There was a leaderboard shift following cross-country in the CCI4*-L at the Bromont CCI on Saturday. Jennie Brannigan riding Nina Gardner’s homebred 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Twilightslastgleam (National Anthem x Royal child) moved into the top spot ahead of former leaders Liz Halliday-Sharp and The Monster Partnership's 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Cooley Moonshine (Cobra x Kilpatrick Duchess) after adding just 1.6 time penalties to their dressage score. Brannigan now sits in the lead going into the final phase tomorrow, show jumping, on a cumulative score of 34.2.
Speaking of the course and show management's decision to run the highest levels first because of the wet ground rather than as a feature over the lunch as usually done Brannigan said, "they obviously made the right call. Derek obviously knows what he is doing running the four-star divisions first. Derek is such a good course designer.”
In the CCI4*-S, wet footing certainly played a part in the day's results with 60% of the contestants not finishing their cross-country rounds. The new CCI4*-S leader going into jumping is Valerie Pride on her own 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding Favian (French Kiss x Risiko).
In the CCI3*-L Halliday-Sharp maintained her lead, however, she now leads aboard the Calmaria Partnership's 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse Mare Cooley HHS Calmaria (Cyrano x Chester Lass) following a double-clear cross-country round. Her former CCI3*-L leader Shanroe Cooley (Dallas x Shanroe Sapphire), the 7-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Ocala Horse Properties, now sits in fourth after adding 5.6 time penalties to their dressage score. Halliday-Sharp reflected that Cooley HHS Calmaria “was a beast who has really stepped up and suddenly become the horse I believed she was.”
While the wet ground did certainly play a part in every ride today, Halliday-Sharp shared positive comments about how hard everyone had worked to make the ground the best it could be for the horses and riders. “It is gorgeous, I will definitely be back. This is one I have been trying to come to for years, and years, and years!”
Halliday-Sharp also held onto her leading position in the CCI2*-L aboard Laurie Cameron's 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Miks Master C (Mighty Magic x Qui Lumba CBF), but with the addition of 0.4 time penalties, Halliday-Sharp now shares the lead position with Phillip Dutton who has the ride on Caroline Moran's 7-year-old Holsteiner gelding Denim (Denkin x Celia II). Both pairs sit tied for first on a score of 24.7.
Not one who seems to ever travel in the slow lane Halliday-Sharp heads to Luhmühlen right after Bromont for the last in a series of U.S. team selection trials that included Bromont. She also has her eye on taking four horses all the way to Rebecca Farm, another great destination event in Kalispell, Montana next month.
In the CCI2*-L U25 Bromont first-time attendees Ayden Schain and Dawn Barclay's 9-year-old Zangersheide gelding Fernhill Hole Shot (Entertainer x Coriander Z) remain in first place.
The final horse inspection takes place Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. followed by a challenging Sarah Roberts-designed show jumping course.
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This month we’re going to begin a three-part series on how to create positive riding experiences by making sure the words you say to yourself and the thoughts you think to yourself are positive. Referred to as self-talk, internal dialogue, or brain babble; the words you say to yourself can have a huge impact on your performance. In fact, your thoughts and voice are actually considered behaviors, and just like how positive physical behaviors (i.e. a balanced transition) can create success, your verbal behaviors can also accomplish the very same thing. So let's spend the next few months talking about how to talk to yourself!
Being spontaneous has paid off for Kevin Keane and Sportsfield Candy. “I bought him on a Wednesday and showed him on a Thursday,” Keane recalls about his first event with his Irish Sport Horse gelding, then 9 years old, at Plantation Field Horse Trials (Unionville, Pennsylvania) in September 2016. “I owned him for part of a day, and the next morning I showed up at a CCI and jogged him up for a two-star, and we went clean and clean and clean.”
THANK YOU to everyone who has already entered the USEF/USEA Recognized CDCTA Spring Horse Trials scheduled for Sunday, April 9 in Berryville, VA. We will continue to take late entries through Friday, March 24 using USEA’s Xentry system. If you still want to come compete, please enter! The late fee has been waived through Friday, March 24.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation announces the appointment of long-term US Equestrian employee Hallye Griffin as Director of FEI Sport. Griffin will assume the duties of former Director of FEI/High-Performance Sport, Graeme Thom, who has chosen to step away from his role to attend to personal matters.