after her ride. "He has competed here at Aspen Farms a lot now, so he's really relaxed here now, which helped us today. I'm feeling really good, and I'm looking forward to cross-country tomorrow. I like the new direction [of the cross-country course]. I think that will be super exciting. I think there's hard questions, but overall it should ride really well."

Greengard also made his mark at the top of the Area VII Open Preliminary Championship, sitting in first with MBF Google on 26.0, and third with EL Porvenir Luigi. Reese Blinks and I'M Jaguar are second on 26.9.

"The young guns were also really good," said Greengard after his rides in the Preliminary division. "We couldn't be prouder, especially of 'Luigi.' He's quite a big horse, and he's learning to be more and more rideable in the dressage ring. Every show out he gets a little bit better. This is his first show back since the CCI2*-L at Rebecca Farm; it's nice to see the maturity. MBF Google did what he does best, which is flick his toes! He was fairly obedient, and we can never complain about that."

In the Area VII Open Training Championship, Jordan Linstedt and Liberty R, owned by Amy Itkin, took the overnight lead on 26.4. Holly Yoder and Irish Ellie are second on 28.6, and Karen O'Neal and Viva Las Vegas are third on.

"She was a dressage horse originally, and has always been very successful," shared Linstedt after dressage. "She loves her job. She was a beautiful dressage horse, but I think they thought in her early development that maybe she wanted to do more and to jump, and I could never take the jump out of her now she loves it so much! She's bold out on cross-country and show jumps beautifully, but the flat is definitely where she had a lot of training in the beginning, and it shows. She was lovely today; super consistent and very rhythmic with good balance. It was fun to be along for the ride!"

Linstedt is also well-placed in the Intermediate Championship, sitting in fifth with LS Cowboy Casanova, owned by Lovas Partners LLC, and seventh with LS Crown Royal. Thanks to their solid performance in the CCI3*-S at Aspen Farms this past spring, Linstedt and LS Crown Royal qualified to compete at Le Lion d'Angers in France, one of the most prestigious young horse championships in world.

In the Area VII Training Amateur Championship presented by Panattoni Development, Bryce Meeker claimed the overnight lead with her own Hanoverian/Thoroughbred gelding, Centerfield Varsity. Lorilee Hanson and Mosaïque are second, and Hanni Sreenan and Enchanted are third.

"The test went really well," Meeker shared after dressage. "We've had some breakthroughs in dressage recently, which has been very nice. He's been a lot more rideable, so it was fun. I bought him as an unbacked 3-year-old, and we've gone through this process together. It's been super fun to have this kind of success with him."

Alexis Hsue and Fantom, owned by Wendy Hsue, are first on the leaderboard in the Area VII Junior Training Championship, presented by Panattoni Development.

The Area VII Novice Championship divisions are proving to be highly competitive. Melissa Mohr and Ferrani took the overnight lead in the Novice Amateur Championship division with 22.2, less than one point ahead of Tracey Trewin and Barcelona in second place.

In the Junior Novice Championship, Emma Lee and Andiamo Baum scored 25 to secure the lead. In the Open Novice Championship, presented by Olive Equestrian and Caroline Pamukcu Eventing, Marc Grandia and Checkter Too, owned by Joanne Harris, scored 27.5 for the top spot, with Stephanie Goodman and Cinna, owned by Susan Goodman, in second with 28.6.

The Novice Championship divisions will be the first out of the APF Cross-Country Start Box on Saturday morning starting at 8:30 a.m. to take on the cross-country course designed by Morgan Rowsell.

The lowest score of the first day of competition was 20.6, earned by Mikaela Kuiper and Smitten. They lead the Area VII Open Beginner Novice Championship after dressage, nearly 10 points ahead of their nearest competitor. Joshua Lacy and Klearys Big Dreaming, owned by Katie Ann Blanchard, are second in the division.

The overnight leaders in Area VII Beginner Novice Amateur Championship, Susan Harrel and ODonnells Riverdancer, scored 22.2, and Izabella Fierner and Devotion WGF, overnight leaders in the Junior Beginner Novice Championship, scored 25.3, proving just how high the standard is to secure the lead in the lower level championship divisions.

Aspen Farms Horse Trials is also hosting 10 non-Championship divisions, which may represent pairs who did not qualify for Championships, or those new to their competition level.

In the Open Intermediate, Erin Grandia and her warmblood mare, Hyacinth, scored 31.4 to be first after dressage, and Rachel Brickman and Finally DG scored 31.6 for second.

In the Open Preliminary, Jen Moody and Kay-O, owned by Sarah Broussard, secured the overnight lead with a score of 30.2. Marc Grandia and Perluna, owned by Pamela Duffy-Trotter, are second with 32.1, and Dakota McGill and NSC Mettaphor, owned by Lesley McGill, are third with 32.9.

See the complete scores from all divisions online at ShowConnect, here.

Follow along with more show coverage on Aspen Farms Horse Trials Facebook Page, or follow us on Instagram @AspenFarmsHorseTrials.