Several pairs showed off their show jumping prowess in today’s Mandatory Outing conclusion.

There may not have been a victory gallop after the conclusion of today’s USEF Mandatory Outing for Olympic Eventing, but there were plenty of performances worth celebrating.

Because selection for the Olympic eventing team is subjective, scores and placings were not awarded this weekend. All nine horses passed this morning’s jogs and completed the show jumping course today, and the majority of riders were happy to know that had there been a scoreboard, their rounds would have added nothing but zeros to it.

Five of the nine pairs jumped without fault. Phillip Dutton and Connaught logged the first clear round, putting in a calculated and careful performance. They were followed by Bonnie Mosser and Merloch, who zipped energetically through the course without error. Becky Holder on Courageous Comet seem to have dispelled their show jumping troubles, logging a very relaxed clear round as well. Bruce Davidson on Ballynoecastle RM and Jennifer Wooten on The Good Witch also showed impressive form.

Single-rail rounds went to Heidi White-Carty on Northern Spy and Dutton on Woodburn, both of which came at relatively easy, straightforward fences. Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan knocked two poles; they struggled with striding in a difficult, forward 5-stride line which troubled several pairs. Will Faudree pulled an unfortunate three rails with Antigua.

There will be an added emphasis on show jumping at this year’s Olympic Games, as the format will require riders to finish the team competition, then come back to jump a second show jumping round to determine the individual medal winners.

White-Carty, who won the CIC***-W here in April but then suffered a disappointing fall in the final water complex at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, said she was thrilled with her weekend overall. They put in a very competitive dressage test and had a confident run across country yesterday.

“I had a great run here [in April] but then obviously a little hiccup in Kentucky, so it was good to come here and feel like he and I were [back in sync],” she said. “I thought it was a really good kind of prep training thing. We’re preparing for the big one, so this was a really good way to compete but practice at the same time.”

White-Carty said “Farley” jumped “out of his skin” today. They pulled their one rail at a large stand-alone oxer, and, like many riders, she chose to go back and school a few fences after completing her round.

“We didn’t need to go back and jump it again, but that’s what I loved about this,” White-Carty explained. “I said, ‘You know, I think I want to do 1 to 2 again. And it wasn’t like when you were done, they kicked you out. You talked about it and you went back and did it, cause it’s practice.”

It was a bittersweet weekend for Faudree, whose 19-year-old Antigua is the oldest horse on the Short List. Faudree said he was disappointed with the rides he gave his longtime partner in the dressage and show jumping phases.

“I did too much in the [dressage] warm-up trying to make it perfect instead of allowing it to be what it’s been, which is very, very good,” Faudree said. “I think I just overdid it a little bit. He got tired in the canter work and I just lost him in the changes. In my attempts to keep my legs very still on him, I get too heavy in my seat, which is why he swaps behind.”

The pair’s three rails in today’s show jumping came at the front rail of the first oxer, a vertical off a tough 5-stride line, and the final jump.

“He doesn’t have the springs he once had, but he jumped out of his skin except for where we had rails,” Faudree said. “I just rode him underpowered and should have put him on his feet.”

Faudree was plenty happy with yesterday’s cross-country round, however.

“He’s amazing,” he said simply. “This will be the one thing I miss the most. He’s a cross-country horse. That’s what he’s known for. I thought of that yesterday going cross-country, that maybe this is our last one.

“He’s pulling me to the finish, just loving every bit of it. I’ve had such amazing goes on him and I’ve gotten to do so much. And I’ve said all summer long that this horse doesn’t owe it to me to go to the Olympics this year. So it’s like, how do I tell this horse that he can’t do it anymore? We always wait for them to tell us, but he still hasn’t told me yet.”

Chef d’Equipe Capt. Mark Phillips was pleased to finish the weekend with a full roster of capable Olympic candidates.

“I think we’ve had a good weekend and everybody’s in one piece, which hasn’t always been the case at some of these final outings,” he acknowledged.

Because Phillips has been training the Short Listed riders almost daily all spring, he wasn’t surprised by the solid performances this weekend.

“Because you’re with them everyday, you pretty much know what’s coming,” he said. “We’ve always got more work to do. The job is never done. Now we just go and do what we can do and see what’s in the cards.”

Ann Taylor and her fellow USEF selectors now have the monumental task of choosing the team by tomorrow evening.

“I think we all kind of sit down with our pieces of paper and try to weigh up the different odds,” she said. “Then we also have talks with the coach and the vets, and the vets would play a pretty major role in the final decision.”

“I think you couldn’t ask for a better last outing with your horse,” Taylor continued. “It’s been good preparation. I think we’ve got a great group of people and some nice horses, so we just need a little bit of luck.”

The Short Listed horses will undergo extensive veterinary inspections over the next day and a half, and the team will be publicly announced on Monday.

Meanwhile, the riders will be waiting with bated breath.

“Fingers crossed,” White said. “It’s going to be a long 48 hours!”

The 2008 USEF Short List for Olympic Eventing is as follows:

Stephen Bradley, age 46, of Leesburg, VA, with Brandenburg’s Joshua, a 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Southern Edition Farm, LLC.

Bruce Davidson, Jr., age 32, of Ocala, FL, with Ballynoe Castle RM, an 8-year-old Belgian Warmblood-Thoroughbred gelding owned by Carl and Cassandra Segal.

Phillip Dutton, age 44, of West Grove, PA, with Connaught, a 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Bruce Duchossois.

Phillip Dutton, age 44, of West Grove, PA, with Woodburn, a 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Acorn Hill Farm.

Will Faudree, age 26, of Southern Pines, NC, with Antigua, a 19-year-old Australian Thoroughbred gelding owned by the rider.

Becky Holder, age 39, of Mendota Heights, MN, with Courageous Comet, a 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by the rider and Thomas Holder, Jr.

Gina Miles, age 34, of Creston, CA, with McKinlaigh, a 14-year-old  Irish Sport Horse owned by the rider, Laura Coats and Thomas Schulz.

Clark Montgomery, age 27, of Bryan, TX, with Up Spirit, a 9-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding owned by the rider and Bill and Holly Becker.

Bonnie Mosser, age 45, of Unionville, PA, with Merloch, and 11-year-old New Zealand Thorougbred-cross gelding, owned by the rider and Margaret Egan.

Karen O’Connor, age 50, of The Plains, VA, with Mandiba, a 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Joan Goswell.

Kim Severson, age 34, of Keene, VA, with Tipperary Liadhnan, an 11-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding owned by the rider.

Amy Tryon, age 38, of Duvall, WA, with Leyland, an 8-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Elizabeth Nicholson.

Amy Tryon, age 38, of Duvall, WA, with Poggio II, a 16-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by the rider, Greg Tryon and Mark Hart.

Heidi White-Carty, age 42, of Aiken, SC, with Northern Spy, a 15-year-old English Thoroughbred gelding owned by the rider.

Jennifer Wooten, age 30, of Ramona, CA, with The Good Witch, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare owned by Daisy Tognazzini.