Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night (Libby Law Photography)

Norfolk, England – The Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team of Katherine Coleman, Tiana Coudray, and Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp had solid dressage performances in front of the Ground Jury of Andrew Bennie (NZL) and Tim Downes (GBR) at the Houghton International Horse Trials CICO3*. Following the second of three days of dressage, the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team is currently in sixth place on a score of 150.5. Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night lead the U.S. contingent in a division of 100 combinations, scoring 38.9 to sit in second place.

Halliday-Sharp (East Sussex, England) had a fantastic dressage test with Deborah Halliday’s Fernhill by Night on Friday to lie near the top of the leaderboard. She and the 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding had lovely, expressive canter work and nice trot work, though it occasionally lacked sufficient balance. They lead the U.S. heading into Saturday’s show jumping phase.

“I was really pleased with him,” Halliday-Sharp explained of ‘Blackie.’ “I felt his canter work was really good today with a lot of expression in the changes and extended work. The trot work was great too, though I felt we could have been a bit more balanced in the shoulder-in work and in the move offs in the trot, and just a bit more push all around and a little more organization for the bigger marks. All in all though, I’m thrilled with him and his competitive score in this big international class.”

Coudray (Hungerford, England) and Jatial, Inc’s Sambuca F had a solid dressage test on Friday. With it being the 2006 Westphalian mare’s three-star debut and only her third competition of the year, Coudray produced a pleasant test with Sambuca F, giving the mare a positive experience as she continues to mature. The duo earned a score of 53.9 to sit in 53rd place.

Coleman (Wiltshire, England) had a respectable dressage test with her own Longwood on Thursday. She and the 2002 Irish Sport Horse gelding had nice trot work but had bobbles with some jigging at the end of the walk tour and both changes being late behind. Even with the mistakes, they received a score of 57.7 for 66th place.

The dressage phase of the large CICO3* division will wrap up Saturday morning with show jumping taking place at 1:30 p.m. local time.

Find out more about the Houghton International Horse Trials CICO3* and view the results.

The USEF International High Performance Programs are generously supported by the USET Foundation, USOC, and USEF Sponsors and Members.