by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 31, 2023
One of the scariest things that happened on Halloween is the prospect that the U.S. may not qualify for the Paris Olympics, after a difficult start at the Pan American Games in Chile.
The team needs to be among the top three in the final standings, excluding Brazil, the leader after the first round with 4.32 penalties and already qualified for Paris by earning a berth at the Nations Cup final in Spain this month.
McLain Ward and Contagious.
Following Halloween’s one-round speed class, the U.S. is fifth on 12.37 penalties. Standing in the way of a trip to Paris for a U.S squad next year are Colombia—a bit of a surprise to some, in second place on 7.29—followed by Canada (9.62) and Argentina (12.01). No team but Brazil in the Western Hemisphere has made the cut for Paris already. Mexico, with capable riders and horses, is on the USA’s heels with 14.58 penalties.
The U.S. has a chance to recoup under the two-round Nations Cup format Wednesday, but it’s by no means a sure thing that it will get a ticket to Paris or add to its total of 31 medals in the history of the Pan Am Games.
U.S. Show Jumping Coach Robert Ridland was able to keep the situation in perspective.
“The bottom line is, today is one of three rounds. We knew going in, and it’s always the same situation going to a championship format like this, and we talked about it before we even walked the course, the general rule of thumb is that you can’t win it on the first day, but you can lose it, and our focus is now on improving for the second day,” he observed.
“We didn’t lose it today and after you do the (penalty) conversions, the field is pretty bunched up in the middle. There are several very good teams here, and truthfully, that has been the pattern in many of the most recent Pan American Games, which is not like it was a few decades ago.
“It’s no surprise to us that Colombia and Argentina are as high up as they are,” he continued.
“You have six incredibly good teams and five of them are relatively close together, especially in the middle, where we are. Our takeaway today is no different than what we knew coming in, you don’t ride not to lose, but you can’t also leave everything on the table on the first day because there are twice as many jumps tomorrow and it only gets bigger from here on out. Our team needs to focus on what we can control, which is how we approach tomorrow, and it’s a new day for each of the teams here.”
Laura Kraut on Dorado 212 was the only penalty-free U.S. rider. She’s in tenth place individually with 3.39 penalties. Her time of 79.66 seconds was slower than McLain Ward’s 79.56, even with four seconds added to his total for a knockdown by Contagious at the fence flanked by replicas of coins. He has 3.34 penalties in ninth place.
“He was on springs,” said Laura of her Dorado, noting that she was under pressure because she “could imagine all four riders were riding my horse around in there today.”
“I’m getting used to it, but I think that was probably why he was a bit slower than was intended but he did his job, he was perfect. So let’s just hope we can go forward tomorrow and do the same.”
Laura Kraut and Dorado 212.
Kent Farrington is twenty-fifth after two knockdowns with Landon to accumulate 5.64 penalties. The fourth U.S. team member, Karl Cook, ran into trouble at a 1.5-meter-high oxer over a Liverpool, the fourth of 13 obstacles, which caused lots of knockdowns.
But in his case, the problem there was a run-out with Caracole de la Roque, which added to his time and caused penalties in that way. He also had two rails for a total of 19.28 penalties, and is forty-third of 46 starters in the rankings.
His was the team’s drop score for the day. Karl did well not to fall off when his horse ran out to the right at the Liverpool and it looked as if he might not stay on, but he managed to get back in the saddle.
Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque. (Photo courtesy USEF)
Individually, Brazil is 1-2, with the 2019 Pan Am champion Marlon Modolo Zanotelli on Deese de Coquerie (0 penalties) leading the way, and Pedro Veniss on Nimrod de Muze Z second with 0.26.
Colombia’s Rene Lopez Lizarazo is third (0.72) on Kheros van’T Hoogeinde.
The course by Brazil’s Marina Azevedo of Brazil started out with the type of challenge she likes to use right from the beginning, with an S curve from the first fence to the second, and then to the third, a stone wall with a gap in the middle and water beneath it. Many of the riders, including McLain, made sure to give their horses a look at it before they proceeded through the starting timers.
The beautiful course designed by Marina Azevedo.
The fences were beautifully done to reflect the character of Chile, with flamingos at one combination, a fiesta theme for another and even a tribute to Chilean poetess and educator Gabriela Mistral (one standard on that jump included a book). Click here for individual standings.
Click here for team standings.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 29, 2023
The Canadian team of Mike Winter, Karl Slezak Colleen Loach and Lindsay Traisnel upset the U.S. by 0.1 penalty at the Pan American Games in Chile Sunday to take team gold.
But individual gold went home with Caroline Martin Pamakcu on HSH Blake–fresh off a win with HSH Conor at the MARS Maryland 3-star last weekend. She moved up from second after dressage to take the lead with her cross-country trip.
Smashing through an oxer in the show jumping still couldn’t dislodge her from the top of the podium. Individual silver belonged to Jorge Marcio Carvalho of Brazil (Castle Howard Casanova), whose nation took team bronze. Individual bronze went to Canada’s Lindsay Traisnel. (Bacyrouge).
Jose Marcio Carvalho of Brazil, individual silver; Caroline Panukcu, USA, gold, and Lindsay Traisnel, Canada, bronze.
Caroline’s final score was 30.8 penalties. Jose accumulated 0.8 time penalties to total 32.2 and Lindsay had 1.6 time penalties to finish on 34.2.
The Canadian team score was 115.6 penalties; the USA lost its comfortable lead after cross-country because everyone had rails in the show jumping, leaving the country on 115.7. Brazil wound up on 127.1, and like Canada, qualified for eventing at the 2024 Olympics with their placings.
The U.S. lost its Pan Am lead in show jumping when none of its riders went clean. Liz Halliday had 13.6 penalties in the final phase with Miks Master C to finish seventh (42.4 penalties total); Sydney Elliott was eighth on QC Diamantaire with 9.2 in show jumping (42.5 penalties total) and Sharon White was 10th on Claus 63 with 16.4 show jumping penalties and a total of 47.
“It’s hard in the moment to look back and immediately start analyzing, but we all need to think about it for a couple of days, and with that will come more clarity on what we can do moving forward to not be in this position again,” said U.S. Chef d’Equipe Bobby Costello.
“It’s good that we are all disappointed with silver because it means we want to be better, but are also genuinely happy for our friends, the Canadians, and glad to see both them and Brazil punch their tickets to Paris. As a team, we’re going to have to go away from this, analyze ourselves, and find a way to come back stronger.”
The U.S. eventers already qualified at last year’s World Championships with a team silver. In the discipline of dressage, where the U.S. qualified for the Olympics with a sixth-place finish at the World Championships, the team color was gold at the Pan Ams.
Pan Am show jumping begins this week. The U.S. needs to be one of three countries that qualifies for the Olympics in Chile, since it didn’t make the cut at the World Championships or the Nations Cup final.
Click here for the individual eventing results
Click here for team eventing results
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 23, 2023
With her victory on HSH Connor in the MARS Maryland 3-star Long event at Fair Hill, Caroline Martin Pamukcu earned the distinction of being the winningest eventer in the world this year, having now notched 11 victories. Perhaps she’ll earn one more soon. After collecting her ribbons,she took off from Fair Hill heading to Santiago, Chile, for the Pan American Games.
Caroline Pamukcu had a winning smile after going through the timers with HSH Connor.( Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
While she’s still working, it’s vacation time for Connor, who will be turned out, his shoes off, his coat growing fuzzy and having “a good time with his buddies” until he needs to get ready for the 2024 season.
Caroline led all the way through the 3-star, which is the U.S. Equestrian Federation National Championship. She finished on her dressage mark of 25.4 penalties, ahead of Lauren Nicholson and Larcot Z. Lauren had 28.6 penalties, her dressage score of 28.2 with 0.4 penalties added for just missing the optimum time on cross-country. Woodge Fulton, a local hero based in Maryland, rounded out the top three with Cash Point, finishing on her dressage score of 31.4.
In addition to HSH Connor, Caroline rode Tolan King to sixth place and HSH Double Sixteen to 15th place.
Asked about Connor’s personality, she said he is selective about his people.
“If he doesn’t like you, he will let you know. He’s very quirky that way,” she said, without specifying how he delivers the message to those he isn’t crazy about. But when you’re the highest-rated seven-year-old eventing horse in American history, you can get away with a lot.
Caroline pointed for this event, rather than several others during the same time frame, because she wanted a challenging course, not just “speed bumps,” as she trains her horse up toward a higher level. She will consult with her mentors, Erik Duvander and Great Britain’s Pippa Funnell, to decide what her program will be going forward—but she would like to go to Europe if the USEF is sending a team. If not, they’ll come up with a “good battle plan” for what she can attempt in America.
Lauren Nicholson and Larcot Z. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Ian Stark’s cross-country route for the 3-star was just what Caroline wanted. Although it was less testing than the 5-star course for the featured division at Fair Hill, it was difficult enough for the 45 riders in the section who tried their luck over it. Thirty-nine made it to the show jumping over Michel Vaillancourt’s course, the preamble to that phase for the 5-star.
Caroline Pamukcu in the 3-star presentation. That’s her Jack Russell, Troy, in the center of the photo. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Taren Hoffos, who stpod fourth on Regalia (29.4) going into the last segment, was eliminated after hitting the ground, just a few feet from the finish line. It was a sad ending for the rider who came all the way from California, and lasted so close to the end of the event.
Taren Hoffos nearly made it to the finish line before parting company with her horse, Regalia. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
I caught up with Bobby Costello, USEF eventing technical advisor and chef d’equipe, when he was on his way to the airport for a flight to Santiago. I felt the display of expertise among the 3-star competitors boded well for the team, and he agreed.
“Things are looking good,” he told me.
“I think in general, people are so much more well-mounted and giving thought to the horses they are choosing. Just looking at this division, we had so many up-and-comers. It’s nice to see a couple of the kids who had the first horse and then had to rebuild, like Woodge Fulton, a good example, she’s got another lovely horse.
“The future looks bright. People who are serious will stick it out through the dry times and hopefully come back even stronger.”
Click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 22, 2023
Here’s how Austin O’Connor describes himself on his Facebook page: “Irish international event rider and two-time Olympian…working hard to make it 3!!”
A victory Sunday in the MARS Maryland 5-star at Fair Hill with Colorado Blue probably did a lot toward having that happen. Austin’s triumph was the first at a 5-star for an Irish rider in 58 years, since Eddie Boylan won at Badminton, according to EquiRatings.
Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue are number one in the MARS Maryland 5-star event at Fair Hill. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The 49-year-old rider’s appearance on the top step of the podium to accept the Fair Hill Bronze trophy was a surprise. He had seemed likely to make one of the levels after going from twelfth place in dressage to fourth following cross-country, where he was the pathfinder in the 5-star section. His horse—known for speed—finished just three seconds over the optimum time of 11 minutes, 10 seconds on Saturday’s strenuous route laid out by Ian Stark.
It was show jumping prowess from his generous horse, some lack thereof among his rivals and luck that clinched the prize for which Austin had yearned.
“Unbelievable,” said Austin, an hour or so after his win, still looking dazed even after four laps of a victory gallop around the arena.
“I can’t wait to come back.”
The show jumping phase has been a bit problematic for him recently.
“The last couple of three-days (events), he had a couple of cheap rails,” recounted Austin, who is based in Britain.
“Today I make a horrendous mistake (leaving out a stride on the way to the Liverpool to end up in a very risky leap) and he gets me out of jail. He’s an unbelievable horse. He’s a proper, proper 5-star event horse.”
Austin added, “He’s 85 percent thoroughbred; he’s all blood, he’s all class, he’s all heart. He can try and try to the bitter end.”
Known fondly as Salty, the flea-bitten grey (yes, that’s a real term in the horse world) has been Austin’s project since he was a foal, 14 years ago.
After a refusal and his subsequent withdrawal of Salty at the Burghley, England, 5-star in September, Austin planned to reroute to the 5-star in Pau, France, which is happening this week.
But Tim Gardner, long-time part of the Fair Hill contingent, suggested he try Maryland instead.
It’s a competition that has both made dreams come true and also sent them packing. That’s how it happened for world number one Oliver Townend, who was leading with a rail in hand after William Fox-Pitt, standing second, toppled a pole on the show jumping route laid out by Canadian designer Michel Vaillancourt.
Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Oliver, who has been second and third in the two previous years of the Maryland 5-star’s existence, seemed headed for victory at last this time around. But when one rail fell, and then another, it vaulted Austin to victory on 34.9 penalties, just ahead of William on 35.3, while Oliver wound up third with the lovely Cooley Rosalent on 37.1.
EquiRatings, which is usually right on the mark, had given Oliver a 68 percent chance of winning. But they did say they thought Austin could make the podium.
Oliver said his mare “was giving me an amazing feeling,” in the show jumping. She’s only nine, as he often mentions, and he felt a knockdown at the third element of the triple combination was “a baby mistake.” A knockdown at the next fence had the spectators groaning in unison.
“Then I felt it was me getting a little too desperate at the next one. So perhaps she had one down and I had one down,” he suggested.
He added, “I thought she jumped a beautiful round and we had two mistakes.”
Then he changed the subject to say how happy he was for Austin, who has “been a good friend for me in the fairly tough times of the last few years.”
He predicted a party to celebrate both his win at Burghley, his seventh 5-star victory, and Austin’s triumph in Maryland.
William, who keeps talking about retirement, is staying in the game for his mare Grafennacht.
“She’s keeping me going,” said the 54-year-old rider, winner of more 5-stars than any other competitor.
William Fox-Pitt and Graffenacht. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“I’m not sure I’d enjoy watching anyone else ride her yet,” he said.
“Could she give me a bit more fun and do I do it well enough? As an older rider, you’re increasingly worried about looking like an idiot. Yesterday morning I was thinking, `What the hell am I doing?’ By this evening I was a little,`That’s what I’m doing.’”
There wasn’t even a rail’s worth of penalties among the top three, showing how competitive the show jumping was at the event presented by Brown Advisory.
After Austin rode, Mia Farley had her turn on the thoroughbred Phelps, the only horse to hit the optimum time on cross-country, which put her third. It was a remarkable feat for a first-time 5-star rider, but the fairytale ended with two knockdowns in the final phase and a score of 40.9 penalties.
The entire story certainly isn’t over, though; Mia is only 23 and Phelps, owned by Olympic gold medalist David O’Connor, is just starting his upper-level career.
Mia was smiling as she held her horse before the awards ceremony, the pink fifth-place ribbon entwined in his bridle. She had noted previously that show jumping isn’t his strong point, so critiquing Sunday’s round, she said, “He was jumping high enough, for the most part. What more can I ask of him?” before bursting into giggles.
“I’m happy with how he felt on the last day. He was so good and competitive yesterday and I think we can get better Sundays, so we’ll see.”
Her errors moved up Hannah Sue Holberg to become the highest-placed American, in fourth with Capitol HIM on 40 penalties. The Holsteiner had been bought by Christa Schmidt as her personal ride, but he proved too strong and got passed to Hannah Sue.
Hannah Sue Holberg was the highest-placed U.S. rider in the 5-star on Capitol HIM. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“Every we time we asked him to do more, he stepped up and answered the questions,” she said.
“He is incredible.”
The 16-year-old gelding was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease a year ago. Once he got on the medication he needed, “it changed his life,” Hannah Sue said.
As I was leaving the press conference, I saw Ian Stark, to whom Austin had referred in his comments, and it’s obvious they’re old friends.
“Tell me about Austin,” I asked Ian.
“Give me some insight into what he’s like.”
A toast to victory: Oliver Townend, Austin O’Connor, William Fox-Pitt and Hannah Sue Holberg.( Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Ian replied, “Austin is just a dedicated competitor. He’s great with his horses. He’s great with people. He’s sometimes a bit shy, but he’s out-and-out wanting to win and he’s just a nice guy. He’s had some very tough times.”
Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue on their way to getting their names in the record books. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Ian mentioned that Austin’s major mentor was David Foster, an Irish army officer and international three-day-event rider, killed in a fall cross-country at an Irish event in 1998.
“Austin was devastated at that. David was the main influence in his career,” Ian recalled.
“This is huge for him to win this. I think it will do his self-confidence so much good. It’s a good move for the sport and for Ireland, I think it’s fantastic.”
Click here for 5-star results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 17, 2023
Nancy Jones likely is the biggest fan among the many fans of trainer Jeff Cook as a clinician, explaining, “He knows as much as anybody in the world, and he does it kindly.”
She’s a trainer herself, so when she says, “There’s nobody any better,” she has a real understanding of what Jeff can do.
“He just has so much experience and has a personal knack for reading people, but in a kind way,” she explained.
“He can fix a pony that’s being snarky and he can fix 1.60 (meter jumpers) and be kind and soft and make them better.”
Jonesie used to trailer her students to Hunterdon Inc. for lessons, in the days when Jeff worked there with George Morris, beginning in the early 1980s. She wound up hosting Jeff’s clinics at her barn, Logan’s Brook Equine Center in New Vernon, N.J., before they were moved to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation nearby in Gladstone 15 year or so ago. Vicky Sroka, who organizes the clinics, sees many of the same people year after year, both trainers and riders.
“We have a following,” she said.
Jeff’s qualities were on display during a clinic last weekend at the USET Foundation’s landmark stable, where he shared his wisdom with riders jumping everything from 2-feet, 6-inches to 3-6 and 4 feet. He came East from his home in Oregon, pursuing a bi-coastal business that last year had him offering 22 clinics around the country, as well as training private clients.
“He can have eight people in his clinic and basically make it feel like you’re the only one there,” said Alicia Madretzke, a professional who participated at the Team with Basil, her homebred son of Balou du Rouet.
Karin Forrester, who keeps her 17.2-hand Holsteiner Silver Fox in her Califon, N.J., backyard, said of Jeff, “He’s so good at making sure you’re getting what you need out of it. He’s so great at being able to communicate with the individual for what works best for them.”
Jeff is a fan of group dynamics, such as the mixed bag of amateurs and professionals who rode in his clinic over the higher jumps.
“When there is variety, we can dive into a whole lot of different problems, we see the good and bad of each other,” he pointed out.
“What one person does well, maybe the other needs to work on. They can look at each other’s strengths and minuses and hopefully we learn from that. My goal would be with every level, pick out two or three things they can work on in the upcoming months.”
Jeff Cook in action. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
With the way he sets the fences, Jeff is “trying to produce some rideability with the courses. If the horses are more rideable, it offers a chance for the rider to be a little quieter with the horse and hopefully, there’s a little more of a harmonious relationship between the horse and rider.”
Discussing trends that he observes in his travels, Jeff noted he often sees rider’s the toe angle out too far, sometimes as much as 45 degrees. He prefers the 15- or 20-degree range; 45 degrees only “if the horse or pony is quite lazy.”
Jeff notes that an extreme angle of the foot in the stirrup can trigger problems.
“I don’t want an excessive grip with the knee, but when they do that, the knee can be away from the saddle,” he commented.
As a result, “they lose ability to be tactful with their leg. When they angle out too far, it can override or light up a hottish type horse.” The result: “Too much leg and if they are wearing spurs, too much spur.”
Another trend he used to see was overbending.
“Now, a lot of horses go into a corner but don’t bend quite enough.” On the other hand, he said, that’s “better than overbending.”
He spent a few minutes discussing hand position, noting that when the thumb is horizontal, the hand can be weak and the elbow, not as elastic as it should be. He likes to see the thumb just inside the vertical. That enables the rider to move easily between positions.
If the horse is quite strong, he advises, turn the thumb a little more to the vertical for a split-second. That makes the hand “slightly stronger to get the horse back, then ideally return to thumbs just inside the vertical.”
Alicia rode Basil without a noseband, and I see that becoming a bit of a trend, in the area of horse comfort and not doing what I call over-tacking a horse.
Alicia Madretzke and Basil. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“We hopefully are dialing things down,” said Jeff, but it’s not always the case with what he sees as he travels.
In some areas, Jeff will spot what a horse is wearing on his head and his reaction is, “I didn’t even know the name of a bunch of the bridles—what is that? I think that varies by area, by stable a little bit.””
But he has some people who take the noseband off and meanwhile, “they have the horse’s nose cranked to his chest in draw reins.”
He prefers using a noseband—though there’s the odd horse he’s seen where it (no noseband) does make a difference.” He is, however, understandably “very opposed to crank or excessively tight nosebands.”
The FEI is now checking the tighness of nosebands, which he considers a step forward.
I’ve seen clinicians who are rough on their students. Jeff is the opposite, and his polite approach is his trademark.
“You don’t want to let things slide or not instruct,” he said, “but you want to keep it on a positive basis.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 21, 2023
The optimum time for completing designer Ian Stark’s cross-country course at the MARS Maryland 5-star event was designed to be difficult—if not impossible—to make.
But a thoroughbred from stellar racehorse lines showed up the warmbloods by finishing on the button in 11 minutes, 10 seconds. And in the process, Phelps enabled 23-year-old Mia Farley to become the first U.S. rider in a decade to make the time on their 5-star debut.
According to EquiRatings, that was Daniel Clasing in 2013, and the last U.S. rider to finish on the podium in their 5-star debut was Sinead Halpin Maynard, third at Kentucky in 2011. And Mia is now in a position to do the same, or perhaps better, if Phelps can leave the show jump poles in place on Sunday.
Going into the Sunday show jumping in third place, Mia is the highest-placed American in the standings, supplanting Boyd Martin, who was fifth after dressage on Contessa.
Boyd, the winner of the inaugural Maryland 5-star two years ago, became unbalanced on a steep landing at fence 3B after the first water and fell off Contessa’s right side. As his mare started galloping all the way to the main arena, he hit the ground hard. But in typical Boyd fashion, after a minute or two, he got up and is now heading for the Pau, France, 5-star, where he will ride Federman B this week.
Boyd Martin recuperated quickly from his hard fall off Contessa, but his son, Nox, shows disappointment at dad’s brief trip on course. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Mia is on 32.9 penalties, moving up seven places from tenth in dressage after beating the clock on the son of Tiz Now. She confided that show jumping isn’t the strong point of her mount, but perhaps he’ll rise to the occasion as he did on Saturday.
She called Phelps “a true fighter,” noting, “When I wasn’t fully there for him, he was like ‘It’s okay, I’ve got you,’ and it was a wonderful feeling for him to kind of step in and take over.”
World Number One Oliver Townend of Great Britain, kept his lead from dressage with the precocious Cooley Rosalent, adding 6 time penalties for finishing in 11 minutes, 25 seconds, giving him a total of 29.1 penalties. That means he doesn’t have the luxury of a rail in hand going into the final phase.
Oliver said of his mare, “she definitely could have gone a lot quicker,” but he didn’t want to stress an ingenue who is relatively new at the level, so he sat quiet going up the hills to save strength for tackling the big questions like the corners and water at the top. He was more focused on the fences than the speed.
Oliver Townend leads the Maryland 5-star with Cooley Rosalent. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“My horse is nine years old, so my thoughts were on the jumps and trying to give her as nice a trip as possible. She’s going to be a very long-term partner for me in my career, so it was about giving her the best experience possible,” he explained.
Great Britain’s William Fox-Pitt, who has won an amazing 14 5-stars, is second on 31.3 penalties with Grafennacht, moving up from third after dressage, adding 5.2 time penalties. The Oldenburg mare’s talent has kept William enthusiastic as he acknowledge his remarkable international riding career is nearing its end.
William Fox-Pitt and Grafennacht. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Ian said “various things” pleased him as the riders executed his course, which was far tougher than what he designed during the event’s first two years. He said, using a British expression, that riders had given him “stick” for a leisurely optimum time in 2021 and 2022. He added that no one gave him stick this year.
Caroline Powell of New Zealand artfully handling one of Ian Stark’s challenging fences. the sunken road, on Greenacres Special Cavalier. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
He liked Oliver’s “phenomenal” horse (how could he not?) and thought Mia’s horse “went brilliantly.” He was really thrilled because her horse is a thoroughbred, since he’s a “racing man” and wanted to make a “rude gesture” to the warmbloods.
Cross-country course designer Ian Stark. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
This is Ian’s penultimate course designing gig. He is retiring after next year’s 5-star to spend time skiing and with his grandchildren, and will work as a mentor to aspiring course designers.
Mia rides with Karen O’Connor and her husband, David, who owns Phelps. (The gelding’s registered name is Tiz Special, but David likes to rename horses after Olympians; Michael Phelps in this instance.)
The rumor was that he paid $1 for the horse, but no transaction actually took place.
“I said that horse was so immature and backwards, I had no idea if he was any good,” recalled the Maryland event’s competition director, Joanie Morris, who owned the gelding after getting him through Archie and Michelle St. George of St. George Sales in Lexington. Ky.
“He was beautifully bred but he came off the track and really struggled in my front field for awhile.”
When Joanie sent him to David, she said, “`Just pay me a little bit when you sell him.’ And now, many years later, he hasn’t sold him, he’s a 5-star horse and I don’t have any money.
“Probably, technically, I still own him,” she mused. Asked if she’d really sell the horse to David for $1, Joanie chuckled and said, “I think he needs to come to the negotiating table,” then quickly added, “It’s all in good humor.”
After watching Phelps handle the demanding course, Joanie declared, “He was awesome You never know the ones that are going to end up being stars. He wasn’t the one I expected.”
David, for his part, was reported to have tears in his eyes as he watched the performance.
Mia was discovered by David during a clinic he gave in California six years ago. When he learned she was considering giving up on riding, he invited her to come East and work with him and Karen. It was only supposed to be for three months, but something clicked and she stayed on.
Discussing Phelps on Friday, David remembered at the beginning, he was a three-year-old who “just lived outside for years.”
Since then, “It’s been a fun project. He just keeps getting better and better. Mia has done a fabulous job, she’s the only one who has ever competed him.”
David looked around at the showgrounds and seemed almost surprised at what Phelps is doing.
“So here we are. It’s not something I ever expected and never thought he would get this far. He tries his heart out; he’s a wonderful personality to be around,” David said.
Of Mia, he commented, “She’s a very good horsewoman. It’s been a great partnership with the two of them.”
Mia has been riding the 10-year-old since he was four, and sees it as a long-term relationship.
On land or water, Phelps kept up a good gallop for Mia Farley. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I’d never ridden a thoroughbred before him. It was different,” said Mia, who came from a show jumping barn on the West Coast.
While warmbloods dominate the eventing scene these days, David confessed, “I love thoroughbreds. He’s a funny horse, but so smart. To watch him gallop across a field is a blast, because he’s very fast.”
As everyone found out on cross-country day.
Only 14 horses, a little more than half of the original field of 26, will jump on Sunday. Piggy March, who led on the first day of dressage and was fifth after cross-country, withdrew Brookfield Cavalier Cruise from the hold box during the horse inspection before show jumping.
Like Boyd, Phillip Dutton was eliminated for a fall after he came off Azure; three other horses were eliminated and one, Jennie Brannigan’s Twilightslastgleam, withdrew. Arielle Aharoni, another first-time 5-star rider, didn’t have luck on her side. She pulled up Dutch Times two fences from the finish, and he was taken to New Bolton Center for diagnosis.
EquiRatings has Oliver as a 68 percent favorite to win. The last 9-year-old to win a 5-star was Oslo, ridden by William Fox-Pitt in 2011, (who also won Blenheim in the same year.) The only other 9-year-old to win a 5-star in the last 15 years was the legendary La Biosthetique Sam in 2009, under the guidance of Michael Jung of Germany.
In the 3-star Long, also presented by Brown Advisory, Caroline Pamukcu has stayed in front with HSH Conor on 25.4 penalties, ahead of Lauren Nicholson with 28.6 on Larcot Z.
Click here for the 5-star results
Click here for the 3-star results
