United States Eventing Association

Norwood, N.C. – For most of the day it appeared that the top of the leaderboard would stay relatively fixed at The Fork International CIC*** and Adequan USEA Gold Cup/PRO Tour Series.

Then, Phillip Dutton (Unionville, Penn.) riding Shamwari 4, and Will Faudree (Hoffman, N.C.) riding Pawlow entered the arena, and grabbed the top two spots near the end of the afternoon.

Faudree and Pawlow, the fifteen-year-old Irish Thoroughbred, owned by Jennifer Mosing, got the ball rolling. Their test was clearly going to make its mark from the moment they entered the ring. With Pawlow’s stablemates, Andromaque and DHI Colour Candy, ranking in the middle of the pack, Faudree had his sights set on besting those marks, and he did. Immediately following Faudree came Dutton aboard Shamwari 4.

Dutton and Shamwari 4 looked like a pair of old friends out for an easy weekend ride. One never would have known that Dutton was riding the twelve-year-old Hanoverian gelding as a favor for his friend Boyd Martin.

Martin, Shamwari 4’s normal rider since the horse was imported to the U.S. last fall, suffered a well-publicized broken leg at the Carolina CIC just a few weeks earlier. Not only did Dutton and Shamwari 4 look at ease with each other but they set the top mark for the day earning a 45.9.

While Dutton and Faudree had the wind in their sails to edge ahead of Allison Springer (Upperville, Va.) and Arthur’s score from yesterday, the wind was also wreaking havoc in the dressage arena.

Nearing the last quarter of Buck Davidson’s test on Ballynoe Castle RM, the entire B side of the arena was blown to the ground. The pair didn’t miss a beat and put in a respectable 48.9.

“That’s Reggie. He is just a pro, and is unaffected by what is going on around him,” said Davidson.

Davidson felt that the ride on “Reggie” was a much better one than his test on Petite Flower earlier in the competition and that the two tests were “not comparable,” yet the score was only 3.3 points better than that of Petite Flower. Despite the windy conditions, Davidson and Reggie moved into sixth place, tied with three other pairs.

At the end of the day, twenty four riders were tied in nine different sets. The top fifteen riders are separated by less than five points.

The dressage judges, Harry Payne and Alain James, were scoring relatively consistently with each other for most of the day, and the majority of their scores were within two points of each other. However, the judges did not seem to see eye-to-eye on the ride of Marilyn Little and the USEA 2013 Horse and Mare of the Year RF Demeter. Over seven points separated the two judges’ scores when they had finished evaluating the ride put in by Little and “Demi”.

Little noted that she felt that it was a “nice and relaxed test” in which they “didn’t leave anything on the table.” While Little, the consummate professional, was ever-composed in her interview, she understandably noted that “as a professional rider, my horse’s owners want to know why a judge doesn’t like their horse.” However, Little explained that it is all a part of a larger plan with the twelve-year-old mare, who won the Carolina International CIC*** just a couple of weeks ago.

The top twenty-six riders are within two rails of each other going into Saturday’s show jumping. Keep up our live updates on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Go here for live scores.

About the Adequan USEA Gold Cup and PRO Tour Series
Qualifying for the 2014 Adequan USEA Gold Cup began last fall with the Plantation Field CIC*** (PA) and the Woodside CIC*** (CA) and features 11 qualifying competitions throughout the United States at the Advanced Horse Trials and CIC3* levels. The final will take place at the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships September 2014 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; Standlee Forage 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 2013/2014 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 2014 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 2014 PRO Tour Series: 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; Optimum Time, the Official Timing System of the PRO Tour Series; SSG Riding Gloves; Midlantic Ltd.; and Triple Crown Nutrition.