The Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials and CIC** came down to a nail-biting finish as Corinne Ashton and Dobbin, the overnight leaders, entered the ring and began their quest for the top honor. Dobbin dragged down one fence giving them four penalty points, leaving only five points between her and Mara Dean, who had completed a clear round. The cheers were deafening as Ashton managed to negotiate the remaining fences fault free and within the time allowed to finish victorious with a final score of 41.2, gaining points in the Adequan United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup Series.

The leaders throughout the competition, Ashton and Dobbin, her 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, proved that they are an up-and-coming combination. They have had a spectacular year, placing 16th at the Rolex CCI**** in the spring. With World Championships and Olympics on the horizon, Ashton may be one of the new stars of eventing.

Dean and Good Stuff completed Sally Ike’s technically difficult show jumping course fault free to finish the competition with a score of 46.2, good enough for second place but not enough to overtake Ashton. The difference between the scores was the exact amount of the time penalty Dean garnered on cross country, 5.6.

Third place went to Ralph Holstein aboard Artic Dancer, his nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding. Holstein, from Hinckley, OH, jumped up into third place in the standings after a clear cross-country run and followed that up with another clear show jumping round to finish the competition with a score of 49.2.

The training rider division was led start to finish by Jillian King and Benjamin Bunny. They finished the competition on their impressive dressage score of 33.0. Open training A was also led start to finish by the winner, Amanda Bader and her Samira. Bader and the Paint mare won on their dressage score of 31.5. Mark Weissbecker and Spencer VIII won the open training B section. Third after the dressage, they moved up to second place after a clear run on cross-country and into the lead after a faultless show jumping round.

Weissbecker returned in the open preliminary A division to win with Birch Hill Farms’ Top Gallant with a total score of 36.1. Open preliminary B was won by Alexis Brown and Abercrombie. The pair tied for first place after dressage and never faltered from the top of the scoreboard, finishing with at total score of 41.6. Open preliminary C was won by local favorite Carol Kozlowski and Take Time with a score of 37.0. The pair moved from eighth place after dressage to third place after a clean run on cross-country, then into the lead after a clear stadium round.

The open intermediate division was won by Adrienne Iorio-Borden and Urban Legend. This combination was in tenth place after the dressage phase and moved up into third place with the only clear run of the division cross-country. Over the stadium course, they were one of only two double clear rounds, moving them to the top with a final score of 36.25.

This popular event, which attracts over 15,000 spectators annually, featured an international division (CIC**), which is one of ten competitions in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series and offers a total purse of $7,500. In addition, the event hosted five other divisions--novice, training, preliminary and intermediate, for which an excess of $50,000 worth of prizes will be awarded. An extra day was added to this year’s schedule to accommodate the increasing number of entries. Competitors travel from all over the country as well as Australia, Canada, Mexico, Finland, Hungary and India to compete over the spectacular grounds. Cosequin is now in its fourth year of sponsorship of this event, which remains the highlight of local competitors' event schedule.

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