While several dressage winners made their cross-country courses look easy today, Friday, Sept. 11, not everyone could keep a hold of their leads.

Horses in the advanced division jumped well, but overnight leaders Leslie Law and Evening Shade added 8.8 time faults to their score to drop to fourth. That opened the door for Nate Chambers, whose brilliant double-clear go—the only one in the division—with his longtime partner Rolling Stone II lifted him into the lead (32.1).

After the dressage, Chambers had been tied for second with his barnmates, Jennie Brannigan and Cooper, but that duo dropped to the bottom of the standings today after a run-out at the Maui Jim Water. Cooper took a hard landing on the long drop into the water, and Brannigan lost her left stirrup and wasn’t able to get re-organized in time to properly present to the “Kahuna” B element, a skinny box in the water.

Fast, clear rounds allowed Law to move into second place with his other advanced mount, Fleeceworks Mystere du Val (34.5), and Phillip Dutton to slide into third with Woodburn (35.7). Both riders will surely put the pressure on Chambers—who has less than a rail’s lead—tomorrow.

Dutton will have 4 faults in hand when he show jumps last in the intermediate division with Wild Tiger (36.7) tomorrow. No one in the intermediate division made the time on today’s course, but Dutton and Brannigan, riding Cambalda (41.7), moved into first and second, respectively, with some of the fastest rounds. Dressage leaders Jordynn Sahagian and Nestor had an unfortunate stop for 20 penalties, plus 18 time faults, dropping them to 14th place.

Elinor MacPhail and Woodstock II took control of the lead in the the junior/young rider preliminary division (30.8) after overnight leaders Alison Wilaby and Memphis II had a runout.

Elsewhere at the preliminary level, a double-clear round maintained Lynne Partridge’s lead with El Cid in the amateur class, and the same went for Dutton and Vidalia in the horse division. Tracey Corey and SuperNova also held on to first place in the amateur training division.

Dutton incurred 1.2 time faults with Young Man, leaving Kerry Torrey and Wellfleet, who’d been tied for first with them after the dressage but managed to make the time today, alone in the lead.

Unfortunately, the day began on a sad note, as the first rider on course, Pam Fisher of Basalt, Colo., and her horse Out To Sea slipped on a turn early in the course and fell. While Fisher was uninjured, her 10-year-old dark bay Thoroughbred gelding suffered an irreparable injury and was later euthanized at a local equine hospital.

Fisher and Out To Sea had just won the Area IX Preliminary Championship at the Northern Colorado Horse Trials last month, and they had been in 18th place in the preliminary horse division here at the AEC.

Visit the USEA’s live scoring site for today’s complete results.

The first group of champions will be crowned tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 12, as the upper levels conclude with show jumping. Stay tuned for interviews with the winners and competition analysis, as well as more photos from tomorrow’s lower-level cross-country action!