United States Eventing Association

Dressage Day One

After a five hour delay in Atlanta, an eight hour flight, and a terrifying and confusing two and a half hour drive (on the wrong side of the road) my mom and I finally made it to Stamford. The town is absolutely adorable and we are staying in the coziest B&B right in the city. Unfortunately my flight delay meant I missed out on even getting to Burghley on Wednesday – I was so disappointed to miss the first horse inspection! I didn’t want to miss out on anything else Burghley had to offer, so we got up to head over early this morning and catch the first day of competition.

Great Britain native Oliver Townend was first to kick off the dressage at Burghley Horse Trials today. He rode Dromgurrihy Blue. He had a very accurate and pleasant test and finished with a score of 45.8 pushing him just out of the top ten for the day in 11th place.

Left: Oliver Townend and Dromgurrihy Blue

A large chunk of our day was spent exploring the grounds and getting the lay of the land. We enjoyed many of the shops and the members enclosure (a necessary Burghley splurge IMO). We, of course, made a point to be back in our seats to see the most recent Rolex Kentucky champion Michael Jung and his mare Fischerrocana FST. His test was nearly flawless, and his effortless, yet effective, equitation was drool worthy. I’m looking forward to his second ride tomorrow afternoon. My mom and I were also lucky enough to catch him walking the cross-country course today. Or, rather, hopping some fencing to get around the first water elemet because he forgot his wellies!

Left: Michael Jung and Fischerrocana FST

Following the lunch break, Lynn Symansky was the first American to take on the Dressage, riding an American OTTB, Donner. Making her way around the greenspace, Lynn and Donner began to recieve some cheering and applauding. To this, she quickly shushed her fans to keep Donner calm, cool, and collected. She rode a beautiful test and “the deer” didn’t show any unnecesary antics. They scored a personal best with a 47.7 setting Lynn in 14th place at the end of day one. I’m looking forward to watching his Thoroughbred make quick work of “Big Bad Burghely” on Saturday.

Left: Lynn Symansky on Donner

I also took some time today to explore Capt. Mark Phillips cross-country course. First, the land is absolutely gorgeous. Any direction you look is stunning. The first major element on the course, the Lion Bridge water complexes, comes up quickly as the fourth, fifth and sixth fences. We also made the treck to take a peek at the infamous Cottesmore leap at jump 13. Not only is the single effort of the ditch and wall mammoth, but five strides after there is a triple brush B element. These efforts are not for the faint of heart! Tomorrow I plan to explore the rest of the course and watch our other Americans Lainey Ashker and Collen Rutledge in the dressage phase.

At horse shows my boyfriend Kody always likes to look through the program and pick his favorite horse names. He usually picks the most clever ones. Today I think I found one of my all time favorites. His name was Mr. Chunky and he had a lovely test to score a 49.5 with rider Lucy Wiegersma (pictured below). Lucy also just had a baby only four months ago! It always amazes me to see how athletic the women of our sport are!

Also I should mention a personal hilarious moment from the day. I said there were three Americans competing this weekend. To this my Mom responded, “No there’s four. The three girls and Anthony Patch, but I’ve never heard of him!” I couldn't stop laughing because Anthony Patch, known as Al, is Lainey Ashker’s horse!

Dressage Day Two

Again on day two Mom and I were up at on the show grounds to get good seats for the first batch of riders. The very first rider Beanie Sturgis managed to keep her spunky gelding under control despite the chilly morning breeze. In her interview following the dressage she barely kept her reigns as Lebowski twisted and bopped around nearly unseating her on the way out of the main arena. “He’s 15 and he still bucks me off,” she said between laughs.

Left: Beanie Sturgis on Lebowski

The second rider of the day was the infamous Mark Todd riding Leonidas II. He had a predictably lovely ride scoring a 41.7 He seemed please with his test and added, “I don’t think this will be a dressage competition,” reminding the audience of the monster that is Burghley CCI4* cross-country tomorrow.

Left: Mark Todd on Leonidas II

Riding for Great Britian, Nana Dalton rode a beautiful grey “wonder horse” named Elite Syncopation. I give him this nickname because I found out today that this horse has had 5 different operations, including one for breaking his withers! Best of luck to both of them tomorrow.

U.S. crowd favorite Lainey Ashker was fifth to go in the Burghley dressage today on her own Anthony Patch. She may have looked very European with her top hat today, but she showed her American pride by sporting a stars and strips hair bow. Very fashionable and patriotic, Lainey! She had a very nice test, but unfortunately Al wanted to show off some tempi changes as he swapped more than once giving the judges some unwarranted movements. Otherwise, the test looked very fluid. She scored a 48.8. The announcer started her interview by saying, “OMG Lainey you’re here” – very appropriate. Absolutely can not wait to see #InternationalAl and our own native selfie queen on the cross country tomorrow.

Left: Lainey Ashker on Anthony Patch

Following the end of the lunch break the grandstands filled up quickly in anticipation of William Fox-Pitt riding Fernhill Pimms. Like always, WFP gave the crowd a very nice test racking up a lot of 8s. He unfortunately scored a 4 on one of his changes, but it made no matter as they announced he provisionally scored a 34.3. The crown burst into applause as the home turf favorite would them be seated in second place behind Michael Jung. Only a few moments later though, the announcer reported that the provisional score was incorrect and William actually had scored a 34.3 – tying the lead for first place. Naturally, the crowd went wild and now the pressure is on for both William and Michael to finish clear and fast tomorrow.

Left: William Fox Pitt on Fernhill Pimms

Our last American rider Colleen Rutledge rode her test in the afternoon. After her 11th place finish with this horse at Rolex Kentucky this spring, I was so excited to see her in the ring at Burghley. She had a lovely ride and became the highest placed US rider on a score of 46.6. She dazzled the judges off the bat earning a 9 on entry and her first halt! I can’t wait to see her off tomorrow!

Left: Colleen Rutledge on Covert Rights

Later in the afternoon Michael Jung rode his Olympic Gold winning mount La Biosthetique Sam FBW. Though lovely, he was scoring just over all a bit lower than on his mare yesterday – consistent 7s in the beginning. This gave Sam an uncharacteristic score of 39.2, which tied him for seventh place on this mount. Unphased, Michael claimed his test had a few bobbles, but that he was looking forward to the XC tomorrow.

Overall I think our American girls really put it all out there today. I think all three of them will have wonderful rides tomorrow – and best of luck to them!

Colleen Rutledge on Covert Rights; 46.5; 27th place

Lynn Symansky on Donner; 47.7; 33rd place

Lainey Ashker on Anthony Patch; 48.8; 35th place

My own personal stoy for today is that after I told someone that I was from Georgia, USA, they asked me if “it was actually illegal to eat fried chicken with a fork in Georgia.” #FingerLickingGood. Otherwise, today was downright cold (hats and gloves cold) so I’m hoping for a little more sunshine tomorrow!!