Cross Country at Richland Park

Boyd and Remington

The CIC3* and advanced divisions ran smoothly at Richland this afternoon.  Just 7 out of 63 advanced riders had issues, which I attribute to both a high quality of riding and not terribly technical courses.  The time proved pretty easy to make as well, with only 10 advanced finishers having double digit time penalties.  Lisa Barry fell at the bounce into the second water and Kenzo de la Roque was momentarily stuck on the log in, but that was the only really tense moment for the advanced divisions.  The online scoring says "MR" but from what I hear, the horse didn't fall. 

Link: Richland XC results

Both the Canadian and US teams set out with every intention of making the time, and it showed in the scores.  With the course riding so straightforward, the Canadians didn't have much of an opportunity to move up significantly but they rode around that course with purpose.  The top two placings remained the same for all three divisions. 

CIC3* - Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone double clear to hold the lead 

1. Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II +0  45.9
2. Boyd Martin and Remington XXV +0  47.6
3. Selena O'Hanlon and Colombo +0  50.8
4. Will Faudree and Pawlow +0  51.6
5. Doug Payne and Running Order +0  52.2

In the CIC3*, Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone smoked around the XC course to hold onto their dressage lead.  Colombo is a cross-country machine and he delivered a routine double-clear.  I still feel like Will Faudree and Pawlow are on the outside looking in for the WEGs just because Pawlow only has one 4* on record, but Pawlow is practically pounding the door down by beating all but one of the other short listed horses in the CIC3*.  Mandiba and Neville picked up 2 time penalties each to drop them slightly in the placings, but they have already proven that they can make 4* time.

My videoing was particularly awful today because I kept getting distracted talking with people, such as helping to design the new Team Canada hats.  I tried to keep the jumps in order for the CIC3*, but I missed a few rides.  Buzzterbrown was out filming today so we will have his much higher quality videos posted tomorrow.     



Advanced A - Nothing changed

1. Allison Springer and Arthur +0  29.1
2. Phillip and The Foreman +0.8  30.6
3. Phillip and Woodburn +2.8  32.8
4. Amy and Leyland +4.40  33.1

The US short list continued their domination of the Advanced A division with all four horses at the top looking really polished.  Woodburn cantered around with his enormous stride and made everything look really easy.  The element in the middle of the advanced water had a mound with a downhill landing and a lot of the horses were sticking on the stride back into water.  Jannie Brannigan and Cambala jumped five spots to 5th with a double clear.  Will Coleman and Nevada bay looked really polished around the course, and it is unfortunate that the WEGs are coming one three-day too early for that pair.

Here is a montage of a few advanced rides.  I tried to get all of the short listers.

 

Advanced B - Comet and Paddy still tied

1. Becky Holder and Courageous Comet +0  29.3
1. Kim and Tipperary Liadhnan +0  29.3
3. Steph Bosch and Port Authority +0 31.7
4. Buck and Titanium +0 35.0

Kim and Becky enter Sunday tied on their two phenomenal gray horses, which makes for some interesting show jumping story lines.  Stephen and Joshua had 9.2 time penalties, which is the most of any short lister, but I wouldn't worry about it because this is their first event since this spring.  If you told me at the beginning of the weekend that Ty would have been Buck's highest placed advanced or CIC3* horse after Saturday, I wouldn't have believed it.  Buck rode three short listed horses today and added a grand total of 0 penalties to their dressage scores.


 Nigel Casserly did a great job as always announcing the XC.

Overall, from talking to the riders, the general mood is that it feels like a long time to the WEGs.  Every moment is a chance for something to go right and a chance for something to go wrong, and everyone will be nervously icing the hell out of their horses tonight and jogging them in front of the vets.  Go eventing.