Myakka City, Fla.—March 30—At the end of the second dressage session in The Estates at TerraNova CCI4*-S, Will Coleman (USA) took the morning lead with a whopping 19.6 with the stunning Chin Tonic HS (Chin Champ x Wildera). Coleman and the Hyperion Stud LLC-owned Holsteiner gelding won the Carolina International CCI4*-S two weeks ago.
Coleman was the only rider in the CCI4*-S to break the 80% mark, receiving 81.67 and 79.17 from Judges Jane Hamlin (USA) and Debbie Adams (USA) for his elegant, flowing test.
“I thought he did a fine test today,” Coleman said. “He’s a very good horse on the flat. He’s been in a really good place this year, I’m pretty happy with him. He continues to get a little better each year, and that’s the idea with all these horses, you keep trying to strive for a little bit more. He’s normally quite a hot-blooded horse, so I thought he was very relaxed today and that was nice to see.”
Due to the number of entries in the CCI4*-S, the dressage was split into two sessions over Thursday and Friday and all competitors had show jumping on Friday afternoon.
Michel Vaillancourt (CAN), FEI Level 4 Course Designer, normally designs show jumping tracks and is now broadening his repertoire by building more eventing show jumping courses.
“This is a very big event, so the courses are very technical,” Vaillancourt said. “They’re at maximum height for every group. I don’t back off on them, I build as technical as I would for show jumping, I think that’s the future [of eventing]. The questions are a little bit of everything, short distances, long distances, as to test the rideability of the horses.”
Vaillancourt’s 1.25m course for the CCI4*-S consisted of 15 jumping efforts, including a triple bar at fence three, a triple combination with a two stride to a one stride, and a double combination on the rail in front of the packed competitor’s party in the VIP Pavilion. Optimum time was 77 seconds. Seven of the 52 riders crossed the timers over the optimum time and garnered time faults.
With a smooth round around Vaillancourt’s track, Coleman and Chin Tonic HS left the poles in the cups and head into cross-country on day three of competition on their 19.6 dressage score.
“I thought Chin jumped well, I was pretty pleased with how he read everything and I thought he tried really hard, he was really careful,” Coleman said. “I thought the course rode according to plan, it was a good course. It had some good technical questions. We all have a lot of respect [for Vaillancourt], it was great to see him here, making today an influential day.”
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Be Cool (Heritage Fortunus x HHS Carlotta), owned by Ocala Horse Properties LLC and The Monster Partnership, crossed the timers right on optimum time to hold their second-place spot with a 26.6. With clear rounds and coming in under the time allowed, Liz Halliday-Sharp with Shanroe Cooley and Caroline Martin on HSH Blake held their dressage tie to move from seventh to third. Halliday-Sharp and the Ocala Horse Properties-owned “Dave” (Dallas VDL x Shanroe Sapphire), a 2015 bay Irish Sport Horse gelding, will start cross-country on their 28.1.
Martin and the 8-year-old black Irish Sport Horse gelding HSH Blake (Tolan R. x Doughiska Lass), owned by Martin, Sherrie Martin and Mollie Hoff, will head out of the start box also on their 28.1.
Due to the predicted high temperatures for Saturday, CCI4*-S cross-country start times were moved to the top of the schedule. The first rider leaves the start box at 8:45 a.m. The CCI3*-S cross-country will start at 11:46 a.m.
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The countdown to the 2024 United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is getting shorter and the tentative schedule is officially set! For the second year in a row, the AEC returns to the iconic Kentucky Horse Park from August 27 through September 1 and will offer 26 divisions, including brand new Starter divisions and all levels of recognized evening up through the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.
What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.