Fair Hill, Md. – Spectators were greeted with crisp, fall weather Friday at the 2017 The Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International Three-Day Event. At the conclusion of the dressage phase, Selena O’Hanlon (Ontario, Canada) and Foxwood High, a 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse, lead the CCI3* division with a score of 39.4.
Second place belongs to Colleen Rutledge (Frederick, Md.) and her 11-year-old Thoroughbred Cross gelding, Covert Rights, who earned a standout score of 39.8. “‘CR’ is really cool because he always feels good, even when I’m wrong, so it’s just amazing to ride a horse like that. He’s my homebred and I love him to pieces,” she said, though she admits she still strives for an improved test. “It’s polishing the little details. It’s getting his walk to be just slightly more relaxed. He tries so incredibly hard. He almost tries too hard to do what I want, and sometimes he needs to tell me no. That’s what makes him just so amazing.”
Buck Davidson (Ocala, Fla.) and Carlevo LLC's Carlevo, a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding, are tied for third place on a score of 40.3. Carlevo was very last horse in the ring today and he proved to be the best of Davidson’s three rides in this division. “He’s sort of hovering always around the 40s. He’s very consistent. He’s a beautiful mover. He’s nice to ride in the arena, and he’s just getting stronger and more mature as we go, so I was very proud of him."
The top of the leaderboard remained unchanged for The Dutta Corp./USEF CCI2* Eventing National Championship, with Tamra Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) and Sunsprite Warmbloods' Sunsprite Syrius, a nine-year-old Trakehner gelding, maintaining their lead with a score of 40.9. Smith expects a tough challenge for the upcoming cross-country phase.
“I always feel like the two-star here is almost like a three-star,” she said. “With the terrain and the technicality, it’s serious. I haven’t really seen a two-star harder than Fair Hill. I think he’s up for itand ready to go, so I’m excited.”
North American Young Rider silver medalist, Cornelia Dorr (Manchester by the Sea, Mass.), and her 12-year-old Rheinlander gelding, Louis M, are in the second position with a score of 48.1. “He was slightly behind my leg throughout, and it was a little bit more difficult than our test at Young Riders. I didn’t quite have them up there with me, but he was super and, as always, did his job,” she smiled.
Allison Springer (Upperville, Va.) and the Lord Willing Syndicate's Lord Willing, a nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding, moved to third place with a score of 48.3 to lead the way for Springer’s three rides in the division. “I have three wonderful young horses in the two-star. I’m really excited about it. My horses were fantastic. All three put in their best tests to date. Lord Willing was wonderful. He’s a wonderful horse to ride. I was thrilled with all three horses."
The USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championships also concluded today with Kim Severson and Exclusively Cooley, an Irish Sport Horse, as winners in the five-year-old division and Kristen Bond and Bea Ready, a Dutch Warmblood mare, earned the four-year-old title.
Exclusively Cooley took the win after his jumping score of 44.1 (out of 50 points) gave him a cumulative result of 86.65%. “He was great this weekend. I think he is in a lot of ways very mature for his age and he handled everything very nicely,” Severson commented. “I think any horse of this quality, you just give them the right opportunities and ask them the right questions at the right time, and hopefully you do right by them and you end up producing quite a good horse in the end. You never know until they do it.”
Bea Ready proved her suitability for the sport as she had the leading score through both the dressage and jumping phases of competition, finishing on a final score of 86%.
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For further information on The Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International, visit www.fairhillinternational.com.
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