She and Northern Spy finally score a long-awaited victory in the CIC***-W.

Heidi White-Carty and Northern Spy have had a steady and storied partnership together over the years. But up until this month, the wins have somehow narrowly eluded them.

On a rainy spring weekend the pair’s drought came to an end, however, at The Fork CIC***-W in Norwood, N.C., where she and “Farley” finished on top on their dressage score of 48.1. Held April 3-6, the event put her one step closer to her goal of an Olympic bid.

“I was told [by the selectors] that it would be nice to do well here, so I can check that off the list!” she said.

White-Carty, Aiken, S.C., earned the victory with her longtime partner, a 15-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding (All Fair–Lavender Fair VII). In 2005, they were 10th at the FEI World Cup Final (Sweden) and the Badminton CCI**** (England). In 2006, they were second at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, and last year they finished fourth.

In fourth place after the dressage phase on Thursday, White-Carty was pleased with her score, despite being nearly 10 points behind leaders Allison Springer and Arthur.

“He was great in his dressage,” she said. “I’ve actually been doing a bit of work with Kim [Severson] lately, so that’s shown, I think.”

By Friday morning enough rain had already fallen to transform the temporary stabling area into a massive mud pit, and with a deluge forecasted for Saturday, officials decided to switch the order of the jumping phases, running the show jumping first and putting cross-country off until Sunday.

Saturday’s heaviest showers fell during the World Cup division, testing the mettle of experienced horses and riders. Confusion also ensued as to the exact location of the finish flags, which several riders missed, having turned the wrong direction after last fence.

But White-Carty stayed focused, and where others faltered, Farley took to the all-weather footing and put in a double-clear round, moving into second place behind Mara Dean and High Patriot.

“They all jump a little differently and feel a little bit different to us,” White-Carty said of riding on the synthetic base. “But, fortunately, he’s a big-footed English horse who jumps through everything.”

Although the outlook on footing (see Safety) looked grim on Saturday evening, most riders chose to ride the final phase after re-walking Capt. Mark Phillips’ cross-country course on Sunday morning. White-Carty said her veteran horse was up to the challenge, and he took to the rolling, galloping course with alacrity despite the deep going.

“We’ve been under these conditions before, and we’ll be in them again,” she said.

Rolex Kentucky almost always sees rain at some point during the competition, and the Olympic Test Event in Hong Kong last summer was interrupted by a typhoon, which riders have been warned is a definite possibility during the actual Games.

“It’s a big year, obviously,” White-Carty continued. “It was a great conditioning run to prep for Rolex. We wanted to come here and build confidence for Rolex, and I think we got that done. He felt really handy to me, so I just kept galloping.”

White-Carty said that like most riders aiming for the Olympics this year, she’s been honing her own fitness. She gallops race horses in the mornings and swims for a full-body workout when she has time. Farley is being conditioned as usual, and White-Carty said she’s already had blood tests performed to make sure he’s on the right track for prime fitness and hydration.

While there were only two other double-clear rounds in the World Cup division, many riders, using The Fork as a final prep for their spring CCIs, pushed for time as safely as possible. The vast majority had clean goes with minimal time penalties.

Finishing second with one of the rare double-clears was Clark Montgomery with Up Spirit, who took top honors in the same division at Red Hills (Fla.) last month. The Fork was Montgomery’s final competition before moving to England to train for several months and contest the Saumur CCI*** (France).

“It feels great,” Montgomery said of his horse’s recent hot streak. “What I’m really nervously looking forward to is seeing what this performance gets me in England. If you win there, you’ll be competitive
anywhere. Obviously, they take four-star horses to the Olympics, so my goal is to be the first three-star horse to be ready if they run out of four-star horses.”

Bouncing Back

Reigning Olympic gold medalist Leslie Law only has a few more months to hold his title, and with no Olympic prospects this year, he will undoubtedly have to relinquish it. But with his eyes on the future, he did claim the CIC*** with one of his talented young prospects, Mystere du Val, in his first time competing at The Fork. He placed fourth in the same division with Private Heart.

“A couple more wouldn’t hurt,” Law joked of his string of future stars. “We’ve been lucky to build the business we have and the horses we have in the short time we’ve been here [in the United States].”

A member of the British eventing team, Law and his Canadian wife Lesley Grant were married in December; they began their business in Bluemont, Va., and Ocala, Fla., in 2005.

With a score of 36.9 in the dressage on Friday, Mystere du Val, an 8-year-old Selle Francais (Veloce de Favi–Inedite du Val) owned by Beatrice and Guy Rey-Herme, topped the leader board, but Law said some of the atmosphere on Saturday rattled the young, chestnut gelding. He knocked two rails in the show jumping to slip down to second place.

“I thought the show jumping track [designed by Marc Donovan] was a great track,” he said. “And we’re fortunate to have that all-weather footing. He was just more spooky at all the people standing around and the umbrellas. He’s not the finished article by any means.”

Law’s experience made up for his mount’s lack thereof, however, and their cross-country round on Sunday was foot-perfect. Even with 5.6 time penalties, they bounced back into the lead.

After controversy about Phillips’ course design at Red Hills (Fla.) in March (see March 28, p. 57), where Mystere du Val was among the throng of horses eliminated in the CIC***, Law said the course at The Fork was just what riders and horses needed at this point in the spring.

“I thought this was a super cross-country,” he said. “It was a great mixture of bold fences and technical questions. Mark had a hard time after Red Hills, but he hasn’t backed down on the size or design. Anyone going to a three-day should be happy.”

Law plans to contest the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (N.J.) in May with Mystere du Val and Private Heart. The latter, a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse, is owned by Troy Glaus.

Right On Track

It takes a truly talented horse to win an advanced division with scores of 4s and 5s in his dressage test, but Bonnie Mosser has learned that Merloch is just such a horse.

“I definitely gave some serious points away,” Mosser said with a laugh after her fourth consecutive win with the gray, New Zealand-bred gelding. “I would have to say that my horse is improving in the ring, and he’s strong in the dressage, but his second flying change was late, and he broke to canter in the extended trot and got a 4. Coming off a 9 in the half pass, that doesn’t look so good!”

Even with what Mosser, Unionville, Pa., referred to as some “bobbles,” she and “Murray” sat tied for second after the dressage; they moved into first with a flawless show jumping round on Saturday.

“I felt I had one of my best show jumping rounds on him,” she said. “He’s a careful horse, but he only gives out what he needs to. And I thought the course was challenging, but not punishing in any way. If you made a mistake, it wasn’t difficult to fix it. [The horses] had a chance to improve themselves over the course.”

On Sunday morning, Mosser said she re-walked the advanced and intermediate cross-country courses to make sure the undulating track was safe enough for her mounts.

“In the barn area it was so sloppy and muddy, and you just thought, ‘How could the course be good?’ But it was such good turf coverage, and they put down more footing where they needed to,” Mosser said. “My idea was to just go out and ride him well, not necessarily that I needed to go fast, but then again I didn’t want to wait until Rolex to press him. I just went as quickly as I could without overdoing it.”

Mosser’s careful calculation earned her 6.8 time penalties, which was sufficient to retain first place, and, more importantly, a confident run before the pair’s first four-star together.

“Last fall when we sort of made a plan of what we were going to do this year, Rolex really wasn’t on the table for me,” Mosser admitted. “I feel like going to Rolex is a big step because he’s only done one three-star. He has a lot of intermediate mileage but not a lot of advanced. So it’ll just be a matter of me riding him the best I can and keeping his attention for 11 minutes. He’s competitive in all three phases, so I don’t feel like I need to make up for something, which is fortunate for me!”

Mosser and Merloch won the Jersey Fresh CCI*** last summer and were slated to go to the Pan American Games, but an injury kept them home and the gelding out of commission until a few weeks ago at Southern Pines (N.C.), where they won their intermediate division. After being based in Unionville for 13 years, Mosser plans to move her business to Gordonsville, Va., sometime after Rolex Kentucky.