United States Eventing Association

In an ongoing effort to prove to the eventing world that Chattahoochee Hills is one of the most organized events in the U.S., show jumping Sunday began with Beginner Novice and Novice divisions while the FEI divisions jogged at the final horse inspection. The show was on a roll, with jumping and awards happening simultaneously in multiple arenas. Not a moment was wasted.

Hannah Brand and her grey Ack Nice Mon jumped clean throughout and finished on their dressage score of 33.8 to win Beginner Novice Rider-A, followed closely by Abbie Jones and Forsythe Park who dropped a rail to give up first. Time penalties knocked Sara Ann Thornley and Sail On into second after cross-country, but they sailed back into first with a clear jumping round in Beginner Novice Rider-B. Andie Vester and Jatski’s Southern Charm jumped clean throughout to move up from ninth after dressage to finish second.

Becky Holder had a good weekend, winning Open Beginner Novice on Payback Time, finishing on their dressage score of 31.0 ahead of Julie Richards and Mansfield Park. Becky also led wire to wire in Open Intermediate with the grey gelding Can’t Fire Me, finishing nearly ten points ahead of Danielle Dichting and the elegant dapple-grey Tops. Becky and Call Me Ollie remained tied for second till the end with Clark Montgomery and Cyrano Z in the two star division, but Becky passed the cross-country finish flags just one second under optimum time, breaking the tie to win.

Five big Novice divisions competed this weekend. Kelly Cazier and Maxwell Smart pulled one rail but maintained their lead in Novice Rider-A. In a great show of sportsmanship, second place finisher Carroll Ann Bowers pointed out an error in judging when she was awarded a clean round but she knew Sportsfield Cocktail had pulled a rail. The clean score would have given her the win, but the AEC champs were happy with a well-deserved second. Lydia Kennedy and Subtle Dream Unveiled took home the blue ribbon in Novice Rider-B. Devon Brown and Hidden Creek Bono were tied for first after dressage, but jumped clean all weekend to win Open Novice. Lauren Kieffer and Landmark’s Legendary Affaire won Novice Horse-A on their dressage score of 29, and Christa Gandolfo and Camenicci won Novice Horse-B on their dressage score of 30.0.

After a significant course adjustment, the CCI** competitors began showjumping. Elizabeth Barron and The Graduate put in a picture perfect round without any rails in hand to win without adding a single penalty to their dressage score of 46.9. The Graduate is an East Germany bred gelding Elizabeth found sitting in a friend’s barn when he was five. “He likes bananas,” Elizabeth said. “He’s a bit of a spook but he’s a good guy.” Elizabeth trains with Kyle Carter and was putting to practice a big piece of advice from him, “Thinking forward was the theme of the weekend.” Elizabeth mentioned what a nice job Carl has done with his top facility and described the courses as good, very fair, and they rode well.

The Graduate is finished eventing for the year, but the pair is going to a dressage show in December. Elizabeth is working towards her silver medal in dressage and has already been awarded the fourth level qualifying score: “We’ve got to figure out canter pirouettes first before we try Prix St. George,” she said. This is an impressive goal and admirable accomplishment for an Eventer. Then again, one might take a lesson and consider similar cross-training, as the pair often wins dressage, and combining that result with two double clear rounds will guarantee a win every time.

Jonathan Holling and the lovely six-year-old Downtown Harrison won the CIC* by nearly 20 points, “He’s a class horse, I have a lot of really high hopes for him.” Downtown Harrison has been with the Hollings since he was two, and Jonathan has described the whole process of bringing the horse along as being really satisfying, but he’s being careful not to push the horse: “He’ll move up next year. I don’t like to run 6 year olds above preliminary. That’s why he’s stayed here all season. He’s been pretty competitive. I just think a 6-yr-old still needs some time to mature.” Among other goals for next year, Holling plans to move his two star horses up to be competitive at Advanced. His current string of horses has been coming along for a few years and are improving all the time. Next year is Holling’s year. And if you’d like to hear a good story some time, ask Jonathan how Downtown Harrison got his name.

Downtown Harrison made solid work of the technical questions on the CIC* cross-country course, “I thought for all the divisions I rode, I thought it was the most challenging course for the level. There was a lot to do out there. But he’s a really good horse, so he answered all the questions really well.” Holling also praised the condition of the footing on cross-country, stating that it was some of the best footing he has ever ridden on. “I love it here,” Holling said, gesturing to the gorgeous scenery surrounding us. “Just look around.”

The Preliminary and Training divisions were the last to showjump on Sunday. Hannah Burnett piloted Harbour Pilot to first place on a score of 29.6 in Open Preliminary. Amy Boyle and Skiptomylew steadily moved up from third after dressage to win Preliminary Rider on their dressage score.

Michael Pollard and his own Revaou de la Bergerie took home the blue in Open Training on an even 30. The winners of Training Horse, Katie Wooten and San City, had the best finishing score of the weekend, adding no penalties to their dressage score of 25. Nikki McCreless and Sir possum also added no penalties after dressage to lead Training Rider from start to finish.

It was a great weekend of Eventing. I hear nothing but wonderful things about Chattahoochee Hills events, and I always enjoy attending and photographing here. Thank you to Carl Bouckaert, the Chatt Hills staff, and all the incredible volunteers that make it all happen. We’ll see you back here next year.

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