What’s New at Waredaca. Also: Area II BN Champs and Loudoun HTs

Waredaca’s Winning Ways

Many competitors were pleasantly surprised by the change in the dressage arena layout at Waredaca in Laytonsville for its August horse trials.

Instead of being at the top of the hill with warm-up at the bottom, the rings were set at the bottom where the ground is very flat. The warm-up area was moved to the top of the hill, where the ground has a slight slope but offers plenty of space. Overall, the new location received rave reviews.

The August 14-16 event offered Young Event Horse and Future Event Horse competitions on Friday and Beginner Novice through Intermediate levels on Saturday and Sunday.

The Open Intermediate division started the weekend and was completely dominated by Pennsylvanian Phillip Dutton. In his quest to regain the top spot on the United States Eventing Association Overall Leaderboard, (which he has as of August 27) Dutton placed first through third and rode a fourth horse to the seventh-place spot. He actually tied with himself for first and second, winning with Wild Tiger and placing second with GV Tuscany. Dutton’s third-place spot was earned aboard For The Top.

Representing Maryland in this division were Colleen Rutledge of Frederick and Julia Wendell of Upperco. Rutledge rode Shiraz to eighth place and Wendell finished 15th aboard Cavendish.

Maryland eventers won both Training Rider divisions later in the day on Saturday. Mary Ballew of Finksburg and General MacArthur took the top spot in Training Rider A, finishing on their dressage score of 41. Placing fourth in the same division was Damascus rider Clare Green and Windbrook Sensotronic, who also finished on her dressage score. Sixth place went to Kaeley Secan of Brookeville riding Two Harbors.

Elizabeth Callahan of Oxford rode Balmoral to win Training Rider B with an impressive final score of 26.4. The pair jumped clean all day and only added 2.4 cross-county time penalties to its dressage score. Stephen Fulton of Finksburg placed in this division, too, riding FMF’s Manila Bay to fifth place with a score of 36.

Also placing at Training level was Australian event rider Kate Chadderton, who is based in Damascus. Chadderton rode Rhythem and Blues to fourth place in Open Training A and was one of only three riders in the division to finish on his or her dressage score.

Saturday afternoon was devoted to Beginner Novice riders and horses, with Maryland juniors dominating the Beginner Novice Rider B division. Topping the division was Emily Arches of Elkridge aboard Private Benjamin. Second place was earned by Kelsey Parks Smith of Catonsville riding Louie, with Jarrettsville rider Caitlin Bryan placing third with Woodlands Magic Cavalier. Kelly Wallace of Sykesville piloted Port of Call to fourth place and Michelle Corbeille of Comus (currently ranked third on the USEA Beginner Novice Junior Rider Leaderboard rode Boo Radley to fifth.

Crofton rider Leslie Favre rode Remington to second place in Beginner Novice Rider B. Just behind her in third place was Alison Bowyer of Mt. Airy riding Cady O’Daly Michael. Kathleen Coyle of Silver Spring riding Tiptoe With Me earned fourth place.

Laura Beebe of West Friendship, another Marylander on the USEA Beginner Novice Leaderboard, jumped clean aboard Tuxedo n’ Tails to secure the second-place spot in Beginner Novice Horse with a score of 28.4. Madeline Plaut of Reisterstown also had clean rounds and finished third with Captain Christopher Mings. Fifth place went to Walkersville rider Kai Bradley and Promise Ima Zipper.

Hayley Thomas of Rising Sun rode Glamour Girl to fifth place in Open Beginner Novice.

Three Preliminary divisions started the day on Sunday, with Frederick eventer Colleen Rutledge returning to win Open Preliminary B. She rode her Advanced horse Dillon for the win after giving him much of the summer off. Julia Ennis of Queenstown and Findhorn continued their successful season with a second place in Open Preliminary C. Sarah Bratton of Linesboro and Aztec Gold finished fourth in the same division. Pasadena rider Tracey Bienemann and Aces Zoomin’ Dude earned sixth place in Open Preliminary A.

Home field advantage seemed to be working for Waredaca boarder Tuuli Juurikkala and Crossroad, who won Novice Rider B with a score of 28.5. This pair has placed at every event it has entered this season and Jurrikkala is contemplating a trip to the American Eventing Championships in September.

Kara Clissold of Hyattsville scored a 31 to tie with Lisa Warnock of Hagerstown for second place. The tie was broken by the riders’ times on cross-country, giving second place to Clissold and Mischief Managed and third place to Warnock and Constant Sorrow. Cherie Chauvin of Silver Spring rode Katchi Kapshi to fifth place and Nicole Sebastian of Rockville rode Rhapsody to sixth.

Also doing well on home turf were Hannah Rosenberg and Taylor. This Silver Spring junior finished fourth in Novice Rider A. Fifth place went to Katya Spitznagel of Parkton aboard South by Southwest and sixth was earned by Rachel Berlage, also of Silver Spring, riding Payday.

Potomac eventer Jaye Younkers jumped clean to the number three spot in Novice Horse A with Shamus Brown. Daniel Warrington of Elkton and Classico placed fifth in the division.

In Novice Horse B, Liza Horan of Damascus rode Hastening Opal to second place while Alexa Henry rode Serra Valley Mr. Wizard to sixth.

Championships at Difficult Run

Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia has been the site of the Area II Beginner Novice Championships multiple times. This year’s competition was held on August 22-23 in conjunction with the Difficult Run Fall Horse Trials. Ten Marylander and Washington, D.C. riders entered with the hopes of winning the coveted title of Area II champ.

In the Junior Championship division, Michelle Corbeille of Comus came the closest to winning by placing third with Boo Radley. This pair has been sweeping up ribbons all season with wins at the Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trials in June and the Redland Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials in April.

Angela Thomas of Riva and Royal Red placed fourth while Dailee Fagnant of Eldersburg rode Shades of Grey to sixth. Emily Arches of Elkridge finished seventh aboard Private Benjamin and Kelsey Parks Smith of Catonsville rode Louie to eighth. Marriottsville junior Maria Payne placed 11th riding Kilcolgan Prince.

In the Senior Championship division, it was Mieke Meurs of Washington, D.C. who placed third riding Major Bay. This pair has placed at every competition it has entered this year with its best score occuring at the Redland Hunt Pony Club Horse Trials in April.

Placing fourth was fellow Washington, D.C. rider Yvette Seger riding Bento Box. Laura Beebe of West Friendship rode High Roller to the number eight spot.

In the regular competition, Michelle Benczkowski of Parkville topped the Beginner Novice Horse division aboard Hansel.

Carolyn Oehrig of Woodbine rode Lionheart to second place in Junior Novice. Nicole Sebastian of Rockville and Rhapsody placed third in Senior Novice. Pamela Blumberg of Poolesville and Kodak won Senior Novice. Lela Hanagan also picked up a win riding Finnegan to top Open Novice.

Marylanders topped both Training divisions, with Abigail Gibbon of Silver Spring winning Senior Training and Melinda Maslin of Highland winning the Junior Training division. Gibbon moved her winning mare Prima LGF up to Training at this event to win her division with a score of 30. Stephanie Butts of Laytonsville rode Malone Bay to third in the same division.

Maslin won the Junior division aboard Midnight Treasure, with a score of 33.5. Germantown junior Lauren Sumner rode Choo Choo Charlie in his first Training event to place third.

Jamie Furtado of Crofton won the only Preliminary division with Come Out and Play. Germantown resident Erica Davis and The Shaq Attack took home the third place ribbon at Preliminary.

Lovin’ Loudoun

After a long summer of hard ground but relatively cool temperatures, rain finally arrived to soften things up just in time for the Loudoun Hunt Pony Club’s fall horse trials on August 29-30 at the Oatlands Plantation in Oatlands, Virginia. Several Maryland eventers traveled south to compete at this two-day event, and many brought ribbons home to the Free State.

On Saturday, competitors in the Training through Intermediate divisions rode dressage in the morning and then crossed the road to the cross-country course where show jumping was set up this year. They then returned on Sunday for cross-country. Novice competitors, a nice addition to the schedule this year, rode dressage only on Saturday and completed both jumping phases on Sunday.

Two Maryland event trainers earned ribbons at Intermediate. Colleen Rutledge of Turnabout Farm in Frederick rode Shiraz to fourth place. The pair sat in 14th place after dressage, then moved up to 12th after show jumping, despite dropping two rails. The twisty nature of the course, which included several combinations, caused all but five competitors to drop at least one rail. Shiraz’s clean and fast cross-country round moved Rutledge up to the fourth place spot at the end of the competition.

Less than a point behind her in fifth place was Samantha Allan of Allan Sport Horses in Brandywine. She rode her own Scimitar to win the dressage on day one with a score of 33.1. The pair also dropped two rails, moving it down to fifth place. That is where it stayed after jumping clean cross-country but adding a few time faults.

Also competing at Intermediate was Julia Wendell of An Otherwise Perfect Farm in Upperco aboard Cavendish. The pair steadily climbed the standings and finished in ninth place overall. It also had two rails down in show jumping and jumped clean cross-country. Wendell rode several horses over the weekend, including Picante, with whom she placed just outside the ribbons in Open Training with a score of 34.2 for seventh place.

The stars at the Preliminary level were Silver Spring junior Maddi Fleit and Guypowder Valley. The pair found itself in a tie for 13th place after dressage and then moved down a spot after dropping a rail in show jumping. On Sunday, Feit had her game face on and Guypowder Valley stepped up to the challenge. This was the only pair in the competition to finish cross-county double clean. This sprung it up to a well-earned second place in Open Preliminary B.

Placing just out of the ribbons in Preliminary Horse were Kate Chadderton and McCuan Mario, owned by Patrick McCuan of Sunset Hill in Brookeville. They jumped clean but just outside the time to place seventh.

Louise Foster of Frederick topped the Training Amateur list aboard Along Came A Spyder. The pair started the competition with a 31.6 in dressage, which gave it a narrow lead for the division. After jumping clean in show jumping, that lead grew. Foster’s double clean cross-country round clinched the win.

Also placing in the division were Lindsay Goodrich of Frederick and Beth Sokohl of Brookeville. Goodrich rode Iris to third place, finishing on her dressage score of 37.9. Sokohl and Buckharo also finished on their dressage score for sixth place.

Erika Gonzalez of Germantown and Copper Dancer placed fourth in the Junior/Young Rider Open Training A division. The pair navigated the cross-country course with ease but dropped one rail in show jumping. Sixth place in the division went to Melinda Maslin of Highland aboard Midnight Treasure. An unfortunate stop going into the “Road Crossing,” an A-B-C combination into the Preliminary sunken road (A was a corner, B was a large log set two strides in front of C, a drop into the sunken road. Competitors then left the sunken road by way of a gravel ramp), dropped this pair out of first place into sixth.

Alexandra Curtiss of Mane Chance Eventing in Sunshine rode two horses at Training level. With Sunshine Stalker, Curtiss also had a stop at the Road Crossing and finished eighth in Junior/Young Rider Open Training A. However, with Checkout the Charmer, Curtiss ended the competition on her dressage score of 37.9 to finish just 0.7 points behind the winner of Junior/Young Rider Open Training B. Curtiss also grabbed herself a fifth place ribbon in Novice Horse for her clean rounds aboard Stuart, owned by Ann Moxley.

Anita Antenucci of Washington, D.C. packed a one-two punch in Open Novice, taking home the top two spots. Riding Kaleidoscope, Antenucci scored a 34.2 in dressage for fourth place. A clean round in show jumping moved her up to second place. Her other horse, He’s Got Rhythm, dropped a rail, moving him from first place down to fifth. Both horses jumped clean cross-country giving her the win aboard Kaleidoscope and the red ribbon with He’s Got Rhythm.

In the same division, Denise Connelly of Germantown rode Cat in the Hat to fifth place while Raymond Carter of Frederick placed sixth aboard Borris Minor. Hagerstown rider Lisa Warnock placed seventh riding Constant Sorrow.

Molly Rosin of Baltimore rode Lauren Lynfest’s young horse BeauJeste to sixth place in Novice Horse. The top placing Maryland juniors at Novice were Hannah Rosenberg of Silver Spring and Alexa Easton of Sandy Spring. Rosenberg rode Taylor to ninth place in Junior/Young Rider Novice A while Easton rode Tiger Lily to eighth in Junior/Young Rider Open Novice B.