United States Eventing Association

Adamstown, Md.—June 27—As each rider galloped through the challenging combinations on Andrew Heffernan’s course at the USEF Eventing Young Rider National Championships today, cheers rang out from their teammates.

And whether they crossed the finish line with a smile or thinking ahead about what they would work on at home, the team camaraderie and support was on full display throughout each of the championship divisions.

Read on to hear more from the cross-country leaders.

In the CCIU253*-S, overnight leaders Kelsey Seidel (Area V) and Chico’s Man VDF Z ran into trouble and added jumping penalties, opening the door for second-placed Sterling Pollard (Area III) and Tinto to move into the lead, adding just .4 time penalties. Riding her father, five-star rider Michael Pollard’s 7-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Bremen Plan x Pieke van de Achterhoek), Sterling was thrilled with her ride around her second three-star competition.

“I felt really good about it,” she said. “I was really happy with him. I mean, it's getting so much better every day, and I felt like that was one of our best tests so far. I think with me being in second place, it actually gave me a little grit and wanting to chase for first place, and so I really was happy with the fact that I was in second.”

“My plan was really to not necessarily make the time, but be as close as possible, and just have a good ride for him and do everything—make quick lines and know exactly where I'm going, looking to the next fence really fast, getting away from the fences—just trying to minimize wasting time and just trying to keep moving forward.”

Sterling, 16, also enjoys pure show jumping and is planning to head to the North American Youth Championships (Traverse City, Michigan) for that discipline on another horse.

Since she’s been jumping up to 1.40-meters, she’s confident heading into tomorrow with two rails in hand. She and her father have been training with John and Beezie Madden and thinks their system helps her with eventing.

“They're amazing; they're so helpful,” she said. “We really apply pretty much really everything that they tell us to jumping and cross-country. I'm feeling pretty good, because we do have two rails in hand, and he has done a 1.25-meter clear, so I'm not too worried, but you know, anything can happen on the last day.”

In the team competition, the combined team from Areas III and VI hold the lead on 131.50 ahead of the combined team from Areas III and V, who are on 181.40.

In the CCIYR2*-S, a new leader emerged when dressage winners Lauren Crabtree (Area VI) and Derroon Diamond added 4 time penalties. Eleanor Winter (Area I) and Mosstown Rebel stayed on their dressage score of 27.0 to land in the lead.

“He was perfect yesterday,” she said of her 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding of unrecorded breeding. “He's just such a big mover, so I've been working on kind of getting that under control. He used to be all over the place, but now we've reined it in a little bit, so we've seen huge improvement in that area. “Yesterday, I just went into the test with a calm state of mind. I gave him a pre-ride before, just to get some pre-dressage jitters out of the way, and I mean, he was perfect, he was focused, and he listened to all my aids, so I'm super proud.”

The gelding came to her about two years ago with some experience through Modified, but he’d been sitting in a field for a while. Winter had only done up to Training level, but they clicked and have learned together. She’s a student at the University of Kentucky and trains with Cathy Wieschhoff but is originally from Maine.

In her first Young Riders experience, Winter wanted to ride forward today. “I knew a lot of the combinations just required a big, confident ride, and so I tried my best to remember that and not think about finding a distance so much as just going forward,” she said. “He's a good horse, and he wants to jump, and he looks for the flags, but if I make a mistake, he does sometimes remember that. So, I just wanted to have a big, confident ride, and did just that. We had a couple wobbles around the course, but he really trusted me and listened when I really needed him to. That was great to feel.”

“No matter what happens tomorrow, I'm going to be proud of him, and how we came out of this weekend, and I'm just excited to get out there and jump some show jumps tomorrow,” she added.

In the team competition, the combined team from Areas VIII and IX moved into the lead on a score of 104.50.

In the CCIJ1*-S, Kennedy Langmo (Area III) and Knock Out, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Canabis Z AKZ x Upaleen) owned by Mike Dennis and Jennie Jarnstrom, maintained their lead with a double-clear cross-country round.

“He was super good,” she said. “He came out of the start box flying. We went over the first and second jump, and then he heard everyone cheering so much, and I could just feel him shoot forward, so then I had to bring him back a little bit, coming to fence 4, the first combination, and then basically we kept flying around there and balancing before the hills. I was definitely focused on making time, knowing that the majority of the previous riders had time, so I was able to let off the brakes at the end and take my time when I needed to.”

Langmo’s Area III team is in first place on a score of 96.60.

Show jumping begins tomorrow after the final horse inspection at 8:30 a.m. with the three-star, followed by the two-star and one-star.

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