There wasn’t a dry eye at Richland Park as Katie Ruppel accepted the inaugural Philippa Humphreys Award. Michigan born and raised, Ruppel earned this award as the highest-placed woman and winner of the advanced division, which was an Adequan USEA Gold Cup Qualifier.
Humphreys died tragically this spring while competing at the Jersey Fresh International CCI*** (N.J.). Originally from the United Kingdom, Humphreys relocated to Michigan with her then-fiancé, Peter Humphreys in 2005. She had been a staple of Richland Park ever since, making her advanced level debut there in 2007, and returning to the event each year to compete and coach. Because of this, the advanced division was named in her honor.
Ruppel grew up in Michigan, was a friend of Humphreys’, and the two shared an upper level horse, Sir Donovan. Ruppel produced the Irish Sport Horse before Humphreys bought him in 2014. Humphreys’ presence was felt throughout the entire event, and it’s obvious the huge network she had in this sport. Her students competed proudly showing their PHEventing gear, the advanced division had a table painted in her colors and her family, including husband Peter and young daughter Millie, visited each day.
Another of Humphreys upper level horses, Rich N Famous, also returned to the event with her friend, Meghan O’Donoghue in the tack. They finished 10th in the CIC**.
Ruppel took a wire-to-wire lead at Richland Park with her longtime partner Houdini (Hot Rock—Nancy’s Star). She and the 12-year-old Thoroughbred scored a 27.7 on the flat—a two-point improvement from their winning advanced test at The Fork Horse Trials (N.C.) this spring—added 3.2 time penalties across country and had two rails to finish on a final score of 38.9. The pair won by a 10-point margin proving they were in a league of their own this weekend.
Katie Ruppel on Houdini. Photo by USEA/Shelby Allen
Ruppel was very emotional in the ribbon ceremony as many of Humphreys’ loved ones gathered to congratulate her, and to remember Philippa Kate Humphreys. “It means everything. Philippa was a great friend to me,” Ruppel said. “I’m just so happy her family was here and I could honor her by doing well in her division. She’s so missed.”
ADVERTISEMENT
In the rest of the division, the leaderboard shuffled and there were few fault-free rounds. Lauren Kieffer and D.A. Duras had one of only two double clear rides in the show jumping for a second place finish. The 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood, owned by Debbie Adams and Jacqueline Mars, had a very solid weekend.
“I don’t think I’ve ever ridden something with this much scope before. He’s new to the level, and he’s such a big baby, but he’s such a trier,” Kieffer said of her partner, who she’s nicknamed “Baby Huey” after the adorably dopey cartoon. “He’s a ‘yes ma’am, no ma’am’ type of guy. You ask him to jump something and he doesn’t think twice about jumping it.”
Kieffer got the ride on Duras after the gelding traveled overseas with help of the Holekamp/Turner Young Event Horse Le Lion d’Angers Grant, which enabled him to compete at the FEI World Breeding Championship last fall. At Le Lion, he had a top-10 finish with Kelly Prather riding, giving a preview of his upper level potential on an international stage.
Lauren Kieffer on D. A. Duras. Photo by USEA/Shelby Allen
This weekend, Kieffer and Duras scored a 29.4 in dressage, to which Kieffer said, “He’s a big horse, so a lot of it is going to be the time it takes to get him strong at the level.” They decided to take it slower on cross-country, after going for time at the last few events, and accumulated 18.8 time penalties before finally having the clear round in show jumping today. “For such a big horse, he’s actually very ‘Thoroughbredy’ to ride. He’s got a huge gallop and a heck of an engine. He could run all day,” Kieffer said as she pointed out that he does all three phases in a snaffle.
Will Coleman piloted the Conair Syndicate’s Tight Lines (Turgeon—Meridole) to double clear finish over Marc Donovan’s show jumping course to win the Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC*** division. In only the 9-year-old Thoroughbred’s second go at this level, “Phish” proved himself a serious competitor, grabbing second place after the dressage phase and holding it after a super soaked cross-country day.
Finishing the weekend with a double clear show jump pleased Coleman enough, but taking home the blue was just the cherry on top. “He tries his guts out; he always does,” Coleman remarked. “He almost tries too hard sometimes, but he’s a great Thoroughbred like that.” He certainly took advantage of his Thoroughbred blood all weekend, and Coleman admitted he still felt fresh this morning. “Honestly I was holding him back a little bit,” he laughed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by USEA/Shelby Allen
His ride today wasn’t without a good scare though, as he and Phish slipped on the grass footing and nearly fell between Fences 4 and 5. Fortunately, the keen Thoroughbred was quick to catch himself, and very professional as he continued to jump nimbly through the rest of the course.
And yes, Phish is named after the band famous for its loyal groupies. “I was really into Phish when I was younger. Most of my horses have music related names, and he’s such a groovy dude, so we named him Phish,” Coleman smiled about his partner. “He’s truly my best friend. I really love the horse. I think very highly of him.”
With their abilities and endurance tested, the pair will cruise along this fall with their sights set on the CCI*** at Fair Hill International (Md.) in October. “It’s great to win a CIC***, but at the end of the day you try to build up and bring your best out at the three-day event, so we’re still trying to keep as much as we can in the tank for Fair Hill and try to give that as a competitive a go as we can,” he said. “It’s been that kind of weekend here at Richland. You had to kind of grit your teeth and deal with some elements weather-wise, footing-wise and stuff like that. That’s part of what being an event rider is all about.”
Whitney Mahloch and Military Mind, the leaders of the CIC*** division after cross-country, started with a positive round, but picked up two rails before having a stop to drop them down the leaderboard out of the top 10. It was a disappointing end to a very promising weekend, but this event was only the pair’s first three-star, with surely many more to come.
Caroline Martin finished in second place aboard her mother, Sherri Martin’s Spring Easy (Garrison Royal—Castlegrogan Clare). She and the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse had a respectable 48.5 in the dressage phase giving them third place. They then went on to have a very successful trip around Ian Stark’s cross-country and finished only three seconds over optimum time. The double clear show jumping bumped the pair up for a red ribbon finish.
Colleen Rutledge wrapped up the top three for this Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC*** division with her own Escot 6 (Escudo I—Leca). This pair had one of the most impressive climbs up the leaderboard this weekend. They began in 12th after scoring a 55 in the pouring rain. The handsome Hanoverian then made easy work of the cross-country course yesterday only adding 2.8 time penalties, and came into the show jumping bright-eyed and ready for another clear jump round.
