The world’s top riders and their mounts are all at the Domaine de Sers in Pau, Southwest France until this Sunday to battle it out in the five-star, the highest level of eventing competition in equestrian sport. The first phase of the competition, dressage, ended with the victory of British rider Laura Collett on her mount London 52 (Landos x Vernante), her own, Keith Scott, and Karen Bartlett's 11-year-old Holstiner gelding.
Australian Christopher Burton was in the lead of the provisional ranking yesterday evening with Jill Martin and David Webster's 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Graf Liberty (Limmerick x Lisheen Star) on a score of 22.0, but in the end, it was the 2015 Young Horses World Champion, Collett, who won the competition this morning. She finishes the event with 21.3 penalty points. Collett is currently 49th in the world rankings, but she also took 10th place in the event with Mr Bass (Carrico x K-Jeunesse), her own, Nick How, and Keith Scott's 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding, on a score of 26.2.
Close behind, Burton and Piggy March remain in second and third place, respectively. Although six of the 10 top scores were taken by British riders, Tim Price (NZL), who ranks second in the world, took fourth place with a dressage score of 23.0 penalty points with Wesko (Karandasj x Kolien), his own and the Windrush Equestrian Foundation's 17-year-old KWPN gelding. German rider Christopher Wahler also made it to the top 10 with Carjatan S (Clearway x Kajenna), his own and Lena Thoenies's 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding. The last French rider to take off this morning, Maxime Livio scored 32.4 penalty points to stand in 31st place.
"I am very happy with both my horses!" commented Collett at the completion of dressage. "This is the first CCI5* eventing competition for London 52. He was a bit nervous when he entered the track but then he was well focused throughout the test! Of course, the event is not over yet and the cross-country tomorrow will undoubtedly shake up the ranking, but I have confidence in my horses. Mr Bass is experienced at this level of competition and is a very good cross-country horse. London is less experienced but he is in great shape this weekend and I can't wait to see how he will perform tomorrow! We are very lucky to be here this weekend and I am very happy to be able to compete with these two outstanding horses."
Tomorrow's event will be the breathtaking cross-country competition. Horse and rider will set off on the 6.3-kilometer course, with an array of 31 impressive natural obstacles. An event which promises many twists and turns in the rankings and a good dose of adrenaline for the public!
Full results are available here. The live stream can be accessed here.
What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
There is so much more to proper grooming than keeping your horse picture-perfect for the horse inspection. Good grooming practices are critical to proper horse management, no matter if you are planning for your next FEI appearance or your Starter level debut. To help you maximize your knowledge of grooming practices, we opened up the opportunity for USEA members to submit any questions they might have on our Instagram and Facebook stories. In this week's episode, Host Nicole Brown sits down with three of the highest-regarded grooms in this industry, Max Corcoran, Emma Ford, and Stephanie Simpson, and asks them all of your questions and more to help you perfect the art of grooming.