United States Eventing Association

Kim Severson and The Cross Syndicate’s Cooley Cross Border pulled off a wire-to-wire win of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Advanced this weekend at the Cloud 11/Gavilan North Carolina International CIC & Horse Trials.

On the flat, the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Diamond Roller x Whos Diaz) earned a 27.2 after a fluid test on Friday.

“He’s been a little nervous about being in the ring, I think he’s had a big learning curve recently, so he sort of worries about that a little bit. I came here two weeks ago and did two combined tests on him. It got him in the ring twice which was really really helpful,” Severson explained.

Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border. USEA/Shelby Allen Photo.

Cross traveled easily across Ian Stark’s Advanced track, finishing just a hair above optimum for 1.2 time penalties. “He was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I think that was actually really good for him because it was so fast. It’s like derby race, like a speed round. He was really fast today, incredibly fast and very honest,” she said of the former USEA Young Event Horse Champion.

The pair had a rail in hand this morning, but didn’t need it. They went clear over Marc Donovan’s show jumping course to clinch the win on 28.3 penalty points. After the success of the weekend, she is now reconsidering the rest of their spring season. The pair are entered at the Rolex Kentucky CCI4*, but Severson admits she didn’t think they would go on to compete at the four-star.

“He came out yesterday for the first time I actually thought that Rolex could be an option. He’s entered, but my first option would be to go to Bramham (in the U.K.) because I think he needs to do another three-star. If he were to jump around the Fork or Fair Hill the way he did yesterday, I could actually see him going to Kentucky,” she speculated. “I think he needs the fitness of another three-star. Although yesterday, he was fast and easy. That was a very different horse than the one I’ve had yet.”

Matt Brown and Super Socks BCF. USEA/Shelby Allen Photo.

Matt Brown and The Blossom Creek Foundation’s Super Socks BCF wrapped up their weekend in second place. Brown and the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse by Castle Quest started the weekend on a score of 33.1 for ninth place.

“He had a couple disobediences, but the general obedience and the general quality of how he was going I thought was probably one of our best tests. I still need to work on getting that obedience every step of the test, but he’s always had a mind of his own,” Brown laughed of his four-star partner.

The two went on to have one of the fastest rounds of the day across country, coming home just two seconds above optimum time. “I decided to go out and establish and easy pace at the beginning and see how he felt. We wanted to think about pushing the time just to prepare for Rolex, so after fence two I sort of let him go. I didn’t really push him for the speed at all. I let him keep going at whatever pace he wanted to go and it turned out we were pretty darn close to the time, so I was really happy with that,” he said.

Matt Brown and Super Socks BCF. USEA/Shelby Allen Photo.

Brown was especially happy to have a super ride though The Landmark Hollow [19abc], a new element on the course this year, especially after being held on course. “He did have the hold right before the coffin which was pretty tough for him. Usually, I need all the momentum I can get coming into a big coffin like that, so I was really happy that even with the hold he was very positive and kind of scrappy but really good through the coffin too,” Brown grinned.

The pair had a masterful show jump round this morning, picking up one time penalty to finish on a 34.5. “We did the Advanced so we could practice doing show jumping with a tired horse after cross-country, again thinking about Rolex, but he wasn’t very tired. So, that plan didn’t work very well. That means his fitness is better than I expected it to be so I think we’re on track fitness-wise,” he finished.

They are headed for one more combined test at Fair Hill before “wrapping him in bubble wrap for the rest of April,” and tackling the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day event next month.

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica. USEA/Shelby Allen photo.

Lauren Kieffer finished third and fourth with Veronica and Landmark’s Monte Carlo, respectively. Team Rebecca’s Veronica, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Pacific x Kimbel) added 13.6 time on the cross-country and a rail and two time penalties in the show jumping to finish on 46.8 today. Jacqueline Mars’ “Patrick,” an 11-year-old Thoroughbred cross (Formula One x Glamour), finished on a score of 49.2 after earning a 35 on the flat, picking up 9.2 time penalties on the cross-country and four jump and one time in the show jumping.

Woods Baughman and Montesquieu. USEA/Shelby Allen Photo.

Woods Baughman and his own, James C. and Kim Baughman’s Montesquieu finished out the top five. After earning a 45.4 in the dressage, these two had 5.2 time on cross-country and two rails this morning for a final result of 50.6

Of the 24 starters in this division, 17 finished the cross-country yesterday. Two riders fell Booli Selmayr and Maya Simmons, who incredibly rode around the majority of the course stirrupless after a tack malfunction early in her ride. Both riders are reported to be ok. Courtney Cooper withdrew Who’s A Star before the division started, two riders retired and two were eliminated after three stops. Of yesterday’s finishers, none had jump penalties.

Rails were easily had this morning, and although they did not affect the winner, they did shuffle the remainder of the standings. Five pairs managed double clear rounds, and many other in the division picked up time penalties.

This marked the end of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Qualifier this weekend at Carolina International, next up is Galway Downs beginning on March 31.

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About the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series

The 2017 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Championship features 11 qualifying competitions throughout the United States at the Advanced Horse Trials and CIC3* levels. Qualifying began last fall and continues through August with the final taking place at the USEA American Eventing Championships, August 30 – September 3 at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina. Riders who complete a qualifier earn the chance to vie for $40,000 in prize money and thousands of dollars in prizes in the Adequan Advanced Division and the title of Adequan USEA Gold Cup Champion.

The 2017 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many loyal sponsors: Adequan, Standlee Forage, Nutrena, Merck Animal Health, Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency and FITS.