Paso Robles, Calif. – The second West Coast leg of the Adequan®/USEF Eventing Youth Team Challenge took place in Paso Robles, Calif., showcasing young talent in both the CCI2*-S and CCI3*-S divisions. Paso Robles served as the second to last leg of the Youth Team Challenge before the Woodside leg, October 7-9, and West Coast final, which will be held at Galway Downs in Temecula, Calif., from November 3-7.
Audrey Sanborn (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and her own OBOS Quality Time, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, finished second in the overall CCI3*-S division, earning a score of 29.8 in the dressage phase and only adding four jumping penalties to their score in the stadium phase to finish on a final score of 34.2. The duo produced a double-clear cross-country effort in their first CCI3*-S run of the year to take the win in YTC competition.
“Everything went really well this weekend. Everything we’ve been working towards came together, which was great. It was the first CCI3* for us both so it was really exciting,” said Sanborn. “It’s nice that they were able to do the Youth Team Challenge and have it integrated into the competition. At the FEI levels, it can be really daunting with professionals and it’s great to be recognized as a young rider, but also to be able to connect more with young riders because of the Challenge and the format. We’re all really busy and it gave us some time to talk and connect more.”
“We’re aiming for the CCI3*-L at Galway which is the YTC Final. We’re going to be working on more fitness and fine tuning our dressage, more on my end with the lateral work, and really making sure I can give him the best ride possible,” she continued.
Madison Temkin (Sebastopol, Calif.) and her own MVP Madbum, an eight-year-old Thoroughbred mare, earned third place overall in the division and finished in second behind Sandborn in the YTC standings. The duo finished the dressage phase with a 39.4 and dropped a single rail in stadium to move forward to cross-country on a score of 43.4. The pair added just four-tenths of a time fault, ultimately completing the weekend with a score of 43.8.
Haley Turner (Alamo, Calif.) and her own Shadow Inspector, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, were the final Area VI combination to complete the CCI3*-S at Paso Robles. The pair received a 28.6 from the judges in the dressage before finishing only one of three double clear efforts in the stadium phase across the division. The pair added an unfortunate 20 penalties to their total during their cross-country round, adding 13.6-time penalties to complete on a 62.2.
The CCI2*-S division saw two Area VI combinations compete as part of the YTC, with Taylor McFall (Wilton, Calif.) and Stoneman, a 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Cheron Laboissonniere, taking second place in the division and first on the leaderboard for YTC. The pair earned a 42.4 in the dressage phase and added four faults in their stadium round to head into cross-country on a combined two-phase score of 46.4, which they maintained to the finish after completing a fault-free cross-country round. Pip Hayes (Plymouth, Calif.) and So Cool, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Dawn Wilder, earned a 36.0 in the dressage before adding four jumping faults and 0.4-time faults to their score in the stadium phase. The duo finished on a final score of 65.4 after some trouble on cross-country.
The East Coast schedule for the 2021 Youth Team Challenge series will conclude with the East Coast Final in Tryon, N.C., November 10-14, featuring CCI1*, CCI2*-L, and CCI3*-L competition.
The West Coast series continues with the final short-format event at Woodside, Calif., October 7-9. It will conclude with CCI2*-L and CCI3*-L competition at the West Coast Final in Temecula, Calif., November 3-7.
For questions regarding the USEF Eventing Youth Team Challenge, contact Christina Vaughn, USEF Director, Eventing Performance and Program Support, at (859) 225-6917 or [email protected].
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