Elkton, Md.—Oct. 15

Marilyn Little headed out on to Derek di Grazia’s CCI*** course today at the Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International on two very different mares, but she brought them both home clear and fast to hold onto the top two spots on the leader board.

RF Scandalous had held the top spot after dressage, but she switched spots with her stablemate RF Demeter after picking up 4.8 time penalties. The rest of the leader board shuffled quite a bit as unusually dry ground made the going fast and the time a little more attainable than years past. Di Grazia also reversed parts of the course to give it a little different feel.

“I thought the course rode beautifully. I thought Derek did a beautiful job presenting it for the horses. I thought it rode well in the different direction. It was nice that it shuffled the board a little bit and that not everybody knew exactly where to push and where to give them a break,” said Little. “I was hoping ‘Demi’ was going to be good today, and she was from start to finish. She jumped very well. She was focused and looking for the fences. I had a little bit of a cross-country moment at the second water, and she just got a little slow with her front end, but she’s a wonderful sport and picked herself up and off she went to be. That’s just her experience and her heart. She gave me a great run around and was able to slow up nicely at the end and come in nicely under the time.”

Marilyn Little and RF Demeter. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

“Kitty” was making her second start at the level, and has had an easy lead up by just running at the intermediate level this summer and fall.

“Scandalous had a hard time settling to the rhythm so she started a little slower than I would have liked but for her it’s only her second run at the CCI level, and it rode very true around for her. She’s a very courageous horse and was nice and straight and finished comfortably,” said Little, Frederick, Md.

Little rode Kitty first, and admitted it would have been easier to ride Demi first, but she was confident in both mares.

“I would have loved to have ridden Demi first because I do know her so well,” she said. “There’s an invaluable advantage to a horse you have a partnership with but at the same time, Scandalous is very straight, she’s very adjustable, she always wants to do a good job, and she holds her line, so I had a feeling if I presented her to it well she’d get the job done.”

Emily Beshear and Shame On The Moon. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Emily Beshear moved into third place with Shame On The Moon from sixth after dressage with 1.2 time penalties.

“I’ve had a little bit of an on and off year with her. She came out this year much bolder and less focused so I’ve had some stupid run bys just with her being not very focused,” said Beshear, Somerset, Va. “I was really determined at the beginning, and I was definitely concerned about the first water and the angled brushes and just making sure I got her eye on it. I’ve also had trouble with her at the end when she tires and her getting a little haphazard in her jumping form, so I was probably a little more defensive with her at the end of the course than I needed to be, and she was awesome. She had tons of gallop left and jumped all of the hard stuff as well as I could have asked. I feel like I’ve got my girl back.”

Both Little and Beshear thought the course rode well for all levels of experience.

“It did cause a lot of trouble, but there were also a lot of fantastic rounds. We saw a lot of riders come in underneath the time and saw a lot of horses jumping better at the end than at the beginning. I thought that on the whole the horses might have gotten a little tired from the terrain, but they didn’t lose their jump. They were jumping quite well,” said Little.

Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Although Kitty jumped and finished well, there was some blood spotted on the corners of her mouth, but she wasn’t pulled up.

Rule 526.4 of the Fédération Equestre Internationale Rules for Eventing states that blood on a horse is to be reviewed on a case by case basis.

The President of the Ground Jury, Christian Landolt, stated that the first radio report of blood on Kitty’s mouth was at fence 20.

“A colleague of mine from the ground jury saw it at fence 22 and confirmed that there was some blood but it wasn’t something unduly and worrying and fresh and pouring like some people might have said. The two TDs who were at fence 23 and fence 24 confirmed that yes, it was red but it was nothing running or gushing. At the finish the vet was informed that there might have been some blood, and on inspection she saw nothing. There was no wound, no blood or anything,” he said. “Clearly the mare probably bit her tongue or something like that, but the fact that the vet couldn’t find any fresh injury or any fresh blood on the horse at the finish, I was with the vet and that’s what it is.”

Landolt added that it was a judgement call, and that because Little only had about a minute and a half left on course, he felt she should be allowed to finish instead of interrupting her round.

“If I see something like that and it’s just pink, personally I will not take action. If there’s blood really pouring out of the mouth, than obviously you have a very severe case, and you will act,” he said. “You’re not going to stop the horse there and say, ‘Oh it’s nothing, start again.’ You have to use common sense. If it’s a major injury and the blood is pouring, then you will stop the horse, but there was nothing dripping violently out of the mouth on to the horse’s body as far as I was told, so I said finish, and we’ll see what is what then.

“If you hear that the horse is really strong, and they’re fighting and the rider is struggling to have control then you think there is an issue, but there was no report of that,” he added. “Marilyn rides very smoothly and normally quite forward to the fences, so since there was no report of bad riding and what was seen of the blood was minimal, there was no reason we felt to stop her there and then and let her finish.”

Little said she didn’t realize there was any blood while on course, and when she crossed the finish line, Kitty was taken by the vets for the normal post cross-country check.

“When I got off the horse, the vets were there and were taking her temperature. There wasn’t anything evident at that time by the time she pulled up,” she said.

Little said Kitty goes in a smooth straight bar Pelham and a plain leather noseband.

“It’s essentially what the horses are going dressage in, [but the dressage bit] just happens to have a snaffle ring. I ride the first half of the course on a snaffle rein, and then in the CCIs, I used it at Morven as well, and she seems to like it very well. There’s nothing on it that can cut her, so it’s quite wide and smooth,” she said. “I want her to absolutely be as comfortable as she possibly can, that’s why I had chosen that bit. It allows me to balance her, and yet it’s a very smooth mouthpiece and a nice soft leather noseband. I think she goes well in it. She bit her tongue, and it can happen at anytime, but maybe I can look into some ways to keep that from happening in the future. It didn’t seem to alter her performance and I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

Tidbits

– Forty-six horses started the CCI*** course and 31 completed and 14 made the time.

– There were four eliminations and three rider falls. Ryan Wood, in third after dressage, fell from Powell at fence 12, The Hollow, a coffin. Phillip Dutton fell from Z at fence 5, the Frog Pond, when the gelding overjumped the first element. Adrian Jones fell from Magnificent Toy at fence 24, the Springhouse Water.

– There were two horse falls. Julie Richards and Urlanmore Beauty fell at fence 22a a wide table, as did Colleen Rutledge and Roulette. Both horses and riders walked off course, but Richards went to a local hospital with a shoulder injury and was reported to be discharged soon.

– Lauren Kieffer pulled up at fence 22 on Vermiculus after the gelding had stopped twice in the arena combination at fence 17. Kieffer said he tied up but was resting comfortably in the barn.

Full results can be found here.