United States Eventing Association

Zero Cross-Country Jumping Penalties for WEG U.S. Eventing Team at Prep Event

The U.S. Land Rover eventing team jumped clear around the cross-country course at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia this morning. Chef d’Equipe David O’Connor set the shortened course up to be a series of exercises similar to what competitors may see in Normandy, France at the World Equestrian Games one month from now. Horses and riders finished full of confidence and looking ahead to a promising World Games experience.

“This was not supposed to be a test, it was supposed to be preparation,” O’Connor said. “This was preparing the horses in the best way and thinking about all the three different phases. We wanted dressage in a place that had atmosphere… and last night was just unbelievable. You had [several thousand] people there watching show jumping adding the environment for the horses and the riders under pressure.

"There was a great crowd today, but the questions were more about stuff that everybody is going to need to practice, like a half-circle, we’re going to see that in Normandy. A lot of the exercises were set on three strides because this course designer uses that three strides a lot—three to an angle, three to a corner. That was the idea of it.”

The conditions today were ideal for the horses. It was cool with no sun, and the footing received high praise. “The turf here at Great Meadows has the ability to be the best with their ability to irrigate and produce the same footing every single time that the riders need to do something. That’s a huge benefit for the riders to feel like they’re preparing their horses and can go and put everything on the line, leaving nothing on the table,” O’Connor said.

According to O’Connor, the only one of the group who has seen the WEG venue, the footing is brand new and the terrain is very hilly. “We’re expecting it to be a cross-country dominated competition.”

Kim Severson is one of the most experienced riders on the team and was a member of the gold medal winning team at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. At a press conference this afternoon, she was the first to say this has been the best prep event for a major championships that the team has ever had.

“The final outings are generally not as smooth as this was,” Severson said. “I think David did a great job with giving us enough to jump without feeling like it was too much. The ground couldn’t have been better and show jumping was great. I was very pleased. If I was still a selector I would be very pleased with today.”

With each combination setting out on course with varying instructions depending on the development of the horse in preparation for the Games, it is not surprising that the leaderboard changed after cross-country.

“Traditionally these [prep events] have been difficult because when you set out you’re not out there to win, you’re just trying to give your horse a good ride,” Phillip Dutton said. “Sometimes on cross-country being a little tentative is not ideal, but the jumps were big enough that you had to ride at them.”

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice, an alternate horse for Dutton, powered around the course. “Happy” jumped out of his skin and was full of running at the finish. They moved into the lead before the final pair, Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM, started.

“Everybody wants their horses really fit before we get to France so it was a good chance to have a proper gallop,” Dutton said. “All credit to the organizers; we couldn’t have hoped for a better weekend.”

Davidson and “Reggie” also had a focused run, stopping the clock just one second over the optimum time, which put them 0.2 penalties behind Dutton and Happy to finish second.

Great Meadow was the perfect host to the WEG Prep Event. During the awards ceremony, the riders thanked the organizers and the spectators for all their support. It was also announced that 170 acres adjacent to the property will be purchased to expand upon the course, bringing eventing back to Great Meadow in the quest to bring medals back to America.

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