United States Eventing Association

Knowles and Starburst Lead USEF/USEA 6-Year-Old Developing Horse National Championship From Start to Finish

Leesburg, Va.—Oct. 13—Allie Knowles wrapped up a stellar weekend with Katherine O’Brien’s Starburst in the USEF/USEA 6-year-old Developing Horse National Championship this morning, jumping a clear show jumping round to take the win on their dressage score of 24.8.

While their round wasn’t the smoothest Knowles admitted, she was thrilled with the win for the Irish Sport Horse mare (Sligo Candy Boy x Monalease).

“I'm stoked,” she said. “This is what we do, and every once in a while it pays off, and you win and you feel great, and it makes all the training and all the hard days worth it.”

She described “Violet” as not the easiest horse, especially in today's electric atmosphere.

“I knew she wasn't going to be [easy] by the way she wouldn't enter the ring because of the flags,” she said with a smile. “I've seen her difficult side and her easy side, and I knew what I was working with today, and so I just had to do my very best to manage the situation. She's a very big, powerful horse, but extremely sensitive, so you can't really make a whole lot of adjustments. I was a little bit embarrassed with myself, because I would love to have a prettier round, but we got the job done, and she did her part, and I tried my best to do my part without annoying her too much.”

This was the mare’s first international event, and Knowles, Lexington, Kentucky, was thrilled with the whole weekend. “She has been really exceptional dressage and cross-country,” she said. “If she was going to be difficult in one phase, I'd choose show jumping anyway. So not going to complain. She's only 6.”

Knowles appreciated the opportunity that the Developing Horse Championship offered this weekend.

“I love it,” she said. “It puts a lesser amount of real pressure. This championship stuff, if you only get there at the big stuff, you don't really learn how to deal with it, and it's fun.”

Will Coleman and Meg Pelligrini’s Box Como, a 6-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Jaguar Mail x Box Compris), finished in second place on their dressage score of 27.2.

Coleman, Charlottesville, Virginia, found the gelding in Sweden for the Pellegrini family.

“I just think he had a lot of nice qualities,” he said. “We were looking for some young horses for Meg, and I just thought this was a good one to pick up. I’m helping them produce it, and he's only really been with us this year—a still relatively green horse, but I think he's got a lot of quality. I think he's got a lot of the right ingredients.”

Coleman was happy to support the Developing Horse Championships at Morven, calling it an incredible facility.

“This is kind of a jewel in terms of U.S. eventing facilities,” he said. “I think the national championship for 6-year-olds is just an awesome idea. I think it was a really strong competition. Cross-country was very strong for the level. It was a great test for these young horses. I think they all got a lot out of it.”

Madison Temkin, Lexington, Kentucky, finished in third place with Beth Brown’s 6-year-old Hanoverian gelding Fernhill Bertus (Balou Peggio x Celine) on a 29.8.

Temkin got the gelding as a 4-year-old in Ireland from Carol Gee of Fernhill Sport Horses. They competed in the USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championships (Ekton, Maryland) last year in the 5-year-old division.

The gelding had a few airs above grounds in his dressage test on Friday, but Temkin says he’s serious about his job.

“He's just an exceptional horse, and he just continues to impress,” she said. “In the dressage court, he's Mr. Funny guy, which sometimes gets him in a little bit of trouble. But he just absolutely loves the sport, and he tries so hard for me. I didn't have a great day yesterday with my other two horses, and I think that's a bit how the sport goes. You know, you win some and you lose some. And he went out of the box, and I really just had to go out with a fresh slate, and he tried his heart out.”

The pair were held for a fence repair on cross-country, and Temkin was nervous about how he’d handle it, but he picked right up and finished well.

“It's definitely a bit of a tougher track,” she said. “With the lighting going on in the evening, I think that definitely was an added factor.”

Temkin brought her Advanced horse MVP Madbum through the USEA Future Event Horse program and the USEA Young Event Horse program and was happy to support the Developing Horse Championships.

“It's a big environment, and here at Morven they've done a beautiful job this weekend of making it a big environment,” she said. “I think it's really important for developing horses for the future, so that when they do go overseas, and they do get into that environment, they've had the experience. I think, as someone that produces a lot of young horses, it's pretty exciting because it's just not a normal two-star; it's important. I think it's a great way to develop young horses.”

In the CCI3*YH-S, which also served as the 7-year-old Developing Horse National Championship, New Zealand's Monica Spencer and Marvel, her own warmbood gelding (Cassiano x Abbie), were the only pair to finish and show jump, taking home the win. Since they weren't eligible for the championship, there was no 7-year-old champion named.

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