Lea Adams-Blackmore laughs as she remembers Frostbite’s first starter horse trials when he was just getting started. “I’m pretty sure he stopped at every single cross-country jump the first time,” she said. “I remember walking off the course, and [my trainer Jane Hamlin] was shaking her head and said, ‘It’s OK. We’ll get ‘em. We’ll figure it out.’”
There were over 415 entries across all levels national and international at The Event at TerraNova in Myakka City, Florida, this past weekend with an impressive 53 in the feature division, the CCI4*-S. After holding onto the second-place spot all weekend long, Liz Halliday-Sharp and The Monster Partnership and Ocala Horse Properties, LLC's 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Cooley Be Cool (Heritage Fortunus x HHS Carlotta) edged their way into the lead following cross-country on Saturday to claim the win.
The top of the leaderboards from last weekend’s events were filled with riders preparing for the CCI5*-L at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. The two CCI4*-S at the Galway Downs International H.T. (Temecula, California) and The Event at TerraNova (Myakka City, Florida) are prestigious competitions in their own right and served as stepping stones for the first American five-star on the 2023 calendar. Also, the CCI4*-S at the Eventing Spring Carnival at Thoresby Park in the United Kingdom helped prepare some of the international entrants for Kentucky.
Myakka City, Fla.—April 1—Liz Halliday-Sharp (USA) and Cooley Be Cool (Heritage Fortunus x HHS Carlotta) graced the top of the star-studded The Estates at TerraNova CCI4*-S after their cross-country ride across the sprawling grounds of TerraNova Equestrian Center. The pair was in second after dressage on 26.6 and they held that spot after their double clear show jumping trip on Friday evening.
Myakka City, Fla.—March 30—At the end of the second dressage session in The Estates at TerraNova CCI4*-S, Will Coleman (USA) took the morning lead with a whopping 19.6 with the stunning Chin Tonic HS (Chin Champ x Wildera/Quinar Z). Coleman and the Hyperion Stud LLC-owned Holsteiner gelding won the Carolina International CCI4*-S two weeks ago.
Myakka City, Fla.—March 30—In the third year of hosting FEI three-day events and recognized horse trials, TerraNova Equestrian Center welcomes an eventing date to their busy spring competition schedule. Riders from all walks of life, Olympians to young eventers, flocked to TerraNova to experience the previous two fall three-day events. The addition of the spring date gives riders an opportunity to run an FEI event and horse trials before heading home after the winter season.
TerraNova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, Florida, held its first CCI4*-S competition in the fall of 2021 and is now gearing up for the location’s third-ever FEI event and inaugural spring event this weekend during The Event at TerraNova which takes place March 30-April 2.
The United States Eventing Association’s (USEA) Area III has become a hotspot for eventing. It’s quite literally a hotspot because the warm weather attracts riders and horses from around the country during the winter with more events scheduled in 2023 than any other area in the country.
Horses and riders in 12 divisions, from Starter to CCI4*-S, tackled the show jumping phase of competition Sunday at The Event at TerraNova, over a track designed by Nick Granat in the world-class setting of the main arena. Prize money was awarded in all divisions.
Florida-based Swedish rider Jennie Jarnstrom-Dennis galloped around clear and fastest of the day on Saturday to take the lead in the inaugural CCI4*-S, sponsored by B&D Builders, at The Event at TerraNova. Jarnstrom-Dennis and her Hanoverian mare Flower Girl (Futurist x Lucy) were fourth after dressage on 30.8. Not a single horse-and-rider combination made the optimum time; she added 10.8 time penalties to lead on 41.6.
The inaugural Event at TerraNova kicked off with dressage on Friday at Terranova Equestrian in Myakka City, Florida. In the CCI4*-S the first rider down the centerline Leslie Law (GBR) took the early lead riding the Irish Sport Horse Typically Fernhill (Dondoctro Ryal K x Castlefield Sarah), owned by Craig McCallum, on 27.2. He maintained the lead through the lunch break and then Sara Kozumplik Murphy and her syndicated Selle Francais gelding Rubens d’Ysieux (Balougran x Orenda d/Ysieux / Mr. Blue) took the top spot with 26.1.