Becky Holder put some pressure on herself this weekend at the Land Rover USEA American Eventing Championships, and it was evident when she led the advanced division victory gallop today, Sept. 12, that she’d risen to the occasion in Fairburn, Ga.

Yesterday Holder said she wanted to use the weekend as a test on her own competitiveness. The Palmetto, Ga., rider is short-listed for the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, and since the AEC doubled as the mandatory outing for team selection, she was especially thrilled with Courageous Comet’s performance. (Bold type denotes WEG-shortlisted horses and riders.)

“A good weekend here doesn’t hurt my chances,” Holder said, smiling. “But I was trying for myself and for my owners and for this weekend alone as well. Things really came together with all three of my horses this weekend.”

Holder pulled one rail, but she still finished with a rail in hand over the rest of the field on a mark of 45.5. She had a jump school with Katie Monahan Prudent this morning, working on exercises to help transition Comet, the off-the-track Thoroughbred she’s produced from beginner novice to the 2008 Olympic Games, from a cross-country mindset to a show jumping one.

“It looked huge to me before I rode it, but it was fantastic,” Holder said. “I love Marc Donovan’s courses. They always have a really good feel, and he designs them so well for eventers. They’re not trappy, but they ask the right questions.

“I was a little disappointed to see the same question on the course that we saw two weeks ago at Richland [Park Horse Trials in Michigan], the triple bar to triple combination. But it was nice to ride that correctly today.”

Holder’s win earned her the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Jack LeGoff Trophy and points toward the U.S. Eventing Association’s Gold Cup Series. She also won $7,000, in addition to a slew of other prizes.

The U.S. and Canadian selectors are expected to announce their team picks within the next two days. The U.S. team will remain at the AEC venue, Carl Bouckaert’s Chattahoochee Hills, to prepare for the WEG with Chef d’Equipe Capt. Mark Phillips, Prudent and dressage trainer Oded Shimoni. The Canadian riders will head to their coach David O’Connor’s southern base in Florida.

Ernie Earns The Reserve

Will Faudree, of Southern Pines, N.C., jumped to the reserve championship with his double-clear round aboard Pawlow. They began the weekend in ninth place (44.0), and Faudree let “Ernie” cruise easily around cross-country yesterday, adding 14 time faults.

“Marc Donovan is fantastic,” Faudree said. “He sets these courses that you have to ride at. The time was very tight today, and Ernie is a very good show jumper.”

Faudree rode with Anne Kursinski this summer, and he talked today with Bobby Costello and Phillip Dutton about the course. He also warmed up with Prudent, who’s been helping the U.S. short-listed riders this year.

“She’s getting us thinking,” Faudree said of Prudent. “It just gets the horses thinking a bit slower, which isn’t that difficult for Ernie. It’s one of his strongest qualities, actually. Usually I’m trying to get him to think a bit more quickly.”

Faudree also got help from Sandy Phillips in dressage this year, and he called her after his dressage ride to deliver the good news.

“I got a 10 on my extended trot from Linda Zang,” he said. “I was so excited I just had to let Sandy know.”

Faudree’s goal for the weekend wasn’t necessarily to win or to definitely make it on the WEG team—it was just to show his horse to his best advantage and put together three phases up to the quality he knows is there. And judging by the giant smile he wore around the barn afterward, he definitely accomplished that goal.

Faudree looked remarkably energetic considering he’d stayed up until 3:30 a.m. the evening before. Andromaque, his second advanced horse, colicked overnight due to dehydration from the extremely hot conditions on Saturday.

“She drank four buckets of water yesterday but when we came back for night check last night she didn’t want her dinner, and that wasn’t right,” he said. “She’s fine now, and the vets said I could ride her today, but I went ahead and scratched her. She doesn’t have anything to prove.”

Influential Rails

Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II, who’d been in second place overnight, dropped two rails to take third-placed honors but was still pleased with the performance.

Finishing in fourth was Kim Severson, whose double-clear round with Tipperary Liadhnan elicited huge cheers from the crowd and her fellow competitors. The pair hasn’t had a single fault-free advanced round in the past three years, and three- and four-rail rounds had been the norm for them up until the past few months.

But two weeks ago they jumped a fantastic advanced round at the Richland Park with just the last fence down, and their vastly improved form finally earned a 0 today.

Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua also jumped double-clear to place fifth, and Holly Payne’s perfect round aboard Madeline made her one of the biggest risers up the scoreboard this weekend. She began in a tie for 32^nd in the dressage and finished sixth.

The short-listed riders who’d withdrawn from the AEC all show jumped today as well.

Buck Davidson had a double-clear round with My Boy Bobby, while Ballynoe Castle RM and Titanium pulled one rail. Amy Tryon took two rails down with Leyland, one at the middle vertical of the triple (the third to last fence), and the final jump.

Boyd Martin went clear with Remington XXV and pulled the last rail of the triple with Neville Bardos. Allison Springer pulled one rail with Arthur.

Phillip Dutton rode all five of his horses to double-clears: Woodburn, The Foreman, Truluck, Connaught and Fernhill Eagle. Holly Hudspeth with Last Monarch and Karen O’Connor with Mandiba also jumped beautiful double clears.

For Canada, Jessica Phoenix posted a fault-free round with Exponential, and Rebecca Howard jumped clear with 2 time faults aboard Riddle Master. Several of their fellow WEG hopefuls put in one-rail rounds: Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch with Port Authority, Hawley Bennett-Awad with Gin & Juice, Selena O’Hanlon with Colombo (plus 3 time faults) and Kyle Carter and Madison Park (plus 2 time faults). Diana Burnett had three rails and 3 time penalties with Manny.

Visit the live scoring website for final results in all divisions of the Land Rover USEA American Eventing Championships.