Becky Holder’s Courageous Comet spent his winter rolling in the red Georgia clay, but today, Sept. 11, he was sparkling clean and back to running across it—and running fast.
Holder, of nearby Palmetto, Ga., rode into the lead with one of only two double-clear cross-country rounds in the advanced division the Land Rover USEA American Eventing Championships at Chattahoochee Hills in Fairburn.
“I thought the course rode great,” said Holder. “I felt like some of the things I was worried about rode easier than I expected, and I put in a few extra strides that I didn’t plan for, but he felt super.”
The pair placed third at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** this spring and second there in 2008, and they represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. So Holder is rightly looking forward to a spot on the Land Rover U.S. Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the end of this month.
The AEC advanced division doubles as the mandatory outing for the Canadian and U.S. WEG hopefuls. (Names in bold denote these short-listed horses and riders.)
“It’s always difficult in the team selection process to keep your eye on the real goal, which in this case is the World Equestrian Games,” Holder said. “I feel like I’m very good at the training and preparation at home, but I don’t have that many horses, so I get less time in the competition setting. I need practice at being a competitor—the practice of running for time and putting it on the line. And I had real confidence in his fitness and soundness, so I really needed to go out there and lay it down today.”
Holder had been tied for second after the dressage on a 41.5. She’ll walk the show jumping course tonight with jumping legend Katie Monahan Prudent, who’s been helping the shortlisted riders on their WEG prep, and she’ll have one rail in hand tomorrow.
Jumping Up
Nate Chambers, who’d been the top-placed non-shortlisted rider yesterday in 16th (48.0), moved all the way up to second today with the division’s only other round within the time. He and Rolling Stone II finished 16 seconds fast.
Chambers, of Vienna, Va., said the ground was hard, and he’d planned to pull up if he felt “Rollie” was uncomfortable. But his horse’s glue-on shoes, which have a thick layer of gel cushioning underneath, acted as a buffer against the hard ground, and the gelding kept taking him to the fences.
“My horse is just so rateable,” he said. “I’m definitely not the most efficient rider out there, but I feel like Rollie is very quick through the combinations, and you can bring him back and then kick on very easily. It’s not about who has the fastest Thoroughbred who can run flat-out on course, it’s about being efficient.”
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In his last two events, Chambers had been leading the competition heading into the final phase, but multiple rails in show jumping have spoiled his wins. He hopes tomorrow will be different.
“To be honest, not going into the show jumping in the lead does take some pressure off,” Chambers said. “The biggest problems are my nerves and my form. I’m not doing this professionally anymore, so I only ride one horse a day, and it’s showing in my form.”
Chambers, who works as a financial advisor, keeps his horse with Karen and David O’Connor in The Plains, Va., and gets help from them and show jumping professional Joe Fargis.
Will Faudree and Pawlow jumped up from ninth place to third with a clean round and 6.8 time faults, and Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville moved into fourth, all the way up from 22nd in the dressage.
To Each His Own
As expected, six U.S. short-listed horses withdrew before cross-country. Phillip Dutton’s Woodburn and The Foreman, Boyd Martin’s Neville Bardos and Remington XXV, and Buck Davidson’s My Boy Bobby and Ballynoe Castle RM all took fitness gallops this morning under the watchful eyes of U.S. team selectors and veterinarians in lieu of jumping today. Truluck was also added to this list at the last minute.
Amy Tryon chose to jump an abbreviated course on Leyland, cutting out the back loop and turning back to finish at the water. She also broke a stirrup early in her second ride aboard Coal Creek, but she jumped several fences before finally retiring after fence 12ab, the ski ramp bank and narrow.
Other short-listed pairs completed the course but did so at a leisurely pace, racking up time faults. Dressage leaders Allison Springer and Arthur looked spot-on at a slower pace; they dropped from the lead to 15th with 31.6. time faults. Phillip Dutton also cruised easily around with veteran Connaught, incurring 24.8 time penalties to drop from a tie for fifth down to 17th. Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch earned 19.2 time faults and will show jump in 24th place.
Most of the Canadians also chose this option. Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch and Port Authority, Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo, Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master, Jessica Phoenix and Exponential, Kyle Carter and Madison Park and Diana Burnett and Manny all jumped around slow and clear and will head into show jumping in the middle or near the bottom of the pack.
While most riders said yesterday that they thought the course was a bit soft, it didn’t ride as easily as many had expected, particularly for riders who went early in the division. Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice were the fourth pair on course and had serious sunlight issues to contend with. They picked up a run-out at fence 4b, a skinny chevron, which “Ginny” didn’t even see, according to her rider.
While the scoreboard has Bennett-Awad down for a technical elimination, she, like Tryon, skipped several fences on purpose. Her round was momentarily interrupted when a confused jump judge waved her down to tell her she’d been eliminated, but she was soon allowed to continue.
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Karen O’Connor and Mandiba had a bizarre stop at the second fence, the slate table. But she said the sun had nothing to do with that mistake.
“I wish I had something to blame it on,” O’Connor said. “I was thinking about the fourth and the fifth fence, and not the one in front of me. I’m a level 4 ICP instructor, and I forgot the ‘preparation period’ [before the fence]. Then after I realized I’d forgotten the preparation period, I did the next worst thing you can do—I pecked at him and took back a stride. And then I took back again, and again.
“But if [my husband] David can fall off in the final outing before the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games [where he won individual gold]… Well, let’s just say I’m following in his footsteps,” she joked.
After the embarrassing mistake, however, O’Connor sharpened up and Mandiba gave her “the ride of her life.” After winning the Rebecca Farm CIC***-W (Mont.) and finishing third in the Richland Park CIC*** (Mich.) two weeks ago, she has good reason to believe the blip won’t affect her chances at a bid to Kentucky.
Horses not on the short lists had problems too. Jennifer Wooten-DaFoe and Naboucco de Lessay were also blinded at 4b and had a stop there, as well as at the second corner. Susan Beebee and Prowler stopped out at the corner, and Lauren Kieffer and Snooze Alarm were eliminated at the drop. Melissa Miller and Detail Specialist picked up a runout at the second of the double Kahunas at 15b.
“Courses like this that look easy at first end up taking more of a toll than the ones that the riders walk and think, ‘Wow, this looks hard,’ ” Chambers said. “People start to take things for granted.”
Two falls occurred in the advanced division. After having one stop at the drop, Erika Treis Petersen fell from Under The Influence at fence 18b, the corner. At that same fence, Mary Bess Sigman’s Guinness X fell on top of her, but both horse and rider stood up slowly and walked away. That pair had also had one previous stop.
A Bit Of Color
As part of their efforts to make eventing more spectator friendly, several members of the Professional Riders Organization provided commentary for the advanced cross-country, including Doug Payne, Jon Holling and Leslie Law. But it was Boyd Martin who, unsurprisingly, seemed to enjoy the power of the microphone most of all. Nate Chambers, as the butt of his jokes, however, did not.
“It’s great to see him riding so well after that herpes scare last year!” Martin joked over the public address system as Chambers galloped around the course and finished well inside the time. “Nate’s renowned for finishing a bit too quickly—getting the job done a little too soon.”
“These PRO riders are here to provide a little bit of color commentary, but that might be a little bit too bright,” countered announcer Giles Rowsell.
