The Stable View CCI4*-S, held April 5-6 in Aiken, South Carolina, was an exciting preview of what's to come in three weeks' time at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, with several top pairs getting their final prep runs in.
We were there to capture all of the action and chat with Boyd Martin, who led the division from start to finish on Commando 3. Check out our coverage here and see some of our favorite photos below!
One of the important concepts that event riders of all levels should understand, and practice is how the dressage flatwork carries over into the show jumping and cross-country phases. Don’t forget, the word dressage, translated from French, literally means training.
While Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent started the weekend at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L a bit down the leaderboard in a tie for eighth after dressage, the world No. 1 can never be ruled out for a five-star win. Townend and “Rosie” climbed the leaderboard yesterday with just .4 time penalties on cross-country, and today they earned a nail-biting win after both the leader, fellow British rider Tom McEwen on JL Dublin, and second-placed Brit Yasmin Ingham on Banzai du Loir, had single rails over Steve Stephens’ show jumping course.
Will Coleman gets cold calls for horse sales all the time. So when he got an email from agent Sharon Ridgeway who was representing a horse in Australia, it almost went in the bin with the rest of them.
The Ground Jury was busy this morning assessing the 40 horses that presented in the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event Cosequin CCI4*-S and the remaining 25 pairs in the CCI5*-L.