United States Eventing Association

Tricks and Treats in the CCI4*-L at The Eventing Championships at Galway Downs

Temecula, Calif.—Oct. 31—The field of competitors at the Eventing Championships at Galway Downs CCI4*-L bring together a wealth of experience to contest the final FEI competition on the West Coast calendar.

Each rider in the division has competed abroad for the U.S. and represented the nation in competition in both team and individual appearances, making this an exciting division to watch not only for its own sake but also for the future of the sport.

Third in the ring, Tamra Smith and the Kynan Syndicate LLC’s 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Kynan (Envoy x Danieta) lead the way with a 32.3. The syndicate is made up of longtime supporter Ruth Bley, Beth Lendrum, and Steve, Darlene, and Adelaide Rudkin.

“He's a really special horse. He's just turning 9, and he's come on really well with his strength,” Smith said. They had beautiful quality of work until the flying changes where the atmosphere and Kynan’s fitness led to exuberant expression and late swaps. “I was super pleased with him, with all the trot in the walk, and then I blew it on the last half of the test. But nothing to be disappointed about! Mostly he just needs to learn how to be a professional.”

Purchased as a prospect from Matt Flynn, Smith has always had an eye towards producing Kynan to the top of the sport. His sensitivity has not always worked in their favor.

“He used to freeze and almost stop breathing,” she explained. “Now I think he was actually proud of himself, and he just showed it a little too exuberantly. When he first did it, I was like, ugh, and then I started laughing, because I'm just like, 'You're so cute. Yeah, you think you're so special!' But that's part of producing him. That's what's fun about it.”

But Smith has no doubt that one day Kynan will prove his mettle and achieve the success she sees in his future. That confidence may serve her well as there is very little breathing room between herself and her student, Molly Duda on her own Disco Traveler (Donatelli x Cadence). Duda and "Disco" sit on a score of 32.9, less than 2 time faults behind Smith. Whether she is competitive or not however, Duda is over the moon with her partnership with the 14-year-old U.S.-bred Oldenburg.

“I'm just so proud of Disco and how he stepped up this season,” Duda exclaimed. “We never knew whether he would be able to or would want to go four-star. I think he's definitely proved to us all that it's well within his reach.”

Duda, who balances being a full-time business economics student at UCLA and an international sporting career, trains on the weekends with Smith. Marked improvements in her dressage from January to now show in the cleanest flying changes of the whole competition when Disco had always struggled with them.

“It's never exactly to plan,” she muses of her dressage test. “There are always things I wish I had done differently. But overall, I think I'm starting to get to that next level of collection that's required at the four-star level.”

Jennie Brannigan sits in third with her own and Nina and Tim Gardener’s FE Connory (Conrato x Hocaponta). The 12-year-old Holsteiner was first in the ring and earned a 36.3 from the ground jury made of Anne Mitte Binder (DEN), Valerie Pride (USA), and Xavier Le Sauce (FRA). Some exuberant flying changes marred what would otherwise have been a consistent and rhythmic test.

The final competitor of the division was James Alliston on Alliston Equestrian’s Cora (Commissario x La-Montana). The 9-year-old Hanoverian mare struggled to relax in the walk, a costly error in the mare’s first CCI4*-L which earned them a 37.1.

“The walk, I'll get murdered for it,” Alliston rued. “Her walk can be fragile. She jigs easily. Always kind of has. I can have it [in warm-up] pretty good. But when you add just a little bit of nervous energy, yeah, it goes.”

Alliston found the mare as a relatively unbroken 6-year-old in Germany. On the say-so of a good friend and a more affordable price tag, he and his wife Helen Alliston, fellow FEI competitor, decided to take the risk on this massive mare who displayed beautiful movement, an excellent temperament, and all the parts on paper of a horse capable of competing in upper level eventing.

Three years later, he is making their first start at the level together at a venue he thinks will set her up for success.

“Typically it would be quicker ground [at Galway Downs],” he commented. “She's a big horse, so I wouldn't want to go back east and it rain a lot with heavy footing. She did the two-star here last year, so she's a bit familiar with the venue. We've jumped in some of the waters, and I think it's definitely a little bit of a help, rather than a totally fresh venue, right?”

The Clayton Frederick’s designed cross-country course has the riders thinking carefully all the way around with big combinations from the beginning to the end.

“Clayton did a really good job with getting it to be more of a flow, and there's some technical questions, but I think they're all right there,” Smith remarked. “The horses should read everything well. I'm a little bit nervous about the coffin being at fence 26; that's a little nerve wracking. It’s extremely strong, and that will be our influential question I think.”

“There's a pretty tricky corner line in the back,” Duda remarked. James also brought up the same corner line as one for concern. “It's a cabin going in and then to two corners, and there's like, a little bit of a terrain. Very large corners, more than 90 degrees, off very tight turns. That's definitely going to be a rider accuracy test, just holding the line.”

Competition resumes for the CCI4*-L at 11:30 a.m. PST for the cross-country where we will see just how those combinations ride.

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