Chelan Kozak: July 2010 Archives

Link: USEA CIC3* show jumping photos

As a quick note before we get to Chelan's final post from Rebecca Farm, in the advanced division, Amy Tryon and Leyland jumped from fourth to first with just one rail in the show jumping.  Overnight leaders Buck Davidson and Titanium dropped to third with three rails and Bonner Carpenter stayed in second on Impeccable with two rails.  This was a big win for Amy and it's great to see her back in super form.

Link: Advanced results

The strong performances this weekend from Mandiba and Leyland (and all the short listers) are good news for the US.  As of now, I'm sticking with my 'put a gun to my head' WEG team prediction of Woodburn, Reggie, Neville, Mandiba, Leyland, and Comet.

One thing of note in the USEA recap is that Karen mentioned she tried jumping Mandiba after the jog for the first time today and it worked well.  Phillip does this regularly, and it might be the beginning of a new trend because it seemed to work so well for Mandiba.

Now I'll stop writing and let Chelan Kozak tell you all the show jumping from Rebecca Farm.  I'd like to extend a huge thanks to Chelan for the great reports this weekend; they have been fantastic.  Be sure to check out Chelan's site and tell her thanks the next time you see her at an event.  You can have my job anytime you want it Chelan.  

----

From Chelan:

To add briefly to yesterday's post, I chatted with Kelly and Debbie about their falls. Debbie feels like she didn't do a good job and should have stayed on. She is physically fine, and as we all know, competitive eventers are mostly too hard on themselves. Speaking of hard on herself, Kelly has broken a bone in her elbow. She went for a long one to the table and paid a price. For those of you that might not know, Kelly WON the CIC3* here with an impressive weekend just last year. So, let's give her the 'eventing is humbling' award. Is it me or are we all suckers for punishment?!? 

I think I speak for all of Eventing Nation when I say that the loss of Suzy Elliott's Chauncy still weighs heavily on my mind and heart.  Ultimately Chauncy gave his life doing what he loved and we can't ask for more than that from these fleeting moments that we call a lifetime.  This sport gives us all great lives but, from time to time, eventing also gives us the certain reminder of how fragile our lives are.  We will all see you soon Chauncy.

A few links from Saturday: CIC3* and Advanced Photos, Intermediate Photos, P3DE Photos, USEA Press Release

XC was a mix of trouble and great riding, with issues at a variety of fences. Interestingly, the main water, the trout pond, had no XC penalties all day. Also worthy of note was the weather which was by my estimation about 75 or maybe 80 but with a fantastic breeze. Good weather for horses! 

There was plenty of excitement, and three rider falls, as John reported. Karen showed her age, ahem I mean experience... dealing with the hold. I'll add that Karen jumped an INT jump first before getting going and then was by my estimation up to full speed before she got to her original stopping point. The top 5 pretty much gave a clinic on how to ride XC. Phillip is called the fastest man for a reason, and his double clear stood for the better part of the division. Riding fast doesn't happen at just one particular fence. It happens by saving a second here and there. As always, it was lovely to watch Phillip do his thing. interestingly, he did not make time on Fernhill eagle, his new-ish mount. The horse looked like he was wanting to tell Phillip what speed to go and how big the step should be. Needless to say, a few conversations were had on course. My two 'one's to watch for the future' Beth and Heather both did a super job on their lovely young greys. Very few riders did the straight route through the 'booby trap'. Most went through the cleavage and did the option roll top. 

Once again I need to mention the footing here at RFarm. It is reminicent of a golf course, and I would hazard a guess at saying the best in North America. 

Thanks of course goes to the incredible Broussard family for the gift of competing at such a world class facility! In the ADV horse trials, a few notes-- Amy and Leyland laid down a typical fantastic clear round, with a few time. Amy rarely does anything by chance on the back of a horse, so I imagine that was planned. Jennifer Wooten got an E for excellence by jumping the wrong jump-- damn! The sad news of course is Suzy's horse. Suzy is a fellow Canadian from BC, and she and her husband Jon are fantastic horsemen. They own Aspen Farms in area 7, named after Jon's wonderful horse Aspen who went advanced with Jon for a number of years. I have not seen Suzy yet, but I chatted with Jonathan. my heart goes out to both of them. 

Sunday is shaping up to be an interesting day.