Friday, October 20, The Second Day of Dressage

The Ground Jury:

Mrs. Sandy Phillips (GBR), President
Mr. Ulrich Schmitz (USA)
Mrs. Jo Young (CAN)

Friday morning dawned (or in this case arrived) very dark, grey, rainy and foggy!
Whether it was pity for for the first rider, Penny Rowland, of Canada with Windswept, or the predicted case of judges' Fridayitis, better scores began at once with Penny scoring 55.4 and going straight into the lead ahead of all those who rode on Thursday.! (Penny and Windswept are pictured at the right leaving the ring after their Dressage test.)

Only two horse and rider combinations from thirty riders, scored in the fifties on Thursday. After three horses had done their Dressage on Friday two had scored in the fifties. Stay tuned.

Penny, who lives and has a small animal veterinary practice in Orangeville, Ontario, and Windswept had finished seventh at Rocking Horse, in February, and third at The Fork, in April.

Darren Chiacchia, of Ocala, Florida, rode seventh of the first rotation and, to no one's surprise, had a very nice ride with Better I Do It to take over the lead on a score of 54.6, .8 of a fault ahead of Penny Rowland and Windswept. Better I Do It was first ridden in the Eventing world by Diane Steinrotter, the Olympic Down Hill Skiing Gold Medalist. (Darren and Better I Do It are pctured at the left.)

Darren and Better I Do It won the Open Intermediate at Groton House, in June, and placed seventh in the CIC*** at the Stuart Horse Trials, in July. Darren was the Individual Gold Medalist at the 2001 Pan American Games held here at Fair Hill.

Darren was immediately followed by Jan Byyny, of Purcellville, Virginia, and her chestnut gelding Waterfront. Jan rode Task Force, as an individual, at the World Equestrian Games, in Aachen, Germany, in August, as well as having ridden on the Gold Medal Pan American Games Team, with Darren, at Fair Hill five years ago.

Jan and Waterfront finished second at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** this spring, behind her own Task Force who won. Jan and Waterfront won the prize for being closest to the Optimum Time on Cross Country at Jersey Fresh.

The last competitor of the first rotation was Jonathan Holling, also from Ocala, Florida, with his one time Burghley ride Lion King II. The chestnut gelding scored 50.9 to take over the lead from Jan and Waterfront, who had held it through one horse.

Most recently Jonathan and Lion King II placed first at Poplar Place, in September, in Hamilton, Georgia, near Columbus. In March, this spring they placed second at Red Hills, in Tallahassee, Florida. (Jonathan and Lion King are pictured at the left.)

As can be seen from the photograph of Jonathan's ride at the left, the rain and fog continued through most of the morning, although the fog did lift just before the final riders went.

The last rider before the lunch break was Mara Dean, of Round Hill, Virginia on her own ten year old bay Irish Thoroughbred gelding Nicki Henley.

Not only were Mara and Nicki Henley good; but, they were lucky! The fog dissipated and the rain stopped. Almost as soon as Mara left the arena, it tipped down rain one more time - a clearing up shower - and then the predicted forty mile per hour winds began. Leaves loosened by the rain cascaded down from every direction; but, fortunately bits of blue sky began to appear. Nicki Henley ( - who is pictured at the right ) suffered none of these distractions.

Mara and Nicki Henley became the first pair to score in the forties - 48.9 to be exact. They acheived the first 9 of the competition and a good handful of eights, which managed to make up for the 4's given for her first flying change which, along with a better second flying change, seem not to be quite estabished as yet.

Regarding the judging, Mara said, "I thought they stayed consistent with yesterday."

John Holling added, "The horse I rode today was far better than the one I rode yesterday, and that's how he was scored.'

Mara continued, " My horse can get pretty intense," and he therefore makes little mistakes. "We can't make those mistakes."

Jan Byyny commented on the Cross Country course, "It's probably not going to be a Dressage competition, it never is at Fair Hill. The terrain plays a big part here. It's a ten minute course with forty jumping efforts. It's old turf, so the footing should be good. I'd just like to keep my (horses') shoes on. I lost both of them today on my gallop."

Regarding the complex in the main arena (- a table topped with grass, to a Dansko corner, to a table topped with grass - ) Jan continued, "I think that's great. There's not a lot of room for error there. It should be a fun complex to watch. Eric (Bull Molly's husband) does a beautiful job building the course." (The Dansko Corner in the Dansko Village in the main arena is pictured at the left above.)

Two competitors from the final rotation of the day made it into the top six. Gina Miles and McKinlaigh scored 54.8, just .2 of a fault behind Darren Chiacchia and Better I Do It, and slipped into the fifth position. Australia's Phillip Dutton rode Mrs. Annie Jones' and Shannon Stimson's Tru Luck to sixth place on 55.2, .4 of a fault behind Gina and McKinlaigh. Less than ten faults separate the top ten after Dressage.

Final Results for the CCI*** After the Dressage:

1. Mara Dean, Nicki Henley - 48.9
2. Jonathan Holling, Lion King II - 50.9
3. Jan Byyny, Waterfront - 52.4
4. Darren Chiacchia, Better I Do It - 54.6
5. Gina Miles, McKinlaigh - 54.8
6. Phillip Dutton (AUS), Tru Luck - 55.2
7. Penny Rowland (CAN), Windswept - 55.4
8. Suzy Elliot (CAN), Sambucca - 55.7
9. William Coleman III, Twizzel - 56.7
10. Loreen Kay, Russian - 57.0
11. Buck Davidson, New Moon -59.1
12. Hawley Bennett (CAN), Livingstone - 59.4
13. Jessica Phoenix (CAN), Exploring - 59.6
14. Missy Ransehousen, Critical Decision - 59.8