Arielle Eccher chalks up her second win of the season in California.

Arielle Eccher and Master Hill have been undefeated so far in 2009 and added the blue from the open intermediate division at the Twin Rivers Winter Horse Trials to the tally on Feb. 27-March 1 in Paso Robles, Calif.

Eccher and Master Hill earned a 28.1 in dressage to sit in second behind Amy Tryon and Coal Creek, the 2007 Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) winners. Usually Eccher arrives at the showgrounds too late to ride the evening before dressage. But at Twin Rivers she arrived Thursday morning and was able to ride the 16.3-hand bay gelding and get him relaxed.

“When he came out Friday morning for his dressage test he was so relaxed and so obedient,” said Eccher. “He was just a superstar. I just wanted him to be calm and rideable, and he was.”

Eccher’s goal on cross-country was to go around clean, and she didn’t worry about their time.

“He was just stellar,” said Eccher. “I felt like we were totally in sync. It was a lot of fun.

“I definitely had some fences that I was worried about,” continued Eccher. “But I was happy that the ones that I considered the harder fences rode perfectly. I was really pleased. Even at preliminary, I always get a little nervous about the coffin. He just hopped through that like it was nothing. Probably the thing that I was most worried about was a big table to a chevron fence, but it actually rode perfectly.”

Eccher might not have been looking at her watch, but the timers showed she was the second fastest in the division, collecting just 8 time penalties. Tryon and Coal Creek picked up 15.2 time faults on their cross-country round, giving Eccher a healthy lead going into show jumping.

Even a rail in show jumping couldn’t keep them from winning. “It was totally my fault,” said Eccher of the 4 faults.

“He was jumping perfectly in warm-up. I thought he might be a little tired, and I might have to ride kind of strong in the ring. But as soon as he got in the ring he perked up and was ready to go. He was having a great round, jumping everything just how I like, and then I came around the turn to the vertical, and I personally lost focus. We drifted right and the fence came down. But after that everything was fine. I just had a little brain fart—just forgot that keeping him straight was probably a good idea!”

Eccher, 18, bought Master Hill, 9, in August 2007. The Irish Sport Horse gelding (Master Imp—Clover Fair) had competed to the two-star level in Ireland. Eccher started him in the preliminary divisions and earned ribbons before moving up to intermediate for one event in March of 2008. She and Master Hill then placed in the top 12 in two CCI*s, at Twin Rivers in April and Galway Downs (Calif.) in October.

Eccher has been eventing for six years. A freshman at University of California, Santa Barbara, she trains with Dayna Lynd-Pugh in Gilroy, Calif., at home and at events and with Don Sachey during the school year.

Headed East

Jolie Sexson has big plans for the spring—she’s aiming for her first appearance at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** on Killian O’Connor. With a win at advanced at Twin Rivers, they’re well on their way.

Sexson was in second place after dressage with “Connor” with 28.3 penalties. The 17-hand gray Irish Sport Horse-Selle Français gelding (by Heiros) looked impressive in the dressage ring.

“We’re trying to improve his dressage little by little,” said Sexson. “I’m starting to push some buttons of his and go for more collected work, trying to get a little more suspension. I do have some moments like when we cantered down the first centerline and he gave me a flying change. So we still have a couple bobbles here and there that we’re trying to get rid of. But overall he’s very consistent in dressage.”

With the fastest time over cross-country—just 2.4 time penalties—Sexson took the lead from Canadian rider Sandra Donnelly on Buenos Aires. “The course had a lot of questions on it, but there was definitely enough to do,” said Sexson.

This was Connor’s first event since last July due to a minor injury. The 11-year-old gelding has been competing at advanced for three years and has completed three-stars—at Galway Downs and Jersey Fresh (N.J.).

“It was nice to have him back,” said Sexson. “He’s just a fabulous cross-country horse. Every time I go out on him he’s just a pleasure to ride. He is probably one of the easiest horses you could ever sit on.”

Spot On

Lauren Whitlock of Walnut Creek, Calif., finished on her dressage score to take the open preliminary division.

This was the second time out at preliminary for Spot On (Mister Concorde—Miss Holland), an 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Sara Dukker of San Francisco, Calif.

“I’m taking dressage lessons with dressage trainer Nadine Pestana, and our scores just improved incredibly,” said Whitlock. Both Pestana and Whitlock train at Tassajara Equestrian Center in Pleasanton, Calif. “Spotty’s a really cool horse. He’s strong in all three phases.

“He’s kind of a little show-off when he goes into the arena,” said Whitlock. “He just gets this whole different aura to him compared to at home. He just knows everyone is watching him. We go around the dressage arena, and he comes up in his frame, and he gets a little bit more trot. He’s barely 16 hands, but when you see him trot, it’s like, ‘Wow, that trot comes out of that little horse?’ ”

Spot On was a show jumper in Europe before being imported to California. Robyn Fisher evented him a few times at preliminary before Whitlock took over the ride in the middle of 2008.

“This time it was just point and shoot for him,” said Whitlock after cross-country. “He got into a good gallop, and he kept it through the whole course. He didn’t look twice at any of the jumps. It was amazing. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s not very experienced at it yet. I have high hopes for him.”

Going To The Dark Side

Amber Levine decided to broaden her horizons. Levine, of Santa Rosa, Calif., is a hunter/jumper trainer and had a successful junior career before turning pro in 2007. Her horse Nantucket Red used to be an equitation mount at Don Stewart Stables in Florida.

But they’ve taken to eventing with style and won the preliminary rider division at Twin Rivers. Levine acquired Nantucket Red in a trade in early 2008. He was supposed to be a quick resale horse, but he didn’t sell. Levine’s boyfriend events and talked her into trying it.

Levine took Nantucket Red schooling cross-country and liked it so she started eventing last year. They completed six training-level events before placing seventh at the training three-day at Galway Downs (Calif.) in October.

Their preliminary debut came in January, at Galway, where they placed second before moving up to win at Twin Rivers.

Levine has become truly multi-discipline. She started taking dressage lessons from Lilo Fore and now works at Fore’s facility, Sporthorse America, in Santa Rosa. She also is a trainer at Sonoma Valley Stables, a hunter/jumper barn in Petaluma.

“I started playing in the eventing and the dressage, and now I’ve taken to it and it’s a lot of fun,” said Levine. “Nantucket Red was fantastic in dressage this weekend. That was definitely one of his best tests. The cross-country was a lot of fun, and we came in right on the optimum time. The stadium phase is what I know, but the rest of it is all new to me. It’s nice to end on something I know!”