Soggy Breeches And Safe Rides at Wellpride United States Eventing Association American Eventing Championships
Release: September 15 2008
Author: severs
By the United States Eventing Association
Nearly eight inches of rain flooded the Chicago area during the past few days, and though the officials at the Wellpride United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) tried their best to run all the phases in each division, in the interest of safety they had no choice but to hold the upper levels (preliminary, intermediate and advanced) as combined tests. We might as well have called this event the "A E Seas" for the amount of water that swept across the Midwest this weekend.
Conditions at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, IL, were soggy and chilly, but that didn't stop the riders from putting on happy faces and taking to the ring with gusto. The wonderful all-weather rings held up beautifully for their jumping rounds, and the bulk of the riders had lovely rounds.
Riders in all the phases were thrilled with the gorgeous grounds at the equestrian center, the exciting parties on Friday and Saturday night, the entertaining SmartPak dog show, and of course, the wonderful prizes and cash made possible by AEC sponsors
Advanced
Leslie Law can add AEC advanced champion to his long resume of accomplishments. Partnered with Beatrice and Guy Rey-Herme's eight-year-old Selle Francais/Arabian gelding Fleeceworks Mystere du Val.
"What can you do? It's out of everyone's control," said Olympic Gold medalist Leslie Law of the weekend's sloppy weather conditions. Despite not being able to compete over Ritch Temple's wonderfully designed cross-country course, the riders were relieved that they were at least able to show jump on Saturday afternoon.
"These all-weather rings stand up quite nicely," said Law, who added no faults to his dressage score of 28.8.
Law was thrilled with the gelding's progress at the AEC. "His rideability was the best part of this whole weekend. He can really feel like our consistency is getting better because of our relationship is improving as we get to know each other better."
Fresh off a series of big wins at Richland Park CIC***, Maui Jim CIC**, and a second-place finish in advanced at Millbrook puts Law and Mystere du Val in the running for the USEA Adequan Advanced Gold Cup Series Championship. In addition to a slew of prizes and money that they received for their big win, the advanced division at the AEC, the pair also received more cash and goodies for the Gold Cup Series as well. This is the first time that the Gold Cup series (for intermediate and advanced) has been offered at the AEC.
Law, who resides in Bluemont, VA, during the spring and summer with his eventer wife Lesley Grant-Law (who competed a few youngsters at the event as well), plans to take Mystere du Val to the Middleburg Horse Trials in Virginia and Fair Hill CCI*** in Maryland this fall.
All the top five finishers in the advanced division finished on their respectable dressage scores. Amy Tryon, who recently returned from representing the U.S. at the Olympics, and Leyland gave Law and Mystere du Val no room for error as they posted a double-clear round, settling them with a 29.2, only 0.4 points behind the leaders. Will Coleman and Twizzel showjumped well around the mucky course, and likewise put the pressure on the top placers with his 31.7. First to jump of the division was Darren Chiacchia and Better I Do It who started the class off with a great round to leave them in fourth with a 36.7, while Amy Tryon and Coal Creek rounded out the top five with a 37.1.
Intermediate
Rain and mud aside, it was a fantastic weekend for Olympian Becky Holder. She arrived at Lamplight on Friday morning with her two mounts, Rejuvenate and Call Me Ollie, and left Saturday afternoon with two ribbons and a trailer load of prizes for her first-place finish in the Open Intermediate division aboard Rejuvenate.
“I was very pleased with my ride today,” Holder said with a smile. “
