United States Eventing Association

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With nearly 700 horses and riders competing at the 2010 Land Rover/USEA American Eventing Championships, the schedule is chock full of exciting equestrian entertainment. Two days of dressage in six arenas, three solid days of cross-country, and three days of show jumping in two arenas makes for a flurry of activity for everyone at Chattahoochee Hills in Fairburn, GA. At this seventh annual AEC, over $70,000 in cash and $100,000 in prizes is up for grabs, too!

The competition began at 8:00 AM today with Training, Novice, and Beginner Novice dressage followed in the afternoon with Training and Novice Horse cross-country. After all the dust settled, it was 19-year-old Kerry Sachs and her homebred Dutch Warmblood/Arabian/Appaloosa, Good Luck Charm, who had the best ride of the day earning them a 24.8 in the Training Amateur division.

“This is my horse’s first season of recognized events,” Kerry explained. “She was really good in the dressage, and she had a really good canter. At the end of the test the judge came out of the car and talked to me and I was really nervous that she was going to say that my pony was lame or I was carrying a whip, but she told me that it was a really nice test and she enjoyed judging me."

The Training divisions did both dressage and cross-country today due to the high volume of entries, but Kerry said that she thought it was nice because the dressage was a good warm-up for the cross-country. “The cross-country was really nice,” Kerry said. “The water was really tough with the roll top, drop down, and the turn to the skinny, which we ended up jumping with all four feet at the same time! It was really fun to just get out there and go do it.”

This was the fourth consecutive AEC for Kerry as her hometown is very close to Lamplight where the event was held for the last three years, but she believes that Chattahoochee Hills is a gorgeous facility and she was excited about the new adventure.

The current leader of the Training Horse division is Robin Walker and Anne-Marie Rasch’s Oldenburg mare, Florenz. The top three placings are tight, but Robin and “Flo” earned a 26.6 in dressage and ran a double clear cross-country to hold onto that lead. Martha Lambert and Patricia Thomas’ Denira sit in second with a 26.8 while Jennifer Brannigan and Indie round out the top three with a 26.9. A mere 0.3 points separate them all.

“Florenz isn’t the easiest on the flat even though she tends to score really well,” Robin explained. “She can be rather spooky, but she has been getting better all year, and I was happy with the way she went especially with all of the atmosphere at the event.”

Going into cross-country every second would count as the top rides were so close, but Robin said that 'Flo' had a ground-covering gallop and made the time easily. “The course was a good course, a good test,” said Robin. “There was plenty on it and plenty of places where you could be disappointed at the end of the day if you weren’t awake. I was happy with the way she went. Flo has already upgraded to Preliminary, but she has some more work to do there so I am glad that she isn’t in the Preliminary class here.”

In the Training Junior division, AEC veteran Nicholas Hansen aboard his own Grand Cru, took the lead with a 25.2--a score he was able to maintain with a double clear cross-country round. Close behind Nicholas is Marissa Hughes and Odie while Hannah Begue and Pamela Begue’s Asterix sit in third.

Novice Horse was the only Novice division to do both dressage and cross-country today. Local Georgia rider Melissa Hyde, aboard Sienna, is the current leader of the division on a 26.8. Elliott Blackmon and Tully Cross Prescott earned the second place spot after dressage, but 2.4 time penalties dropped them into third while a clear cross-country round from Courtney Cooper and Neal Camens’ Nevaeh moved them up from fourth to second.

Madeline Wickwire and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not are leading the Novice Amateur Division with a 27.5. Anna Speth and Legendary Chance also earned a 27.5 as well as the top placing in Novice Junior. Heidi Wardle on Tulla Gold, Liz Messaglia on Apollo, and Ashley Guidry on Mercedes are the current leaders in the Beginner Novice Horse, Amateur, and Junior divisions respectively.

The schedule is no calmer tomorrow with upper level dressage, Beginner Novice and Novice cross-country, and the Training Horse show jumping. Be sure to continue to check out the USEA website for all the latest scores, photos, and more!

The AEC would not be possible without our wonderful USEA sponsors: Land Rover, Nutrena, Bit Of Britain, Merial, Adequan, Charles Owen, Broadstone, VTO Saddlery, Shai Steiner, Omega Alpha, Centaur Fencing, Saratoga Horse Works, The Chronicle of The Horse, Spalding Labs, SSG Gloves, Auburn Labs, Succeed, FITS, Point-Two, Back On Track, Fleeceworks, Finish Line, Dubarry, Equithrive, Flair, Mackinnon Ice Horse, SmartPak Equine, Stackouse Saddlery, and Equinature.