Kalispell, Mt.—July 18— Tommy Greengard and That's Me Z sit atop the CCI3*-S, the first of The Event at Rebecca Farm's five FEI divisions to conclude the dressage phase. The second half of the 34-horse CCI2*-L field will be staged Friday, along with dressage for CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S, and the CCI3*-L.
That's Me Z is co-owned by Greengard and Chocolate Horse Farm's Andrea Pfeiffer. The 7-year-old Zangershiede (Take a Chance on Me Z x Veneita) jumped into the national spotlight as the USEA's Young Event Horse 5-Year-Old National Champion in 2022 and has ticked all the advancing boxes since then.
This is "Z's" second year at Rebecca Farm, following last year's Preliminary outing. "If anything, I think he grew a little bit in this atmosphere," Greengard reported of their 25.2 effort from judges Valerie Pride, Sara Miller Leary, and Christel Carlson. "When he was younger, he'd get quite shy in the bigger rings. It's exciting to have him take ahold of the bridle and show off his great gaits in the ring.
"He's been doing exactly what we ask in his training at this point," Greengard continued. "He showed that in the ring."
Greengard and Z have a big fall planned. They'll head to England next week to spend three months riding with New Zealand Olympic eventers Tim and Jonelle Price. Doing well here was part of the plan for a hopeful appearance with Z at the FEI WBFSH Eventing World Championships in France later this year and yesterday's performance was a great waypoint on that journey.
The young Northern California professional is excited about the CCI3*-S cross-country on Saturday. "It looks very good and I always love Ian Stark's courses. It's a great test for Z and where he's at right now."
Having ridden Rebecca Farm's routes several times, Greengard especially appreciates the efforts to differentiate between the questions asked of Intermediate, CCI3*-L, and CCI3*-S contenders. "That's very special to Rebecca Farm. Not every venue is able to do as great a job at that as they do."
Tamie Smith had been on a likely path to the Paris Olympics until a minor mishap with her top horse, Mai Baum, prevented them from being in peak form for the U.S. Team's mandatory outing. The upside for fans is that she re-routed to Rebecca Farm and the California-based 2023 Land Rover Kentucky CCI5* champion is making the most of it.
She and Molly Duda's 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Carlingfords Hes A Clover (Polanski x Fourleaf Clover), earned a 26.2 to sit second after CCI3*-S dressage. Smith is in third, too, with Julianne Guariglia's Sumas Tina Turner, an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare (Quantino x Sumas Fanny Brice), who earned a 27.9.
Smith is "ecstatic and over the moon" with both new rides. Riding Carlingfords for his injured young rider, Smith said his flatwork has been a challenging and rewarding focus. "He can be quite cheeky and I was thrilled with him today."
"Tina Turner is a bit of a work in progress," she explained. "We've been working hard to gel with her and to let her be the powerful horse that she is. She's a chestnut mare and she's named Tina Turner!"
Saturday's cross-country presents plenty to do, and looks "up to the standard and fair," Smith said. It starts with the challenge of galloping away from the barns out of the start box, an issue for some of the lower level pairs today.
The cross-country footing is the best Smith has ever seen it in many years coming to Rebecca Farm. "When you imagine the many miles of tracks they have to tend, it's no small feat. They have really stepped it up and figured out how to make the ground the best it can be."
CCI2*-L dressage gets the schedule underway on Friday morning with the highlight event, the CCI4*-L, kicking off at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon.
The two USEA Classic Series divisions taking place at Rebecca Farm got underway on Thursday with all competitors completing their dressage tests. They will move on to the endurance and cross-country phases starting at 9:25 a.m. this morning.
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The final USEA Classic Series event took place at Ram Tap Horse Park Horse Trials from Nov. 15-17 in Fresno, California. Read on to learn more about the winners!
The horses in trainer Joe Davis’ barn at Horseshoe Indianapolis don’t just get standard hay in their nets each day. Throughout the afternoon, Davis or one of his employees opens the HayGain machine that sits at the end of his shed row and pulls out a warm, beautiful-smelling bale of freshly-steamed hay to fill their nets.
Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered! Check out the USEA’s Weekend Quick Links for links to information including the prize list, ride times, live scores, and more for all the events running this weekend.
Last month, readers met VIP Volunteer Rebecca Proetto, who volunteered at the MARS Maryland 5 Star horse inspection. This month, the focus turns to husband and wife Ed and Leanne Barnett who introduced Proetto to the art of running an efficient horse inspection at Maryland. Ed and Leanne undertake a 12-hour drive from their home in Indiana to Maryland just to volunteer at the event.