Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian Eventing riders fought through dangerous weather to rack up ribbons at the Richland Park Horse Trials, held August 23-26 in Richland, MI, USA.
Despite wicked storms on August 23 and 24, which spawned a tornado, as well as strong winds that hit the show grounds, ripping apart a stabling tent, and forcing an emergency evacuation of the competition horses, the Richland Park Horse Trials organizers were able to get the competition back on track, and the Canadian riders competed successfully.
“The organizers and veterinarians called an emergency evacuation of the horses on the Friday, and the horses had to be loaded on trailers,” explained Canadian Eventing Team short-listed member Selena O’Hanlon of Elgin, ON. “The roof of the stabling tent that my horse was in was ripped off, and crashed back down, destroying the stalls. Thankfully a veterinarian loaded my horse onto a trailer, because the drive from our hotel to the show grounds took us a while, because we had to dodge fallen trees.”
O’Hanlon’s equine partner Colombo, a 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned by Elaine and Michael Davies of Hawkridge Farm, spent much of the night, from 6:00 pm to 1:00 am in a trailer, but was unharmed, and able to show his stuff in the CIC 3* division, finishing in seventh place. The pair was in fifth place with a score of 51.9 in the dressage test and added no jumping, but 17.2 time faults over the cross-country course, set by renowned British Designer Michael Etherington-Smith, who is also the Course Designer for the 2008 Olympics.
The duo had two rails for eight jumping faults, but added no time faults in the jumping test to finish on a final score of 77.1.
“Colombo did one of his best dressage tests, and was very nice and smooth on cross-country,” said O’Hanlon. “The show jumping was quite challenging, and unfortunately we slipped on a turn and ended up pulling two rails. But overall he went really well and I am happy with him.”
Diana Burnett of Blackstock, ON and her seven-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Manny finished in 12th place on a final score of 104.4. After scoring 53.4 in dressage, and adding no jumping, but 36 time faults cross-country the pair incurred twelve jumping and three time faults over the show jumping course.
Burnett also finished in 16th on a final score of 112.1, this time paired with her 11-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Sagacious King. Other Canadians in the standings included Karl Slezak of Tottenham, ON who finished 17th aboard Don J. Good’s nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Showdown, and Vanessa Fenwick of Pefferlaw, ON who received 18th place with her nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Magic Carpet.
The CIC 2* division saw Michele Mueller of Port Perry, ON take second place riding Julie-Anna Pring’s eight-year-old Thoroughbred/Belgian-cross gelding Amistad. A strong start in the dressage had them tied for third place with a score of 52.8, but after adding just 3.2 time faults over the cross-country course, they moved into the lead. Two rails fell in show jumping for eight faults, which put them just off the win in second place with a final score of 64.
“The weather was really hot and sticky on the day of dressage, but Amistad put in a very good test. He was awesome on cross-country and kept a good steady pace. It was a great course for him because it flowed really nicely and he is a very good ‘jump and gallop’ kind of horse,” said Mueller. “The show jumping rails were my fault. The first half went very good, but then I didn’t get the striding right, and didn’t get him back enough for a big oxer. Show jumping is the toughest phase for us, but we are working on it.”
Gwen Lehari of Uxbridge, ON wasn’t far behind, finishing in fourth place with a final score of 68.1 with her 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood/Thoroughbred-cross gelding Daniel. They were tied for 12th place after receiving a score of 58.5 in dressage, but moved up to sixth after incurring no jumping and 9.6 time faults cross-country. A clear show jumping round moved them up two places to their final position of fourth.
West coast rider Chelan Kozak, 23, of Abbotsford, BC took 10th place with her nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Tasman Sea, finishing with a score of 77.8, highlighted by a clear show jumping round. Loren Hopkins of New Hamburg, ON and Don J. Good’s 14-year-old Trakehner mare Marmara tied for 12th place on a score of 84.8 with Oshawa ON’s Jenna Kuzenko and her eight-year-old Quarter Horse gelding Renegade. Jennifer McGuire, also of Uxbridge, ON finished in 14th with a final score of 91.8 riding her 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse mare Prestigous.
“The veterinarians and organizers did such a great job handling the weather situation and getting the stalls fixed,” said O’Hanlon. “Despite all the chaos everyone was very chummy and cooperative and the whole horse show was amazing.”
Mueller agreed, stating “The organizers did an amazing job at handling everything, and it was great that everyone pitched in to fix the stabling. This is a beautiful, well run and organized event. I love it and I can’t wait to come back next year.”
For more information and full results, visit www.richlandpark.com.
About Canadian Eventing
Canadian Eventing is a committee of Equine Canada responsible for the sport of Eventing in Canada from the grassroots to the international level. The Canadian Eventing Committee is comprised of 12 members, including two rider representatives elected by the Elite Riders Association. Directed by the Strategic Plan for Eventing, all Eventing activities are administered by this committee via six sub-committees with the support of an Eventing Manager based at the Equine Canada office in Ottawa. For more information about Canadian Eventing, visit www.canadianeventing.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.