United States Eventing Association

USEA EA21 Athlete Megan Hopkins Leads the Field in CCI3*-S at Virginia Horse Center

The Virginia Horse Center was bustling with activity during day one of Virginia Horse Center Eventing horse trials, presented by Capital Square. A total of four FEI divisions and six national divisions kicked off the competition weekend. Two long-format competitions, a CCI1*-L and a CCI2*-L, completed their dressage tests on Friday, May 23rd, while the CCI2*-S and CCI3*-S tackled two phases— dressage and show jumping.

At just 17-years-old, Megan Hopkins was surprised to find herself at the top of a tough leaderboard after the conclusion of both dressage and show jumping in the CCI3*-S. She’s riding her own Altaskin Jack (Ars Vivendi x Zerzie), who she purchased from four-star event rider James Sommerville. Sommerville campaigned “Jack” at the four-star level from 2019 to 2022 and now the Irish Sport Horse is teaching Hopkins the ropes.

“He’s the first “I-know-my-job” schoolmaster horse I’ve had,” Hopkins said of the 16-year-old gelding. “It’s really helpful because before him I didn't have a ton of confidence and I had just been running at the two-star level before him. Now that I have him, I really feel like all of my goals and dreams are coming to life.”

Hopkins just moved up to the Intermediate level this spring; this weekend is her first attempt at the three-star level. “This was definitely a big event for me to come to and I'm really just hoping to finish with a really positive run,” Hopkins said. “I was not expecting to jump into the lead or be so competitive after dressage.”

Show jumping has not been Hopkins and Jack’s favorite phase. Feeling the pressure of being able to take the lead, Hopkins’ show jumping warm up didn’t exactly go to plan. “Warm up was not quite ideal,” she said. “I was really nervous and stressed coming into the show jumping, but I kinda just knew what I had to do. I knew I needed to put my leg on, tell him where to go, and let the fences come to me.”

Hopkins early success this weekend has been shaped by the lessons she learned in the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) National Camp in January. “David [O’Connor] is really good with finding one or two things that each of us needed to work on,” Hopkins said. “He immediately told me to stop nitpicking, stop overthinking. Get him underneath you and just go do the job. It immediately helped our show jumping and our cross-country.”

Emily Hamel is leading the way in the CCI2*-L division aboard the Kingston (Verdi x Ulette), owned by Black Flag Option, with a score of 31.5. The pair is holding the lead by just a tenth of a point. A 15.3 hand Dutch Warmblood gelding, Kingston may be smaller than your average event horse, but he is a certified powerhouse. Despite it being his first attempt at an FEI this weekend, Kingston scored his lowest dressage score yet. Typically scoring in the mid- to high- 30s, the 10-year-old gelding dropped his average score by at least five points.

“It's a good time to have your best score for sure,” Hamel said, chuckling. “He came from a jumper background in Europe, so dressage has been the trickiest part. I was really pleased for him. We've been working hard and clearly it paid off, so I was really proud of his try today.”

Kingston is still a new partnership for Hamel. Her trainer, Grant Wilson, found Kingston for Hamel in Belgium. Hamel was lucky enough to fly through Amsterdam a few weeks later. During her layover, she took a quick drive from the airport to test ride Kingston and decided to bring him home— if only that was as simple as booking an extra seat.

Over the last several months, Hamel has been introducing him to the world of eventing. This weekend marks his first attempt at an FEI event. “I got him in November so it's still a pretty new partnership,” Hamel said. “I've got such a strong partnership with my five-star horse, [Corvett], so bringing these younger horses along is just a bit different. But he's really fun. He loves the job. He's got a really cool personality—he's just a happy go lucky guy.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s cross-country course, Hamel said the terrain is first and foremost on her mind. “I think they’ve done a great job with the course,” she said. “I think the biggest thing, at least for me and my horses, is the terrain. We're in Aiken full-time now, so we don't have nearly as many hills. I'm just hoping that I did the fitness work, but I mean the course is beautiful and I do love coming to this event. It's so stunning with the backdrop of the mountains.”

With four horses to compete this weekend, three in the CCI2*-S, Lucienne Bellissimo is holding all of the top three spots on the CCI2*-S leaderboard with Duke’s Jory, Tremanton, and Qatar M (all owned by Horse Scout Eventing) respectively. Bellissimo says she’s been very carefully nurturing Duke’s Jory (Duke of Hearts XX x Zajora) up the levels over the last five years.

“I’ve produced him very, very slowly, because he's done a lot of growing,” she said. “I got him as a 5-year-old at about 16.1 hands. He's now 17.2 hands just a couple of years later. So I've really taken my time with him. He's a beautiful, moving horse.”

With a score of 23.8, it’s clear that the time she’s taken to produce the Holsteiner gelding to this level is paying off. “He was very rideable today on his test, which is good because his work at home has been super and he did very well at the one star level last season,” Bellissimo said. “I was hoping to start to get into the low 20s on him at two-star this year.”

Bellissimo is using VHC Eventing, presented by Capital Square, as a test of fitness for the now 8-year-old. “There's a lot of blood about him,” she said. “But with that, he's also still quite weak. So I've taken my time, and my intention this year is just to consolidate him at two star. And I believe in him very much, so for the long run as a proper, proper four- or five-star prospect, but he just needs to strengthen up.”

That being said, the rolling terrain at the Virginia Horse Center will be the biggest test of Duke’s Jory’s fitness yet. While Bellissimo feels he’s ready, she’s planning on playing it safe for his first time around such a big course.

“I don't want to knock him off balance,” Bellissimo said. “We'll see how he feels. Obviously it would be lovely to try and keep him in the lead if I can, but if for any reason, it feels as though he's a little bit worried about the undulations, then we'll get a few time faults, but it would be nice to put a win on his record.”

Lisa Chan is holding onto the lead in the CCI1*-L division, riding her own 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Picture This (VDL Douglas x Cavacruise), with a score of 31.4. An adult amateur, Chan has owned “Dougie” for the last five years and has trained him up from the Beginner Novice level.

“We've had some you know growing pains, but it seems like it's starting to come together, so I'm really excited about that,” Chan said. “He used to be really tense and nervous like all the time and it seems like he's relaxing and enjoying showing now. He’s the best thing ever. He’s my whole world.”

Chan has been producing Dougie up the levels outside of her day job as a hairstylist. When she first purchased the gelding, she didn’t have too much eventing experience. “We’ve learned and grown together,” she said. “It’s honestly been really special. I want to just have fun with him, but to do a two star would be cool.”

Originally native to Virginia, Chan says she’s been coming to VHC Eventing for years. “Virginia is my favorite event,” she said. “It’s beautiful. The cross-country is simply wonderful, it’s well-organized.”

Preliminary through Advanced national divisions kicked off the horse trial portion of the weekend today. Tomorrow the remaining national divisions that have yet to compete will get underway. All FEI divisions will tackle the cross-country courses, designed by Jay Hambly, starting with the CCI3*-S at 9:35 a.m. Tomorrow evening, VHC Eventing is welcoming competitors to a party from 4 to 6 p.m. on the hill, sponsored by Triple Crown. The vendor row will be open tomorrow from the start of competition until the end of the day. Competitors and spectators can enjoy shopping a variety of tack, equipment, clothing, and more!