Last weekend's MARS Great Meadow International had every kind of weather you can imagine (except maybe snow!) - 80 degrees with a light breeze, torrential rain and lightning storms, 93 degrees and blazing sun, and a foggy morning that made it impossible to see the show jump. Despite everything that mother nature through at the event, the horses and riders were so happy to be back out "at the party" and competing in the first CCI4*-S since competitions resumed.
The event was dominated by #girlpower with women riders winning every class offered and four of those being local riders. Did you miss any of the action? Catch up on all of the event coverage here and then take a look through the lens of some of the favorite images from the event.
There were surprisingly few shakeups to the top of the leaderboards Friday at the MARS Bromont CCI, but the incredibly close scores leave no margin for error heading into Saturday’s exciting cross-country phase across all five levels.
Tomorrow, the first of five regional clinics for the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) Program kicks off in the central region of the country in Benton, Louisiana, at Holly Hill Farm. Throughout the summer, the remaining clinics on the East and West Coast will follow. At each clinic, 12 hand-selected riders will participate in a two-day clinic led by USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) coaches. The purpose of the EA21 program is to create a pipeline for potential team riders by identifying and developing young talent, improving horsemanship and riding skills, and training and improving skills and consistency. The intention is to provide young athletes with access to an added level of horsemanship and riding skills to further their training and skill development with greater consistency.
After the first day of competition, Canadian Olympian Colleen Loach and her horse FE Golden Eye lead an international field in the CCI4*-L division of the MARS Bromont CCI.