For the second consecutive year, Ashton, an amateur rider from Princeton, Mass., and her 11-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding won the Amanda Cup for the advanced intermediate division at the Groton House Farm Horse Trials II, June 24-26, Hamilton, Mass.

This year, like last, she left a lot of star power in her wake as she rode her victory lap. But this time she beat the big guns from dressage day on and never gave them a chance to catch her.

“Of course it’s nice to win on your dressage score,” said Ashton. “You can look back on all three phases and think, ‘that went well,’ and have no regrets. It’s a great feeling.”

Groton House marked the first outing for Ashton and Dobbin since they finished 16th in their inaugural four-star attempt at Rolex Kentucky in April. Ashton takes great pride in the fact that they trained at home through New England’s harsh winter, traveling south for only two horse trials. They finished third and fifth, respectively, at Southern Pines (N.C.) in March and Morven Park (Va.) in April.

“We live near a ski area called Mt. Wachusetts, so I trotted up and down the roads there for my fitness work,” she said.

At Kentucky, the pair won the Bank One award for the highest-placed owner-rider. “I think I’m pretty unique out there at this level,” she said of her self-training and amateur status. “But a lot of people went out of their way to help me.”

Among those was Karen O’Connor, from whom Ashton grabs the occasional lesson on the road–one of which was the day before Groton House. Ashton also rode in a developing rider session with Kim Severson just before competing at Southern Pines, and she credits both trainers for improving her dressage this year.

Of her winning Groton House test, Ashton said, “He has wonderful paces, but if I push the trot too much then he’s out of control in the canter and he’ll throw in a buck or miss a change. But he felt nice and rideable all through the test here.”

Although scores were tight after dressage, Ashton cushioned her winning margin by jumping a fault-free cross-country round, a feat duplicated in this division only by Kristin Schmolze and Cavaldi, who moved from 17th after dressage to sixth. The other 16 riders jumped clean but incurred time penalties. Fences placed on two steep downhill slides (the keyhole and ski jump at fences 12 and 13) and a series of narrow obstacles at fences 17, 18 and 19, slowed many competitors, as did a twisting wooded path out to the corner at fence 14.

Ashton said that Groton House “looked like a Pony Club course after those big and scary jumps at Rolex.” But she’s still smarting from the 35 time penalties she accumulated at Kentucky.

“So at Groton House, I thought I’d interfere a little bit less and move on more,” she said. “He really skipped around. He’s very quick across the ground, and he’s quick to come back so I don’t need to go and pull on the reins as much as I sometimes do.”

As Ashton waited to show jump in reverse order of standing, clear rounds proved elusive. Only Schmolze and Cavaldi proved it could be done, finishing on their dressage score in third behind Phillip Dutton on The Foreman.

Ashton and Dobbin gave O’Connor, with whom they had walked the course, only one anxious moment before finishing under the time with all the rails intact. “Karen did say I waited a bit late to move up to the triple bar [fence five] in that outside line,” Ashton said. “We needed a bit of a flyer to get out of there in six strides.”

Dobbin’s flawless jumping gave the pair a nearly ten-point victory. “Groton House has been a fixture for so long and it’s nice to win here on my own home ground where my family and friends can actually watch me ride,” said Ashton, whose husband Mellard and children Rebecca, 13, and Marissa, 9, cheered her on over the weekend.

With a four-star behind her, what goal does Ashton have in mind for Dobbin, the horse she found as a 3-year-old? “Well, you can never have too many plans, can you?” Ashton said. “I’m just going to take it as it comes and try to remember that I’m doing this for fun as an amateur.”

Gus Gets On Target

Winning the open intermediate section assured Adrienne Iorio-Borden from Millis, Mass., that she’s on the right track with Better I Do It, the 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood-Thoroughbred she purchased from Abigail Lufkin in February.

“He’s been a struggle for me,” said Iorio-Borden, who has temporarily relocated to Kirkwood, Pa., to train with Dutton. “He’s different from everything I’ve been riding, and he hasn’t been that trusting of his riders.”

Iorio-Boren retired “Gus” on course at Rolex Kentucky this spring. “He went out of the box all puffed up and by fence nine had turned into a pony,” she said. She went home to work on the horse’s confidence, emerging again to finish seventh at the Jersey Fresh CCI** (N.J.) in May.

“I left that event loving the horse,” said Iorio-Borden. “I knew we just had to work out a few rough patches.”

At Groton House, the pair solidified their partnership by placing fourth in dressage, then added only 2 cross-country time penalties, moving into the overnight lead and, eventually, the win.

“He stepped up and answered so many questions this weekend,” said Iorio-Borden. “He’s a naturally nice mover, but he can be distracted by the crowds. He held it together in his [dressage] test here.”

Iorio-Borden said the cross-country course was challenging, with skinnies, slides, changing terrain, and crowds everywhere. “He handled everything beautifully, and I was thrilled with him all the way around,” she said.

The cross-country course caused more trouble for the open intermediate competitors than it did for the advanced intermediate riders, as nine out of 21 horses in this section incurred jumping penalties. And although no one beat the clock, Better I Do It came closest, finishing just 5 seconds over the optimum time.

But it was her clear show jumping round that clinched Iorio-Borden’s confidence in her new ride. “I knew I had done well when Phillip told me I’d done a good job as I came out of the ring. He doesn’t say that very often,” she said.

Iorio-Borden credits many lessons with Dutton for improving Gus’ show jumping form. And she admitted she’s made a new commitment to her mount. “I had been riding so many young horses that I was too strung out,” she said. “So I decided to cut back and spend quality time with the ones I have. Gus and I have formed a personal bond; he trusts me now, and I trust him to do his job.”

Luce Leads Young Riders

With five rails in hand, young rider open intermediate winner Kate Luce and her veteran campaigner, Fox In Flight, needn’t have worried as they cantered into the show jumping arena in first place. But the 18-year-old from Mobile, Ala., took nothing for granted as she piloted the 16-year-old four-star veteran she bought from Will Coleman to a clear round and a decisive win.

Luce won dressage and added nothing further to the scoreboard, the only one of the 16 young riders to finish on a flawless score. But her focus wasn’t so much on winning as it was on riding well in this, her last outing before the North American Young Riders Champion-ships in July, where she will represent Area III.

Luce found Fox In Flight in April through coach Darren Chiacchia, with whom she has trained since 2002. She completed high school via a correspondence course while commuting to Chiacchia’s training bases in Florida and Springville, N.Y.

Remarkably, she jumped Fox In Flight, who won the 2003 Bramham CCI***Y (England) with Coleman, only twice before heading to North Georgia and the Virginia CIC** this spring, where she placed fifth and second, respectively, in young rider open intermediate sections.

“I’m used to riding all sorts of different horses at Darren’s, so the idea of getting on a new horse and competing at this level seemed OK to me,” she said.
Luce had never jumped anything like the Groton House slide (fences 12 and 13). “When you walk the course and look down from that keyhole, the ground just drops away, and I wasn’t sure how that would feel when you rode it,” she said. “I decided the best thing was just to sit back, look up, and kick.”

But despite her generous lead, show jumping tested her nerves most. “Nothing quite went according to plan,” she said. “I lost my stirrup at the triple bar [fence 5], had to regroup after the liverpool [fence 8], and got a straight five strides instead of a bending six in that last line. But at least I kept it together and didn’t get frantic over these mistakes, which is a big improvement for me.”

After the NAYRC this summer, Luce will enter the University of Georgia this fall.

Bally Mar Retires

The 28th anniversary of the Groton House Farm Horse Trials also featured the formal retirement of Bally Mar, known to her many fans and friends as “Amber.”

Bred by John and Dianne Pingree from Hamilton, Mass., Amber, 18, (Omar–Bally Thorn) is the granddaughter of Bally Cor, the 1976 Olympic three-day gold medal-winning mare.

“We feel Amber is one of our own,” said Groton House organizer Ann Getchell. “A bit of a hard case to start with, she was tactfully tamed and trained by the late Jim Stamets, who brought her to the advanced level. After his untimely death in 2001, she continued her outstanding career with Karen O’Connor.”

As the crowd cheered, O’Connor galloped the gleaming chestnut mare, and when announcer Tim Murray asked to see some jumping, O’Connor obliged.

The little chestnut flew over the last fences in her competitive life with her trademark flair and exuberant style. O’Connor dismounted and allowed Amber’s long-time groom, Max Corcoran, the honor of unsaddling her, placing a flower-adorned streamer over her shoulders, and leading her out of the arena.