United States Eventing Association

I’ve turned into a real nerd these days, and according to a dear friend I was in dire need of a trip to “the barn.” It didn’t matter which barn, just a barn. So, I grabbed my boots long awaiting a trip through horse poo, bid the boyfriend farewell, and I drove four hours to Poplar Place for the March Horse Trials. Boy, oh, boy was it great to be back at a horse show with all the great Eventing folks I know and love. The best thing about the people in this sport is that even if you take a hiatus or kind of disappear from the show scene for a bit, you’re always remembered and welcomed by your friends (two-legged or four) when you return. Catching up was great.

Emily is gearing up for The Fork next week, so I promised to provide some input on the show this weekend for eager readers. My apologies for not having specific “oohs” and “aahs” to provide based on what I saw today, which wasn’t much. However, the atmosphere, as always, was spectacular, and the venue was, as always, superb. In my opinion, Poplar Place Farm in tiny Hamilton, GA is always a sure thing when it comes to organization, preparation, and commitment. Gary and Donna Stegman have a huge job and reputation. They do very well to maintain it like they do, and they have created one of the best competition venues in the East. Sigh…I remember picking up rocks with the Area 3 Young Riders when those fancy dressage rings with that fancy footing was just grass and dirt. So I would like to take this time, before advancing, to remind competitors to always please thank your show organizers! They work very hard, and they are just as passionate about this sport as you are. Please, please, please show them you are appreciative of their efforts if for no other reason than to give you the warm fuzzies.

Heading into Sunday, the CIC* and CIC** will be quite competitive. There were close scores in dressage and lots of time faults on cross-country. It appears that lots of people were being very cautious on course, wisely retiring if they had problems and maintaining safe speeds while keeping up the correct cross-country clip. Andrew Palmer heads up the CIC* for Sunday without a rail in hand to second place Nicole Parkin with scores of 49.6 and 53.4 respectively. Amy Tryon has a bit more wiggle room with the top score of 44.1 on That’s Smart in the CIC** in front of Jessica Phoenix, riding Exponential, with a score of 53.7.

Father and son Bruce and Buck Davidson are sitting 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the Open Intermediate A division heading into show jumping followed closely by Area 3 Young Rider Tyler Frey riding Rudolfo. Less than a rail separates these three competitors. Intense. Bruce also holds the first place position in Open Intermediate B with Wynella Wolverine on a score of 30.7 after cross-country. Amy Tryon holds positions one, two, and four in the Open Preliminary division.

In the Training Horse divisions A and B, Jonathan Holling is completely dominating, holding first place in both divisions. After the tragic loss of Direct Merger at Red Hills, Jonathan has really risen to the occasion and shown his professionalism scoring a 22 on Hudson’s Bay in Training Horse A, and a 31.5 on Laugh Out Loud in Training Horse B. I don’t know about you, but I would love to see what a 22 dressage test looks like. This was the best posted dressage score of the competition. WOW

I really wish I could mention something about every individual person and their horse and story, but my readers may quit reading after a while if I did that. Check out www.poplarplacefarm.com for a full list of interim results, and check again at the end of tomorrow for final scores.

Some riders will be running cross-country on Sunday while others will jump stadium fences. Regardless of agendas, I wish everyone a safe and happy ride. We are all on our toes for safety lately, but awareness is one of the most important aspects of it. I’m pleased to see officials stepping up and addressing their community, and I am also pleased to see the outpouring of support and concern by USEA members and others.

I’ll have a wrap-up ready soon after the show concludes so be sure you check the blog again for details. My dear mum and I are judging the “big water” on cross-country tomorrow (very festive). Come say hi if you’re on the grounds.

Happy riding!