West Yorkshire, England – Nine of the 19 combinations in the Bishop Burton College Under 25 CCI3* division performed their dressage test in front of the Ground Jury of PollyAnn Huntington (AUS), Christina Klingspor (SWE), and Les Smith (GBR). Under the guidance of USEF Eventing Developing Rider Coach Leslie Law, Jenny Caras had an excellent test with Fernhill Fortitude to sit atop the leaderboard with a score of 48.9 at the end of the first day of competition.

Caras (Cartersville, Ga.) is competing at Bramham as part of the Karen Stives European Developing Tour with the help of a Karen Stives Endowment Fund for High Performance Eventing Grant. She rode with poise in her European debut to impress the judges with a solid test on her own Fernhill Fortitude. Caras and the 2004 Irish Sport Horse gelding displayed nice harmony and several quality movements, only having a bobble in the last change. They were rewarded with a score of 48.9, their best score to-date at the CCI3* level by seven points, to move into the lead.

“He was awesome. I rode him this morning around nine to loosen him up, then left him alone. I brought him over to the main ring this afternoon, and I was worried I came too early because he was feeling really good. I gave him a walk and picked him back up 15 minutes before the test,” Caras explained. “There was a lot of atmosphere in the ring, but he was calm and handled it well. He had a workmanlike test; the atmosphere actually helped me get him up in front. I did get a bit greedy and messed up one of our changes when I asked for it a bit early, but other than that I was really pleased with him.”

Dressage for the Bishop Burton College Under 25 CCI3* division will continue on Friday with cross-country following on Saturday.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Caras said, “Cross-country looks pretty challenging; it will reward forward riding. It is a long way round and a big fitness test, but I think he is fit and ready to run around it on the day.”

Fellow American Katherine Coleman (Wiltshire, England) received a score of 53.9 with Longwood, her own 2002 Irish Sport Horse gelding, in the Equi-Trek CCI3* division to sit in 23rd place. Clark Montgomery (Tetbury, England) will ride his dressage test in the Event Rider Masters CIC3* division with Loughan Glen, Jessica Montgomery, Kathryn Kraft, and Holly & William Becker’s 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding, on Friday.

Find out more about the competition and view results.

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