Kurt Martin maintains his lead in the USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship with a score of 23.5. He piloted D.A. Lifetime, Debbie Adams’ 9-year-old mare (Lingh x Timeless), through a fault-free cross-country round over the new Ian Stark-designed course.
“Clarence is a lot of horse,” Martin said. “It’s more nerve-wracking to ride such a nice horse, and she gets very excited. The first few minutes at the start were really just managing her excitement and enthusiasm to get out there because she loves it so much. As we went around, she seemed to settle, and [the jumps] started to come up a bit better. I’m just so excited about the course, and she tried so hard today. I’m grateful that the owners have given me such an opportunity with such a great horse.”
Fellow American Daniel Clasing, who was in fourth after Friday’s dressage phase, has moved into second place with his own fault-free round aboard Olney Uncle Sam, a 14-year-old American Trakehner gelding (Sonset Seiger x Aeriel) owned by Jennifer Ward. “I’m thrilled to be in second,” Clasing said. “I thought the horse was really good. It maybe wasn’t the cleanest round we’ve ever had, but he’s a phenomenal horse and can do things really easily. “I thought there was a lot to do in the beginning coming down the hill,” Clasing added about the course. “Then once you got to the Sawmill Field, you had just a couple of jumps and then a long pull. It was really testing the horses’ fitness and how fast you could gallop up the hill.”
Caroline Martin remains in third place with HSH Vamonos, her and Sherrie Martin’s 8-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Andiamo VH Kapelhof Z x Quasimodelle x Kapelhof Z). The pair finished their ride with only two-time faults, resulting in a score of 27.5 going into Sunday’s show jumping phase. She has had one of the busiest weeks of all the competitors, riding in The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championships Presented by Dubarry of Ireland divisions as well as the CCI3*-L and CCI5*-L. “I have to say I have a really, really, really good crew,” Martin said. “All of the girls came from our barn, and my assistant is there every moment with the horses.”
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Morgan Rowsell had just wrapped up organizing a successful Essex H.T. in Far Hills, New Jersey, on June 4, but as he turned his attention to his next show two weeks later, he was faced with challenges presented by the effects that wildfires from Canada are now having on equestrian sports in the Northeast. “The very next day, the smoke came in,” he said. “It looks like a warm, humid, hazy day, but it’s not humid, it’s not warm, it’s actually quite cool. There’s no air. There’s very little breeze. There’s a northeast wind coming out of Canada that is bringing all the Novia Scotia and Quebec smoke to us, and it smells like smoke.”
The first USEA Classic Series competition of 2023 at the IEA H.T. in Edinburgh, Indiana, from June 2-4 brought out the best in event horses with different breeding, backgrounds, and sizes. There was Primrose BMD, originally bred for dressage by a Dutch Harness Horse stallion out of an Andalusian dam, showing how much she relishes jumping by finishing on her dressage score 31.8 to win the Training Three-Day (T3D) with Anna Banks aboard. Then, April Hays and her Holsteiner gelding Anteros HSH won the Novice Three-Day (N3D) with a score of 26.7 despite not knowing if they’d be able to make the competition until the last minute. And, Halley Widlak and her 14.2-hand Connemara pony mare Starscream captured the Beginner Novice Three-Day (BN3D) with a score of 25.7 for the third blue ribbon the pair has earned in four USEA-recognized events together.
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.
After not running in 2020 and 2021, the MARS Bromont CCI Three-Day Event returned to the Bromont Olympic Equestrian Center in Quebec, Canada, in 2022. America's Jennie Saville (née Brannigan) and Twilightslastgleam won the CCI4*-L, as the chestnut Thoroughbred gelding (National Anthem x Royal Child) bred and owned by Nina Gardner moved up from eighth after dressage into the lead after cross-country with the fastest round on wet ground over the tracks designed by Derek di Grazia. Canada's Lindsay Traisnel and Bacyrouge, a bay Selle Français gelding (Mylord Carthago x Lelia) owned by Patricia Pearce, finished second, and they are among four from the top-10 in the CCI4*-L in 2022 that return in 2023.