United States Eventing Association

First Advanced HT of the Year!

Ready or not, here we come… with Rocking Horse HT finishing up last weekend (okay, two weekends ago…) down in Florida, the first Advanced horse trials of the 2008 season officially kicked-off with nearly 60 top riders competing in the four divisions.

So, who’s out and ready to roll this spring? After a successful campaign at the Intermediate and two-star level (including a trip to the Olympic Test Event last summer) with seasoned partner Buck Davidson in the irons, eight-year-old Irish Sport Horse Ballynoe Castle RM, owned by Cassie Segal, won one of the Advanced sections. The pair finished added just ten time faults on cross country to add to their dressage score of 35.8 to take home the blue, nipped neatly around the show jumping course to finish a little over a point ahead of Imtiaz Aees (who I’ve heard LOTS of good things about) and Extravagance. Oh, and did I mention it was the gelding’s first Advanced run? Not too shabby!

(Left: Buck & Ballynoe also won the 2-star down in Red Hills last spring)

(Editor’s note: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take a mini-vacation down to the Sunshine State to actually take pictures of these guys, but I do have a couple of fun photos I took at events from last year…just so you can put a name with a face.)

Karen O’Connor (who recently celebrated the big 5-0) paired with Becky Broussard’s 12-year-old Thoroughbred Allstar, to clinch the win in Section B, taking over the lead from Leslie Law on Fleeceworks Mystere du Val. Wait, Mystere du Val? Wasn’t that the nifty chestnut gelding that Stuart Black rode? Yes, the very same! Turns out this (rather tall) gelding is a Selle Francais/Arabian. Not something you see everyday!

(Left: O’Connor & Allstar at Richland Park last year – finished 8th in the CIC3*).

Speaking of – “the People’s Pony” had a “pony moment” and decided that he wasn’t too fond of the water jump. Not a huge deal, just decided he’d like an extra peek, thank you very much, and thought he’d test Karen’s “velcro britches”… just to see if she was paying attention. Then the cheeky little redhead popped over the jump like it was a piece of cake, and off he went to finish the course without further ado. Speaking of the Dynamic Duo – P.Wynn Norman (Teddy’s breeder) has a fabulous blog going on him: http://apps.americanridingpony.net/blog/ Very cool – lots of fun pictures and videos to peruse (while pretending to actually do work at the office…you know who you are. *wink*). Oh, and I had to mention, Teddy and Karen pulled off the 2nd lowest dressage score of the whole event, a 29.6 (behind Kristin Bond and Three Wishes II’s 28.8). A huge accomplishment for this pair in a field of such experienced horses and riders…kudos! (Pictured right during the Pan Am training session last summer…looking pleased with himself.)

I was happy to see Canadian Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo finish at the top of their division – they had a great year, placing well at Fair Hill, Richland Park, and Jersey Fresh… I think we’ll see more of this pair in the near future. (Pictured left at Richland Park last year, where they finished 7th in the CIC3*)

Emilee Libby and her 12-year-old ISH gelding Cahir came back after a quiet fall season to gallop off with the blue in the final Advanced division. This pair are well-versed at the Advanced level and, if all goes well, probably have their eyes set on another trip to Kentucky this year. Emilee’s equally talented sister Jennifer had a fabulous run on her thoroughbred gelding Jazz King, placing fifth in the gelding’s first Advanced.

One of my favorite horses Jumbo’s Jake and his owner/rider India McEvoy took home second in their first Advanced. This ISH gelding is absolutely bred for the sport – his sire is Jumbo, the famous father of Headley Brittania (multiple four-star winner) and Henry Tankerville (also very active at the four-star level). I got to see this pair at Richland Park last year, and WOW, is he a powerhouse. In my opinion, this pair will be THE ones to watch. (Pictured on right, on their way to 11th in the 2-star at Richland last summer…check out that LEAP…wow.)

Missy Ransehousen from Pennsylvania put in a stellar dressage test (30.8) on her mother Jessica’s lovely (and GIANT) Oldenburg gelding Critical Decision. She wisely opted to take it easy on cross-country and settle for a few time faults… with their dressage right on target, it’ll be great to see how well these two do this year. (Picture at left from Richland last year, where they placed 8th in Advanced.)

Also one to watch is Clark Montgomery – under the experienced eye of “Team O’Connor,” he now has two horses at the Advanced level. Raconteur, his grey Oldenburg gelding, finished well at his first Advanced, and Up Spirit took home second in his division. (Photo at left is Up Spirit… yes, also at Richland… they finished 3rd in Advanced.)

Okay, enough for now… if you attended Rocking Horse, who caught your eye? Please share! :)