United States Eventing Association

Cross-Country Shuffles the Standings at the USEF/USEA Developing Horse Championships at Morven Park

Leesburg, Va.—Oct. 12—Cross-country in the USEF/USEA Developing Horse Championships proved the age-old statement that "this is not a dressage show," as we saw the CCI3*YH-S whittled down, while the CCI2*YH-S had some shuffling in the top-10 standings.

Marvel was Marvelous in CCI3*YH-S Championship

Cross-country proved to have a major impact in the 7-year-old CCI3*YH-S division, with only one of the six pairs entered completing Jeff Kibbie's three-star track.

After competing at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (Lexington, Kentucky) with Artist earlier this year, New Zealand rider Monica Spencer, her family, and her horses planted some roots in the U.S. and now call The Plains, Virginia, home. She only has four horses in her program right now, but is eager to continue to grow her business stateside. One of those four horses is the 7-year-old New Zealand Sport Horse Marvel (Cassiano x Abbie) who Spencer co-owns with Sandra Ray.

"I've had him since he was born," shared Spencer. "A friend of mine and owner, Sandra Ray and David Ray bred him for me, and I brought him over from New Zealand in February when we moved over here. He's been a pleasure to produce so far, and I've got high hopes for his future."

The Developing Horse Championships was the horse's first time competing at the three-star level, and he was seated in fourth following dressage yesterday. He cleverly navigated the track today that posed some challenges for his fellow competitors, adding 10.4 time penalties to his score in his three-star debut.

"He was ready to move up to Intermediate, so I thought would give it a crack, and he went great around the course today. I'm super proud of him," said Spencer. "I thought it was a tough course from start to finish. That's why I'm so proud of the horse, because he just kept trying the whole way around and jumping what was in front of him."

Spencer is loving getting to test out all of the new venues available to her as a U.S. resident and is excited to have Morven Park so close to her new home base.

"We're just happy to be here," she shared. "What an incredible venue! Every show we go to here is like our first time, so it's all very exciting, and and this venue is is really something else. It feels like a world-class event."

The combination at 4ab, the BW Furlong Two Ponds Oasis, proved to be very influential in both the CCI3*YH-S and the CCI3*-S. In the young horse division there were four pairs who retired, three of which who had refusals at 4a or 4b, and one mandatory retirement after Marc Grandia and Levino took a tumble at 4a. Both horse and rider were up and walked back to the barns.

Starburst Impresses in Her First International

Overnight leaders Allie Knowles and Katherine O'Brien's Starburst maintained their position after cross-country in the CCI2*YH-S with a double-clear round. It was the 6-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare's first international cross-country run, and Knowles was extremely proud.

"She was very on board and on my team today, and you could tell that she wanted to do all the things," she said. "She's had a little trouble with water in the past, so the fact that I did all three waters and each one got braver was really exciting. She will have learned a lot from today. I couldn't be happier with her."

While "Violet" is still a bit light on Prelim experience, Knowles has high hopes for her in the future. "She ended stronger than she started, and that's an awesome feeling for the future."

Eighteen of 23 starters finished the course. There were two rider falls, but no reports of horse or rider injury. Three pairs were eliminated for refusals.

​​Helpful Links

• Morven Park Website
• USEA Prize List
• Schedule
• USEA’s Coverage
• Results
• Live Stream

Follow the USEA event coverage on social media!

Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok