Tiffany Cooke and Patent Pending (Phelps Media Group, Inc. International)

Parker, Colo. - The Colorado Horse Park kicked off the dressage phase of the eventing highlight of the year, the CCI ** / CCI*, Training and Novice 3-Day, National Horse Trials and Area IX Championships. Texans Tiffany Cooke, Olivia Cliver, Bonner Carpenter and Heather Morris all earned top spots in their divisions.

CCI**
In the CCI** dressage phase, Dallas attorney Tiffany Cooke and Patent Pending are leading with a dressage score of 52.80. The complicated test required a great deal of walking, particularly difficult for a horse on an uncharacteristically rainy and blustery day in Colorado.

"Walking is one of the hardest things to make them do especially when they see all the open space here," said Cooke who trains with Mike Huber and Heather Morris at Gold Chip and Team Express in Dallas. "It invites a little bit of excitement."


Patent Pending is a solidly built, off-the-track, all-American Thoroughbred that could easily be mistaken for a warmblood.

"He came to my sister as a training horse and sale horse," Cooke said. "She ended up falling in love with him and she told me to buy him as soon as I could. It was good timing because I was ready to retire one of my older horses. We were a match just ready for each other."

CCI*
Thirteen horse and rider pairs vied to earn the lead in the dressage phase of the CCI*. First to compete, Olivia Cliver and My Mitch put in a test that scored a 45.90. They maintained the lead through the end of the class and will have an edge over the competition going into cross-country.

"Linda Zane bought him off the track, then we bought him from Sharon White who had him in eventing training," said Cliver, another Dallas resident who trains with Huber and Morris. "I have had him now for two years and he's 9. He was really good on the track. He qualified for the Kentucky Derby - that makes him an awesome cross-country course."

Cliver shared that dressage is not typically their strongest phase but she credits Zane for Mitch's great mind in the dressage arena. She added that he has a really good walk for being an off-the-track horse.

"The test had a weird extended canter from the side and a half circle back down the side and then you had to do the half circle back to the wall and a 20-meter circle in the counter canter," Cliver said. "It was an interesting test. We actually bumped down from the CCI** to the CCI*, so learning that test last minute was a little confusing. Actually, I almost missed my turn at F to come across and halt at X."

Lynne Partridge also hails from Bartonville, Texas and rode both her 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mares Zoe and Zaire, agreed with the difficulty of the counter canter work in the test. She is currently sitting in the sixth and eighth positions leading into cross-country.

"It is really tricky because if you don't keep your horse in balance they will switch leads," said Partridge. "Zaire is a fabulous mare," she's not the easiest to ride on the flat but she's an amazing jumper and we have a lot of fun cross-country and she's great in show jumping.

Cliver looks forward to an exciting day of cross-country. "I think it is a good course," she said. "There is some galloping room which will be a lot of fun. This is Mitch's and my first CCI together. It has a couple of good questions."

Training 3-Day

A non-Texan is leading in the Novice 3-Day with strong a dressage score of 33.20. Hayley Clark and Bold Impression are young rising stars in the eventing world. Clark is actually from Garden City, Missouri and "Bennie" is her 15.3 hand Thoroughbred who she has brought along from Beginner Novice. Clark rides with Julie Wolfert and has qualified for and attended the American Eventing Championships several times.

Novice 3-Day
Another non-Texan Amy Dalrymple, from Eagle, Colorado and her own Triton's Echo are also in strong contention advancing to the next phase scoring a 32 in dressage.

Open Intermediate
In Open Intermediate Bonner Carpenter from Dallas and her own Basco, a bay Dutch Warmblood gelding are leading with an impressive dressage score of 30.40, earned during a downpour.

Open Preliminary
Heather Morris from Lewisville, Texas and Laker, owned by Mike Huber wowed the judges with their test in the Open Preliminary Division scoring a 30.90 to lead the field into cross-country. Morris is the assistant trainer at Gold Chip Stables and represented California at North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) and has won numerous CCIs.

Partial Results

CCI*
Rider Horse Score Place
Olivia Cliver My Mitch 45.90 1
Stuart Black Tre Du Kernat 49.10 2
Erin Kober Tommy Two 50.30 3
Heather Morris Charlie Tango 51.90 4
Megan Noelle Wilson Ghypsy 52.80 5
Lynne Partridge Zaire 53.406
Diana Heinrich Weja Annabridget 54.70 7
Lynne Partridge Zoe 55.00 8
Stephanie Ezzo Balmoral Archibold 56.90 9
Margaret Stocker Second Hand Rose 57.80 10-T
Julia Spatt Ginnetts Manricko 57.80 10-T
Caroline Testi Crimson Tide 58.10 12
Lida McAllister Flagmount's Harmony66.30 13

CCI**
Rider Horse Score  Place
Tiffany Cooke Patent Pending 52.80 1
Cynthia WisemanVote Yes63.80 2

Novice 3-Day
Rider Horse Score  Place
Amy DalrympleTritons Echo32.00 1
Sarah RichardsStorm of the Century34.30 2
Bryn JorgensenVonrica34.80 3
Rhonda RobertsDan's Bravado35.20 4
Kitren NickersonSRS Mad Max36.10 5
Janet TaylorZarpazo37.00 6
Greg SmithJonas38.00 7
Kelly BrownCambridge Silver Baron38.90 8

Training 3-Day
Rider Horse Score  Place
Hayley ClarkBold Impression33.201
Angelika BeutelVarekai 34.302
Josey ThompsonPistol Annie39.103
Hannah SladeKingfisher II40.704

Open Intermediate
Rider Horse Score  Place
Bonner Carpenter Basco 30.40 1
Christian Eagles Bugatti 42.90 2

Open Preliminary
Rider Horse Score  Place
Heather Morris Laker 30.90 1
James Atkinson Landonn II OHF 32.20 2
Stuart Black Silent Glider 40.40  3-T
Rachel Sledzik Lois Lane 4 0.40  3-T
Michael Larsen J. Finnegan 40.90 5-T
Amy Gilbertson One Honest Man 40.90 5-T
Stephanie Ezzo Moviestar 43.50 7