Mill Spring, N.C. –Serving as the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) Eventing Test Event on April 5 through 8, The Fork CIC3* was an opportunity for U.S. eventing athletes and those from around the world, including Mexico, Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland to ride at the Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) prior to the 2018 WEG in September. The athletes gained valuable experience over the cross-country course designed by Capt. Mark Phillips, and familiarity with the dressage arena, warm-up arenas, and barns over the four days of competition.

Phillip Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) and Z, the 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Thomas Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Anne Jones, and Caroline Moran, won the CIC3*. Dutton brought three horses to The Fork for the three-star event and felt that coming to the facility prior to the Games was time well spent.

“I can feel the horses go better once they have gone to an event,” said Dutton. “I think there is definitely an advantage to us being here, which is why I sent my entry in. … Certainly, there is a home-field advantage having the Games [at Tryon] and for us to be here, to know the venue, and be comfortable with it.”

Dutton also felt that the cross-country course, in general, rode well. “With the golf-course terrain, you are working all of the time, with your lines and with the different ups and downs,” said Dutton. “The horse needs to be fit. You will need a nice, balanced, rideable horse. I think [the WEG] is going to be quite the test.”

Kim Severson (Charlottesville, Va.), a gold medalist at the 2002 WEG, placed second behind Dutton at The Fork with Cooley Cross Border, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by The Cross Syndicate. Severson expressed that she felt that the dressage ring had a lot of room for the horses. “It will feel a little smaller when it is full [of people],” said Severson. “But [the arena] actually feels a lot roomier than it has in other places.”

“It is definitely helpful,” responded Severson when asked about how she felt about the opportunity to ride the cross-country course. “Everybody said they were really good, and nobody slipped, so it was interesting and I thought quite useful.”

While the cross-country course for the WEG will not be identical to the one ridden during the test event, Capt. Phillips designs the courses for both. U.S. Eventing Performance Director and Chef d’Equipe Erik Duvander utilized The Fork CIC3* as an opportunity to observe the U.S. athletes and see the course for himself.

“I have seen [Mark Phillips’s] courses for forever, and I am a great fan of his,” said Duvander. “He finds a way of designing courses others don’t, and because he does that, you don’t know what he is going to come up with, but he doesn’t play any tricks.

“Like all courses, it will suit different horses better than others,” continued Duvander. “I walked [the course], and it walked really well. It was a little bit tougher to ride, with the undulations and the turns and so on. In September, it feels like you are going to have to make the time; you are going to have to really work from start to finish. It is going to be the world championships, so the best riders are going to ride. I think, technically, it is going to be quite a challenging competition. Selection of horses has to be the right type of horse, and the preparation has to be done extremely well. [The WEG is] going to be a big challenge.”

Duvander was very positive about the facility at TIEC as a whole. “All of the arenas that are set up here, compared to a lot of venues, there is plenty of space for practice and warm up, so I feel confident about that,” said Duvander. “The main stadium is super-cool. It is going to be a little bit electric. The athletes aren’t too far away from the crowd, so some horses will feel the pressure a little bit, but it is going to be a great atmosphere.”

U.S. eventing looks to the Land Rover® Kentucky Three-Day Event/USEF CCI4* Eventing National Championship as their next stop.

“Kentucky is going to be very exciting,” said Duvander. “That is going to be the place where the riders show their form and their ability. I have encouraged most riders to go there with their horses, because it is good to have them there competing against each other.”

U.S. eventing will select their squad of athlete-horse combinations on or before August 13, 2018. Complete selection criteria for the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team for WEG can be found here.

Full CIC3* results from The Fork can be found here.

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Photo: Taylor Pence/US Equestrian