by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 24, 2021
The re-do of the American eventing calendar was “a daunting task” for the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s eventing bid review group, according to USEF Eventing Sport Committee Chairman Mike Huber.
The reorganization left the Jersey Fresh International without the FEI (international) 4-star and 3-star Long and 4-star Short sections from 2023 through 2027. Although the 2022 edition of the event could have been held with those divisions, sponsors understandably didn’t want to back a competition that would not be continuing. (For more information, see this link)
Explaining the work of the bid review group, headed by Olympic cross-country course designer Derek di Grazia, Mike noted the calendar had been “a little bit of a free-for-all” for years. He mentioned that the late Roger Haller (whose family founded the Essex Horse Trials) was one of the first people to recognize the situation and took a look at solving it.
Mike Huber, head of the USEF Eventing Sport Committee chairman.
“There had to be some sort of a master plan. That’s what this project was meant to do, to try to have some control over what was happening and have a process not just for events that were already there, but for new events to have an opportunity and maybe have big backing on it where it would improve the sport all around,” Mike said.
He mentioned there was a plan “that the competitions all would be in a flow chart that made it best for high performance (riders) to prepare themselves; the Shorts to prepare for the Longs, the Longs preparing for the qualification to go the following year to a 5-star
“When you had a calendar that had been in place for a long time without much real disruption or correction, you then see yourself one day looking and saying. `Wow, these (divisions) aren’t really where we want them to be and at the time we want them to be.’ I hope we got it right. People worked very hard on this.
“I feel initially for some it will be painful and maybe for others, there will be an adjustment having to work toward a certain weekend. The whole idea was to make a better calendar for all. I feel badly for any event that didn’t get what they were hoping for. It was a difficult decision and we were looking to make the best caliber we could come up with,” added Mike, a double gold medalist at the 1987 Pan American Games and veteran of two World Equestrian Games, who served as the youngest president of the U.S. Eventing Association when he was in his early 30s.
He pointed out, “there are probably more venues than there are horses to run in them. What you don’t want to do is have a 4-star Short every weekend and have 20 horses in each class. There had to be a way to make these classes competitive. It’s good for Areas II (NJ, Pa., Md, Del., Va., NC) and III (Tenn., SC, Miss., Ala., Ga and Fla.) that there are that many events vying for those competitions. Any that didn’t get what they wanted, or an FEI event, certainly should continue to run their national event.”
In 2023 at the Horse Park of New Jersey, where Jersey Fresh has been the headline competition since 2003, the facility’s national-level offerings will include a group of divisions from Beginner Novice through Intermediate, headed by an Advanced horse trials the weekend of June 17.
“As time goes on,” Mike said, “there will be adjustments and changes that can be looked at as new events come along and older events improve. If an event that has been awarded the contract does not fulfill their obligations or quality is not as promised, they could be changed out.”
Being awarded a date “is not a guarantee. You have to fulfill your obligations,” whether it’s prize money or the footing or anything else, Mike emphasized, saying an event could lose its privilege and its date could be re-opened for bidding.
As an example, he cited the Foxhall event outside of Atlanta, which was a national championship that debuted in 2000 and once vied with Britain’s Badminton as the world’s richest event. It disappeared five years later, with organizers citing lack of a spectator base to keep it going.
“Anything can happen,” said Mike.
“Ultimately, we’ll be ready for whatever comes down.”
The most discussion was about the length of time selected for the events to run on the basis of the group’s decision, with some wanting more and others wanting less than five years, Mike said. But five years was selected “because an event is going to make investments…they don’t want to do that if they think in a year or two they are going to lose it.”
Interestingly, the new TerraNova facility in Myakka City, Fla., east of Bradenton and Sarasota, Fla., never ran a horse trials before it was awarded a 4-star Short, which debuted this weekend with 16 entries.
Asked how TerraNova got the okay without a track record, Mike said, “they have a proven team,” mentioning course designer Mark Phillips and Shelley Howerton Page.
Leslie Law and Lady Chatterley won the 4-star Short this weekend at TerraNova, the newest competition on the eventing calendar. (Al Green Photo)
There was, Mike explained, “a lot of stock put into that. They had a proven team that showed they could get things done.”
MaryAnn Musal, a show jumper who lives near TerraNova but never visited until this weekend, said, “it is obvious no expense was spared for the welfare of the horses, or for the competitor and spectator experience. The attention to detail right down to the temporary bathrooms, shuttles for spectators from the parking area and unbelievable footing for the horses was amazing. I can’t wait to attend a jumper show at that venue.”
Mike commented that one problem involves the fact that there’s no regulation on how big classes have to be.
“One event runs an advanced class with 35 to 40 horses in it, that’s what coaches want to see, they want to see those riders go head to head.”
But if another event splits the division, when a rider in one section is touting the fact that he got fifth place, realistically he probably would have finished lower if the event had not been split.
“It happens at all levels because local horse trials want people to come back to their event and people want a ribbon. It’s an odd mindset, but it’s an American mindset. We see this in schools where everyone gets a trophy and no one is a loser.”
The idea of the calendar change is to get bigger classes and push people so they are not satisfied with third place.
“This is why the amount of competitions, whether they be Short or Long, is being controlled for a reason. We want these people to compete head to head. That’s what it’s all about; that’s what’s going to make them better and make those competitions healthier, because they have a full complement of entries as a result of, fewer but better-attended competitions.
“Jersey will be running an Advanced Horse Trials and should take pride in that and make that better,” continued Mike, noting with that perspective, Jersey “could eventually slot into going back into the FEI category, if that’s what they support.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 15, 2021
Ian Stark is as intense as the cross-country course he has designed for the first Maryland 5-Star event at Fair Hill. It will be tested tomorrow afternoon by a top international field of competitors who have talked about little else at the venue except the route he laid out on the undulating acreage of the Fair Hill Natural Resources Center.
“If you see someone walking about with a green face, it’s me,” he predicted.
In his riding days, Ian noted, his pre-cross-country sick stomach would vanish as soon as he got on a horse. But as a designer, he knows “it doesn’t go away until the last horse is home safely.”
The Scotsman, who liked to show up in a kilt for the horse inspection when he was competing at the top level, was an Olympic multi-medalist for Great Britain. At age 67, he now is as admired for his course designing as he was for his riding, but Fair Hill is his first 5-star. (He also has done the more lenient course for the 3-star, which is being held in the morning.)
His concern for the horses and riders is such that he lies awake rethinking what he has created before anyone jumps it. He recounted that one sleepless night in Britain, he felt the need to amend a fence for safety’s sake, calling the course builder to come out at 4 a.m. and fix it.
The Fair Hill fences are inventive, especially the Maryland Crab water complex at number 15 that features a drop of nearly two meters into the drink for horses after they jump over a carving of the iconic local crustacean. Then there’s the roller coaster, though in an effort not to scare the horses, he dispensed with the idea of having mannequins hanging upside down in the carriages. Most amusing are the keyhole owls, a double of 65-degree corners made of brush.
Ian Stark in his kilt for the horse inspection at Rolex Kentucky 2007. (Photo © 2007 by Nancy Jaffer)
Ian admits to a penchant for timber racing as a spectator, not a rider (Fair Hill has a history of it), which was the inspiration for the uphill rails at 13 AB. World number one eventer Oliver Townend of Great Britain, who continued to lead the 5-star field at the end of today’s dressage, said that type of fence hadn’t been seen on a cross-country course in 35 or 40 years.
The prospect of what everyone is calling a “meaty” cross-country course is what lured Tim Price of New Zealand and his wife, Jonnelle, to Maryland from their base in England. Tim, second on Xavier Faer, and Jonelle,16th with Classic Moet, were looking for the type of 5-star test that suited their horses.
‘With no Burghley (cancelled for the second year in a row), and France’s, Pau 5-star dismissed as “flat and fast” Tim said about Ian’s route, “We believe this is a true cross-country test.”
Of the new event, he said, “It feels like it’s going have its own brand of 5-star. It’ s not like another 5-star, which is just brilliant.”
Tim collected 24.3 penalties, unable to catch Oliver (21.1 penalties) due to a flying change issue.He explained his horse can get “discombobulated,” but at least he is improving on the flying change front.He used to get one of four changes in the test; now Tim is happy he gets three of four..
Tim Price and Xavier Faer. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Interestingly, Tim and Oliver finished 1-2 at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star in April, though Oliver was on Ballaghmor Class, rather than Cooley Master Class, his Fair Hill mount.
We’re looking at a Kentucky rematch, especially since the USA’s Boyd Martin, fourth at the spring 5-star with On Cue, was third with her today, having polished his test to the level of 25 penalties.
Calling the dressage “a work in progress,” Boyd said of On Cue, “I was really happy with her. She’s everything you dream of in a horse. She’s flamboyant, she’s extravagant, a real lady.”
Boyd Martin and On Cue. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Living in Pennsylvania just 20 minutes from Fair Hill, he is understandably enthusiastic about having a new event in his backyard.
Asked about the character of the facility in the Fair Hill Event Zone, he said, “It’s a bit different. Everything feels pretty close, where in Kentucky, you feel like everyone’s above you.
“It’s a great ring, beautiful footing, fantastic set-up with the spectators.”
Of the cross-country course, which he called, “horrendously difficult,” he contended, “It’s big time. I think even the best horse and best rider could slip up somewhere. It’s really going to determine the competition. No need to get too wound up about the dressage scores today,” Boyd pointed out with a grin.
Zara Tindall attracted a lot of attention on Class Affair, and not just because her white-legged chestnut is an eye-catcher. Zara is the daughter of Mark Phillips (who was ringside) and his ex-wife, Princess Anne of Great Britain. But her credentials are far more than that; she is a former World and European eventing champion.
Zara Tindall and Class Affair. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“Is she Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter?” one eager white-haired gentlemen asked when he spied her warming up for her dressage test.
Zara is incredibly gracious. Even when she was in a hurry to watch fellow Brit Harry Meade compete, she agreed to posing for a photo with a persistent young man who had requested a picture.
Zara Tindall and Class Affair. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Known for her cross-country acumen, Zara is 15th on 30.4 penalties, but could move up after Saturday afternoon. Class Affair is not an easy ride. Zara spotted him as a 7-year-old, and five years later, she still has work to do.
“His trot work is good and then he just gets ahead of himself. He’s getting there and he’s had a year of doing absolutely nothing.” She said he could have done with,a big test.
Oliver was on hand to give her tips, and emphasized “being positive in your test,” she noted.
“He’s very good at that, and that’s how you get the top marks.”
She said the horse “is getting better and better each year,” despite the lack of work.
“He’s got loads of talent but his brain kind of overtakes it all. But he’s great fun and a great jumper. He’s just very talented. He can do it all. You just have to manage him. He’s a really good jumper and he loves to gallop. He’s brave and all those things you need in an event horse.”
She’d like to get to Burghley and Badminton next year and see how it goes.
“He’s a great 5-star horse. Whether or not his brain is good enough for championships, I don’t know,” she replied when I asked whether she is aiming for the 2023 World Championships or the 2024 Paris Olympics.
About the cross-country at Fair Hill, she said her biggest concern is “my fitness. I think he’ll be okay.” Noting “there’s a lot do do” on the route, she added, “Hopefully I’m fit enough and I won’t need oxygen when I get off.”
For 5-star dressage results, click here
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 14, 2021
He’s the number one-ranked eventer in the world, so where did you expect he’d be on the first day of the first Maryland 5-star at Fair Hill?
That’s right, Great Britain’s Oliver Townend is in the lead, performing a slick and well-modulated dressage test with the vastly experienced Cooley Master Class, a two-time winner of the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star.
Oliver Townend was understandably thrilled with Cooley Master Class’s dressage test. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He seems to thrive in America,” mused Oliver about the 16-year-old Irishbred, noting, “he’s never felt as happy.”
The bay gelding competed at Kentucky again last spring, but was spun at the final horse inspection due to a “very frustrating cut” that Oliver compared to a paper cut.
“He was sound to ride but obviously not sound to present. So that was that. We just regrouped. We don’t really run him that often.”
Oliver said he “quietly prepared him” for the 5-star, and was never competitive with him at a one-day event. “There’s nothing for him to really win at home,” explained Oliver. Burghley, Britain’s September 5-star, was cancelled this year, joining the spring 5-star, Badminton, as a no-go.
Oliver’s 21.1 penalties blew away the rest of the field that rode this afternoon. He’s well ahead of U.S. riders Hannah Sue Burnett (Harbour Pilot, another horse with lots of mileage) and Lynn Symansky (RF Cool Play in his first 5-star), tied on 28 penalties.
There are more riders to come tomorrow, including another Brit, Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Zara Tindall on Class Affair, and world number two Tim Price of New Zealand on Xavier Faer.
But all will be challenged by the course laid out by Scottish Olympic medalist Ian Stark, whom Oliver called, “A very big hero of mine.”
“It’s going to be a very, very tough day on Saturday,” predicted Oliver, who cited the terrain for which Fair Hill is named as a key factor adding to the difficulty of the route.
Cooley Master Class produced a smooth test reflective of his experience. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
He cited one fence, rails going up a hill, as something that probably hasn’t been used for the last 35 to 40 years. The whole test will be complicated by temperatures predicted to go into the 80s.
According to Lynn, “the course is amazing and absolutely terrifying.”
The Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area, the former William DuPont estate, has hosted a featured eventing competition since 1989. The Fair Hill Special Events Zone, a short hack from the original, more rustic eventing site, is brand new and will be the scene of many more activities, including racing.
The look of the new venue is spectacularly modern, with lots of glass and chrome and big grandstands, but the vibe is intimate according to Hannah Sue.
Horses can “really feel the atmosphere,” she said, “but not in an electric way.”
Her mount, she revealed, seemed to confide, “You brought me somewhere worthy of me.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 11, 2021
It was a rematch of an encounter we’ve seen many times in four-in-hand driving competition: Chester Weber vs. Jimmy Fairclough.
Chester, who could have gone to events closer to his Ocala, Fla., home rather than the Garden State Combined Driving Event at the Horse Park of New Jersey last weekend, made the choice to come north because it was the 2021 national championship. He had won the title 17 times previously and was going for number 18.
Chester Weber and his team en route in the marathon. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Jimmy, Chester’s teammate on the historic gold medal world championships squad in 2018, also was Chester’s first trainer. Chester attended Blair Academy in Blairstown, near Jimmy’s Sussex County home, where he got involved with what would become “something about which I’m super passionate,” as he put it.
They were the only two in their division. It’s a hard time of year to stage a show, with Tryon two weeks ago and Southern Pines coming up. Also, competing a four-in-hand is an expensive and time-consuming proposition, and it’s more popular in Europe than it is here. And as noted by Jimmy, who has won a few national championships himself, init’s “difficult times with Covid; it’s hard to get horses fit for one show.”
But both Chester and Jimmy are world-class and proficient at what they do, so it made things interesting for those watching.
Chester said “we’ve been working super-hard through Covid, evidenced by showing up here and having a 37 (penalty) dressage.”
Although Jimmy, 63, said he would retire from international competition after the 2018 gold, he still trains at home as if he were going to a big event.
“I do this because I love it, 44 years or something,” he said. It helped that Taz Lester and his wife, Amber, came back to help Jimmy at the competition.
Jimmy Fairclough and his team speeding out of the water obstacle. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Next year is the world championships in Italy, and both Chester and Jimmy would like to go.
“I just bought two new horses. I still can play and do it,” said Jimmy, but noted he runs a fuel business and can’t always take time off to travel to competitions.
Of the world championships, he said, “I’m not looking to do it, but if it happens and the horses are all good and there’s money there to go, I’m in. I can’t stop–it’s just too many years.”
Misdee Wrigley, Chester and Jimmy’s 2018 teammate who is training with Boyd Exell, the 2018 world champion, is also a candidate. So it looks like the band might get back together.
Chester, 46, hopes to spend much of summer 2022 in Europe preparing for the championships.
“It just depends a little bit on what’s happening with Covid,” he pointed out, but noted some of the World Cup shows “are getting picked off already” by pandemic issues.
Chester Weber easily handled the newest obstacle at the Horse Park. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
He may be going for national title number 19 next year at his family’s Live Oak Plantation. The Ocala show, which also features a jumping World Cup Finals qualifier, has applied for the national four-in-hand championship but the date has yet to be awarded.
“I think, with complete humility, being a multi-discipline show with a budget that’s seven figures, it has some things that a lot of the national driving shows just don’t have yet. But we have high hopes again for Live Oak and we’re excited about that,” Chester said.
He won the dressage phase at the Horse Park handily, with 37.67 penalties to Jimmy’s 51.67. The marathon was closer; Chester’s team had 100.86 penalties while Jimmy finished with 109.16.
Noting how difficult it is to build a national championships marathon course for singles and teams at the same event, Chester pointed that’s a challenge that only someone like Richard Nicoll can do, with his experience designing at several World Equestrian Games..
Jimmy won the cones section (5.35 penalties), while Chester’s score was 6.94. Chester claimed the championship, 145.47 to 166.18, with his horses, Amadeus, First Edition, Ideaal, Julius V and Reno.
“I had a couple of bobbles, I think I was a little rusty, but they still ran good,” said Jimmy of Bento V, Citens, Dapper, Jonkers Justice, Tibor and Zeppelin Lets.
Also going for another national championship at Garden State was Taylor Bradish of South Carolina, who took the singles title last year.
Taylor, a 26-year-old professional trainer, began driving when she rode for a family in Arizona where the husband drove. She didn’t compete then, but got into it when she went to work for Jennifer Matheson in Aiken, S.C. six years ago. Jennifer, to whom Taylor expressed her thanks, came to watch the marathon.
Having driven at the Horse Park last year, she knew what to expect, but she had her hands full with the tight obstacles in the marathon, which she anticipates will be good practice for challenges she would encounter at next year’s world singles championships. Like Chester and Jimmy, she praised the work of Richard Nicoll, and saw his layout as a good test of herself and the 12-year-old Katydid Duchess.
“It was physically a very demanding marathon,but that’s what you should expect for a national championship The course designer, Richard Nicoll, was absolutely amazing,” said Taylor.
It rained during her cones competition and the carriage slid a bit as a result. She sees that as practice for the 2022 championships as well, since “most of the time in Europe, it’s raining.”
Full of determination, Taylor Bradish and navigator Maggie O’Leary with Katydid Duchess. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
The mare, who was up to the challenge, is by Danyloo, a German riding pony, and out of a Welsh/thoroughbred cross dam. The stallion won a gold medal in the single pony world championships as a six-year-old.
Although there are no hills on which to train in Aiken, Duchess easily handled the up-and-down Jersey terrain. She stays fit with plenty of work, a treadmill and a weekly visit to an Aquatread, while Taylor also rides her. In addition, there are dressage lessons with trainer Sarah Dodge in Aiken.
“I was very happy with her fitness. She was pulling my arms out in the last obstacle. She, I think, could have done a few more K (kilometers),” Taylor observed.
She was second in dressage and cones, but won the marathon handily which enabled her to wind up in first place overall with 142.47 penalties over Carrie Ostrowski and Gellerduht on 146.54. There were four in the division.
“We were missing a few,” said Taylor, “but it was still a very good competition.”
Now she’s looking ahead to 2022 and not only the championships, but also her wedding to Tyler Golden, who works in the field of health and safety but came to New Jersey as Duchess’s groom. Is that good practice for being Taylor’s groom next year?
Taylor’s navigator, with whom she had not driven previously, was Maggie O’Leary. She is the assistant trainer for Sarah Schmitt, who runs a stable in Annandale. Maggie had a turn in the driver’s seat herself during the Preliminary Single Horse section, where she won the marathon and was second overall with Emdora Hof.
See full list of results by clicking on link below:
Garden State Final with Horses
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 10, 2021
“Developing Future Stars” is the slogan of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Platinum Performance Show Jumping Talent Search. And judging by the ability on display this weekend at the competition in New Jersey, there soon will be lots of new stars in the sport’s universe.
The “East” section of the competition (the West section, won by Zoe Brown, was held last month in California) drew a field of 53 to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Gladstone facility, where every competition takes on a special luster because of its history. Being staged in the arena behind the stately stable where so many legendary horses and riders trained to represent their country adds extra pressure to an already stressful test.
Lynn Jayne was feeling it as her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, competed in the Final Four. That’s the climax of three days of competition, where the top quartet of riders–the cream that rose to the top after the flat, gymnastics and show jumping phases–competes over a shortened course and then rides the mounts of each of their rivals over the same route.
Natalie was the only one in the group who didn’t drop a rail during four rounds. Although the class rules state judges must deduct 4 points for a knockdown, the rest of the scoring except time faults is subjective based on the riders’ style, how they handle the course and deal with different horses.
Natalie Jayne at the awards ceremony, with judges Michael Tokaruk and Chris Kappler, Assistant U.S. Coach Anne Kursinski and DiAnn Langer,U.S. youth chef d’equipe to the left; trainers Andre Dignelli and Patricia Griffith to the right with Natalie’s mother, Lynn Jayne (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
While judges Chris Kappler and Michael Tokaruk said the top four were very close, a look at the results for that phase tells a slightly different story. Natalie’s score was 365, while runner-up Dominic Gibbs, the 2020 ASPCA Maclay winner, was marked at 359. Third with 336 was Audrey Schulze, who dropped rails twice at fence 4A, the oxer first element of a double, on her own ride, Mac One III and Dominic’s Cent 15. Audrey was one point ahead of Hampton Classic equitation champion Luke Jensen in fourth place.
Shortly after Natalie collected the championship ribbon, Lynn admitted, “It still hasn’t sunk in, my heart is in my throat still. But I’m really proud of her, she’s worked really hard.”
Lynn is Natalie’s “day-to-day trainer.” The Illinois high school senior also works with Andre Dignelli and Patricia Griffith at Heritage Farm in New York.
“It’s hard to train your daughter at this level,” explained Andre.
Lynn pointed out that her daughter is unfazed by what she faces in the ring.
“Pressure never gets to her. She thrives on it,” said Lynn.
“When you’re in the top four, there’s pressure to do well, but it doesn’t bother me that much,” agreed Natalie, winner of the 2020 and 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival Equitation Championships. Natalie was fifth on the flat in the Talent Search, sixth in gymnastics and third in this morning’s round.
Each of the riders had their moments in the sun over the weekend. Luke, a 17-year-old Texan who is a working student for Missy Clark, won Friday’s flat phase on Conthacco, better known as Taco, a horse leased from jumper rider Schuyler Riley. He didn’t have a groom at this competition and did all the work himself. Interestingly, his mother, Martha Jensen, is the sister of hunter star Hunt Tosh.
Natalie Jayne, Dominic Gibbs, Audrey Schulze and Luke Jensen. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Missy called Luke, “possibly the nicest person I have ever met in my life.”
Audrey, 18, a Ridgewood, N.J., resident who was third in the Kathy Scholl Equitation Championship, took the honors in yesterday’s gymnastic test. Her mount, Mac, who went on to win the Grappa Trophy as best horse, is owned by Taylor Madden, the daughter of Audrey’s coach, Frank Madden. He is based at the Schulze family’s Patriot Farm in Saddle River.
Dominic, 18, a native of Colorado trained by Stacia Madden and Beacon Hill, was tops in today’s morning jumping round on his own Cent 15. He is in his last year as a junior.
And of course we know about Natalie’s moment to shine. She rode Heritage Farm’s Charisma, calling him, “awesome in the ride-off. My plan was to just have a nice solid round…and go from there.”
Natalie Jayne and Charisma against the backdrop of the USET Foundation stable. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
As Andre noted about his student, “She’s always ridden well and has a good feel. She’s always looked beautiful, very elegant on a horse.”
Winning the Talent Search hit the target for Heritage.
“This was the goal. The kids know that this class is important to me,” said Andre. Today marked his 11th victory in the class, counting the time that he won it himself at the beginning of his career.
“This format played to her strengths,” he said of the winner.
“She rides a lot of horses for a lot of people and she’s very calm. My feeling was, whatever the result was, I thought she had given it all that she had.”
The ride-off included a long, nine-stride loop from an oxer, fence 2, to a triple bar, fence 3. Chris Kappler an Olympic team gold and individual silver medalist based in Pittstown, explained the idea of that test was “to see who could really tell where they were on new horses. Within inches, they were all very, very solid riders. It was really fun to see the quality of riding in the final four.”
The course posted for the gymnastics phase.
He added, “We tried to use each day to set you up for the next; tried to have things that made sense that you would use in developing your jumper, developing yourself, developing your skills to be ready for a Nations Cup-style competition.”
The gymnastics phase may have looked deceptively simple from a railside viewpoint, but there was a lot to it.
“There were not a lot of options, so it kind of allowed us to really measure each horse and rider similarly, because there was no variation in striding,” said Chris. The design included trying “to use the triple bar with the Liverpool under it to simulate a setting-up for the water jump the final day, so they could get a good strong ride over that triple bar and hopefully give the horses a good confident water-type jump before Sunday.”
As Michael Tokaruk, a Tennessee trainer, put it, “We tried to ask the questions that make sense. Can you ride your horse’s stride, can you go forward, can you ride a track, can you make some rollbacks, can you go forward, then can you shorten and gallop the water?”
Dominic Gibbs won the gymnastics phase on Cent 15. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
We will be seeing lots more of the top four and a number of the others from this weekend for the rest of this season and likely, over the years to come.
“The Talent Search Finals is a great starting point and pathway and the place where we see for the first time many of our up-and-coming athletes,” said Lizzy Chesson, USEF’s managing director of show jumping.
As she pointed out, over the last few months Talent Search alumni have made their mark internationally. Jessie Springsteen rode on the Olympic silver medal team, Brian Moggre was second in the prestigious Aachen, Germany, grand prix, and a variety of others were on teams at big competitions, including the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona.
“All of those guys, the first time that we saw them was here at the Talent Search Finals,” Lizzy observed.
“It really is a stepping stone, a point along their journey of learning and growing and getting to the teams. It works. It gives them kind of a taste of being part of something bigger than themselves.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 2, 2021
The fans were in Michael Bragdell’s corner when he won last night’s qualifier for this evening’s Grand Prix Freestyle during ShowPlus Dressage at Devon.
While spectators were politely appreciative for the other six entries in the class as the show returned after a year’s Covid-related absence, they really cheered for Michael and the chestnut Oldenburg stallion Qredit Hilltop after a performance that earned the Hilltop Stable trainer 67.132 percent and his first CDI win in the World Cup qualifier. He earned solid marks of 7 and 7.5 for many of the movements in his rendition of the short Grand Prix, where all the movements come up fast.
There definitely is more in there for the pairing to share with the crowd; they finished sixth in the Freestyle itself 2019, the last year the show was held, with 69.185 percent.
The delight the rider took in his horse and their achievement shone in his face during the victory gallop.
Michael Bragdell and Qredit Hilltop. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“This is like a home arena,” said the rider, who is based nearby in Maryland,
“I feel so lucky to be here. It’s a dream come true.”
Michael showed obvious affection for the horse he started working with as a colt.
“He’s super nice,” said Michael.
The judges rewarded Michael Bragdell for his longtime partnership with Qredit Hilltop. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I was handwalking him early this morning and thinking back when he was a yearling here 12 years ago when he was Grand Champion.”
What does the future hold for the son of Qaterback out of a Dream of Glory mare?
“I’ve been working with Debbie McDonald (the U.S. technical advisor) a lot and I feel she will guide me where we are appropriately going,” said Michael in the wake of his first CDI victory. A native of Gothenburg, Sweden, a city that has been home to many World Cup finals, he is an American citizen who could well be among the growing contingent of riders being groomed for international competition.
Two New Jersey entries completed the top three. Bridget Hay, who breeds her own mounts at her Ringoes farm, was second with 66.737 percent on Faolan, while Shannon Stevens of Annandale earned 66.316 on Ferrari. Only six will come back for the highlight of the show tonight because Laine Ashker, best known as an eventer, did not break the required 60 percent to qualify with Atlas.
In the qualifier for the Grand Prix Special, which also will be held tonight, Diane Creech of Canada on Chrevis Christo with 68.761 percent. There were only four in the class. Entries in some divisions have been light. The Canadians always make a point of attending the Pennsylvania show, but this year, the postponed Olympics followed by an Aachen in September instead of July meant the team horses were just getting out of quarantine late last month and missed this show.
