United States Eventing Association

The 2013 Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships, presented by VTO Saddlery, has come to a close. The first year of the AEC at the Texas Rose Horse Park can be deemed a resounding success. Competitors had endless compliments on the facilities and the courses, and the Brunson family was very gracious hosts.

Sunday typically belongs to the Novice and Beginner Novice riders, but due to a severe thunderstorm last night, the Advanced show jumping was rescheduled for early this morning.

Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series Final and Advanced Championship
As she cleared the last fence, Laine Ashker raised her fist in victory as she and Anthony Patch officially became the 2013 USEF Advanced Champions, the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series Champions, and $20,000 richer. Ashker and “Al” put in one of only three double-clear show jumping rounds in the division of 13. She had stated yesterday that show jumping is Al’s best phase and her worst.

“He’s not a horse that tends to get nervous in the ring,” Ashker said. “He’s my backbone in the show jumping, I get so nervous. I feel like it’s usually my weakest phase but he has made it one of my stronger phases because he gives me so much confidence going in. There is no other horse I’d rather be on going into the show jumping.”

Ashker does not normally ride Al before show jumping, so he was hand walked most of the day yesterday. Then when the storms rolled in and show jumping was postponed, Ashker suddenly realized her horse hadn’t been ridden that day and there would be no time in the morning before they had to check into warm-up. “I talked to Buck [Davidson] and had a pep talk this morning. Then I jumped about six or seven show jumps then went in and did our thing.”

With top placings in Advanced divisions at Millbrook and Richland Park this summer, it seems like their whole season has led up to this point. “He’s been consistent,” Ashker said. “I think the horse has always had it in there. I think I’ve let him down due to my inexperience and my age and my confidence issues. I think finally I’m starting to live up to the horse that I ride.”

Ashker is a known supporter of off-track Thoroughbreds, having ridden several to the four-star level, Al being the most recent. “I’m a huge advocate of the Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program. I love these horses. You can go overseas and you can find great horses. There is nothing against different breeds or warmbloods or European horses. I just love the Thoroughbred. They’ve got the heart and I’ve been born and raised on them. That’s what my mom does. She finds the rejects from the track and we turn them around and give them a second career.”

Kristi Nunnink has a good show jumper in her Holsteiner mare R-Star, and they unsurprisingly posted one of the other clear rounds to become the USEF Advanced and Gold Cup Reserve Champions. They head to Pau CCI4* next month. Ellen Doughty and Sir Oberon pulled an unfortunate two rails to drop from second to third, and they have their sights set on 2014 Rolex Kentucky CCI4*.

Novice Championships
Senior Novice Amateur
Julia Denton (TX) and Win/Win Situation were the eventual winners in Senior Novice Amateur. Though she and Janet Gordon (CO) riding Irish Beginnings finished on the same score, 25.5, Denton crossed the finish one small second closer to optimum time, giving her the ultimate edge.

“I got on an hour too early to start with,” Denton said, suggesting with a laugh that they should have bourbon stations for amateurs. “It was nerve wracking, but the most beautiful thing with him is once I get in the arena, it’s just me and him.”

Denton’s 12-year-old gelding is a Westphalian, and his registered name is Winston, but they thought they name was boring. A young rider suggested Win/Win Situation, and it stuck. “Because it doesn’t matter if I win because every day I ride him I smile.”

Denton hails from just north of Dallas and is familiar with Texas Rose Horse Park. She said it was kind of spooky thinking that the courses would be so different, but she had a lot of fun at her first AEC nonetheless, especially considering she surpassed her goal of finishing in the top ten.

The leaders through the first two phases, Sher Schwartz (GA) and Jamocean, had a heartbreaking rail to drop them from first to third, but in this competitive division, third place is still well done, and she will be pleased also with her fourth and eighth place finishes with Gorse Hill Gem and Reseda De Fleyres respectively in the Senior Beginner Novice Amateur division.

Novice Junior
The Novice Junior division never fails to be extremely competitive, with little to no room for error. In this division of 41 starters, the top four remained the same throughout. Fourteen-year-old Olivia Brashear (TX) and Apple Jack took the lead after dressage on a score of 25.0, to which they added no penalties in the jumping phases.

“I knew that we were going to do our best and that we could do it,” Brashear said. “When I woke up this morning I realized that I could do it and she could do it. I had confidence in us.”

Apple Jack and Brashear have been partnered for two years, and though the 10-year-old Apple Jack will now move on to teach the ropes to someone new, Brashear is grateful for the time she has had with the mare and all that she has learned from her.

Kristen Turner (TX) and Lil’ Albert finished on the same score, 25.5, as Hayley Clark (MO) and Bold Impression, but the former were significantly closer to optimum time, awarding them the Reserve Champion ribbon and prizes and Clark and Bold Impression third.

Novice Horse
Carrie Meehan (KS) and Emma Kate Fisher (OK) were tied for second throughout the competition in Novice Horse. Normally, a tie is broken based on who is closest to optimum time on cross-country. Coincidentally, Carrie and Emma Kate had the exact same time in the second phase, so it came down to the quickest show jumping round, in which Meehan and Cavalier won out to take home the Champion honors on a score of 26.5. Fisher and Cooley Performer finished on the same score for Reserve Champion with Cooley Performer. In third place was Kelsey Regan (LA) and Ragtime Gold. The pair moved up from fifth after dressage, ending the competition on their dressage score of 28.0.

Beginner Novice Championships
Beginner Novice Horse
Beth Stelzleni (GA) rode Beth Huddleston’s Giselle beautifully all weekend, leading the Beginner Novice Horse division from start to finish and ending on their dressage score of 26.7.

“It’s just amazing. I came out of stadium and I thought I was going to cry,” Stelzleni said. “I’ve won horse trials but I’ve been to so many Area Championships and I’ve been to AEC and I’ve never won a championship. This feels really, really good, especially on her.”

The challenge with this horse, Stelzleni said, is she started her career as a hunt horse and never really developed brakes, but their working on it.

“She’s gives you 100 percent every ride. She’s honest as the day is long,” Stelzleni said of the 7-year-old Trakehner Dutch mare. “Yesterday on cross-country she was a super star. I’ve been really happy with her.”

Stelzleni figured the mare had a good chance to be in the top three this year so they made the trek from Athens, Georgia. They plan to move her up to Novice in the fall and Training next year. “She’s got a ton of scope and all the heart so I’m hoping she’ll be able to take me back up to the upper levels.”

Elliott Blackmon (FL) finished Reserve Champion with Foothill’s Field Marshall, owned by Donna Duckworth, on a score of 29.5. In third was Jenna Jones (TX ) and Truly Twilight on a 29.5.

Senior Beginner Novice Amateur
Senior Beginner Novice Amateur Champions Hannah Smitherman (TX) and her half-Belgium PMU gelding Buster Brown had the best finishing score of the entire competition with a 22.9. They moved up from second today to win at their first AEC.

“You never want to see someone have an error in front of you, but it’s three phases and you’ve got to put all three phases together. And it’s very nice to finish on your dressage score,” Smitherman said.

Smitherman grew up riding and took a break during college. When her youngest child started kindergarten she picked it back up.

“At 42 I’m a beginner,” she said. “I have three kids, so my first job is a mom, and my second job is a pediatric emergency medicine physician. So I work full time. So this ends up being number three. My husband is home with the kids. You can’t do it without help. My husband is not a horse person but he is very supportive.”

Smitherman grew up doing Pony Club with the Cherry Creek Pony Club in Colorado, going through the HA level and competing at Nationals. She attributed that experience to helping deal with nerves under pressure and coming back to the sport as an adult. “I would be proud of myself if I got back to Training.”

Reserve Champion in Senior Beginner Novice Amateur went to Andrea Mitchell (WI) and Divine on a score of 25.0. Third was awarded to Bobby Covington (TX) and Halo.

Junior Beginner Novice
With a surprising number of rails falling in the Junior Beginner Novice division, the pressure was on leaders Anna Conley (KY) and Reba’s Song, the last in the group to jump. They made it happen, and on their dressage score of 31.9 are this year’s Junior Beginner Novice Champions.

Reba’s Song is a Hanoverian mare and, according to her rider, the only horse to get a 100 percent in the in-hand classes at Devon. “With a 15-year-old rider!” Conley pointed out. “A 15 year old is kind of her specialty I guess. They wanted her to be a dressage horse, but she just loves to jump.”

This is only their fifth show together, but Conley said they bonded really well. “Her owner [Arrielle Perry] and I have really similar personalities. As soon as we tried her we immediately clicked.”

Conley’s partnership with Reba’s Song is temporary, so when they qualified for the AEC, Conley did not want to miss out on the opportunity, even if it meant driving 16 hours from Lexington, KY. “It’s gorgeous out here! And the cross-country rode really nicely.” She hopes to come back next year at Training level if they qualify.

It was clear from the start that this AEC would not be all about dressage scores, and Grace Thiel (KS) can tell you that jumping well is as important as ever. She and her horse My Calypso Bay started the competition tied for twelfth in Junior Beginner Novice. They moved up to fourth with a double-clear cross-country round and jumped up to more places today to finish as Reserve Champion. Third place Ally Ault (NC) had a similar experience with Hope, moving up from seventh to finish third.

Beginner Novice Junior 14 and Under
The final and by far most adorable division to jump today was the Junior Beginner Novice 14 and Under division, which was added as a brand new division this year. In years past, all Beginner Novice Juniors 18 and under competed together in one division.

Thirteen-year-old Emma Ciafone (CO) and her cremello Connemara Cady O’Daly Gabriel stayed on the heels of the leaders throughout the event, and a double-clear show jumping round moved them into the top spot.

“I was extremely nervous because if I dropped one rail I went down a lot,” Ciafone said. This was Ciafone’s first visit to the Texas Rose Horse Park, and she said she had a lot of fun, and her horse “Gabe” works hard for her.

Gabe can be distinguished not just by his unique coloring, but also the “war paint” under his eyes intended to protect his delicate baby blues from the sun. Ciafone said it has really become his signature and makes him easily recognizable at events. “Now we just do it because it is a lot of fun even on days like this when it is overcast. I don’t know how much it works but it looks nice.”

Gabe is full brother to Cady O’Daly Michael, also a war paint-sporting cremello and a back-to-back AEC winner with rider Logan Elliott at Junior Beginner Novice level in 2011 and Novice Amateur in 2012.

Emilie Mudd (LA) and Le Cheval Royale led the division of 31 for most of the competition, but an unfortunate rail dropped them to second overall. Reserve Champion is nothing to sneeze at, however, as they still take home significant prize money and loot.

Grace Lebrecht (UT) and I Can Only Imagine were awarded third place, finishing on their dressage score of 27.6.

The USEA thanks the generous sponsors that make awarding prizes and prize money possible and appreciate every single horse, rider, owner, and spectator that attended. We’ll see you back here next year!

For full AEC results visit livescore.useventing.com.

Beginner Novice and Novice Photos

About the American Eventing Championships
Each September, over 500 horses travel from across the nation to participate in the American Eventing Championships. This prestigious national championships provides the opportunity for riders at every level of the sport – from Beginner Novice to Advanced – to compete for significant prize money and the chance to be named the best in the nation at their respective levels. Now in its tenth year, the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships will be held for the first time at the Texas Rose Horse Park in Tyler, Texas. The 2013 competition will run from September 26 – 29. For more details on the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships presented by VTO Saddlery, visit the www.useventing.com/aec.

About the Adequan USEA Gold Cup and PRO Tour Series
The Adequan USEA Gold Cup features 11 qualifying competitions throughout the United States at the Advanced Horse Trials and CIC3* levels with the final at the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships September 26-29 in Tyler, Texas. Riders who complete a qualifier earn the chance to vie for $40,000 in prize money in the Adequan Advanced Division and the title of Adequan USEA Gold Cup Champion.

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Adequan; Nunn Finer; SmartPak Equine; Nutrena; Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, Point Two; Dubarry; and FITS.

The PRO Tour Series consists of 13 premier destination events in the United States and Canada in 2013 featuring the best riders and most entertainment. Riders and Horses are awarded points on the PRO Tour Rider Leader Board and PRO Tour Horse Leader Board. Riders can also earn points on the PRO Tour Series at the Intermediate or two-star level for the Multi Radiance Intermediate Challenge. The 2013 Multi Radiance Challenge Leader Board Champion will win a Multi Radiance MR4 ACTIVET Portable Laser System.

The Professional Riders Organization would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of the 2013 PRO Tour Series: Martin Collins USA, The Official Footing of PRO; Multi Radiance Medical, The Official Laser Therapy of PRO & Sponsor of the Multi Radiance Medical Intermediate Challenge ; Tex Sutton, the Official US Equine Air Carrier of PRO; SSG Riding Gloves; Finish Line Horse Products; Midlantic Ltd.; and Mythic Landing Events.