Bouscaren wins CCI4*-S at Woodside International Horse Trials

Canada’s Leah Breakey 3rd aboard Master Class

Ebay had a nice pre-wedding gift for his owner Helen Bouscaren. It took the form of what the bride-to-be described as a “very brave” run over Ian Stark’s CCI4*-S course at the Woodside International Horse Trials, where the international divisions concluded in Woodside, California today.

They led the small but strong 4* field by a slim margin after Saturday’s dressage and show jumping, then stayed atop after 8.40 time penalties on cross-country. A partner with her fiancée James Alliston in Alliston Eventing, Helen did her part, too. “I was very determined to ride him aggressively, and to ride him to the base of the jumps, which is how he feels confident.”

Helen and James have their wedding set for Nov. 3, at Galway Downs in Temecula, right after they finish their show jumping rounds in the Galway Downs International Horse Trials.

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Helen and the big-looking, but only 15.3hh white Oldenburg gelding were second after dressage with a 31.70. Even with a heartbreaker final fence rail and a few time faults in stadium, they stayed there going into cross-country. “My main goal was to jump clean and have him confident,” she said, so she wasn’t pressing the gas pedal too hard.

Helen and James base their business about 45 minutes from Woodside, but they felt a bit of a home field advantage with a crew of students and Woodside Pony Club members assisting through the weekend. The Alliston posse hauls over to school at the South San Francisco Bay Horse Park at Woodside regularly, which Helen says can be a mixed blessing come show time. “It’s great for cross-country, but it can be tough for dressage because when the horses unload here, they think they’re going out on cross-country so it can be a little hard to settle them here.”

“Ebay loves to perform,” Helen continued of the 10-year-old she’s had for three years. “He has so much energy, he could go around 20 times and be fine. He loves the atmosphere here and always jumps really well.”

The time penalties that resulted from Helen prioritizing a clean, confident round put the win on pins and needles as Amber Levine on her second ride, Cinzano, a Holsteiner, headed out last after two others retired on course. The 8-year-old’s run-out at the coffin fence put paid to their victory hopes, but Amber and her veteran Carry On, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood, wound up a close second on a 45.20. Canada’s Leah Breakey and Master Class were third.

The Alliston Eventing students and Woodside Pony Club helpers came in handy on Saturday night as Helen was loaded with trophies. She received the Founder’s Cup, given in honor of Robert E. Smith, whose ideas were instrumental in the Combined Training Equestrian Team Alliance from which The Horse Park at Woodside was born. Helen also took home the Fric Frac Berence Heart Trophy, donated by 5* rider Frankie Thieriot-Stutes in honor of her retired eventer.

Kaylawna Smith-Cook & Passepartout win the CCI3*-S

Pan Am Team gold medalist Tamie Smith was full of advice as her daughter Kaylawna Smith-Cook warmed up for the 3*-S cross-country, in which she and her mount of seven months sat second. “My mom asked me, ‘What do you need from me?’,” Kaylawna relayed. “I said, ‘I need you to go to the airport and not miss your plane for Boekelo!’” So, off went Tamie to represent the United States Equestrian Team in the Nations Cup there, leaving her daughter to fend for herself.

Kaylawna, a young professional, did so rather nicely.

Passepartout came Kaylawna’s way in March, as a sale prospect, but mother and daughter fell in love with the 10-year-old German Sporthorse and he never made it out of the Temecula, California stable where both base their training businesses. “I didn’t come to this event thinking we would win,” Kaylawna noted. “He gave me his all in every phase.” They earned a 32 in dressage from international judges Richard Baldwin and Gretchen Butts to sit fourth; were one of very few to jump double clear in stadium, and only added four penalties on cross-country.

Amateur Asia Vedder and Isi had a big lead going into cross-country, but a pilot error: jumping the 4* hanging log instead of the 3* duck coming out of the North Water Complex led to technical elimination. “He was so good out there and really deserved the win,” Asia said of her German Thoroughbred. She’d lost a little time earlier on course, along with focus on the right water complex exit, while trying to make it up. They were able to complete the course and Asia was otherwise thrilled with the 9-year-old’s performance. Their next outing is the Galway Downs International 3*-L.

Typical of the 3* level, most finishers had cross-country time faults, but Erin Kellerhouse and her Irish Sporthorse Woodford Reserve nabbed a #2 finish by having the fewest at 3.20. Woodside veteran James Alliston and the handsome Paint Trakehner stallion, Cassio’s Picasso KD, finished third on a 39.80.

Bec Braitling & Dassett Ricochet Stick Their 2* Standing

Riding for Arnell Sporthorses, Bec Braitling had a busy weekend highlighted by a fault-free trip over the 2* cross-country designed by Stark and Bert Wood. Her partner is the fast-rising star, 7-year-old Dassett Ricochet. Since splashing on the scene a year ago as winner of the Galway Downs Training Three Day, the Swedish Warmblood has steadily ascended with confidence and scope to spare.

“When I first tried him, I thought he would be a good amateur horse because he’s very relaxed: very chill,” Bec recalled. “There’s actually more in there than we thought. He’s chill but he uses the excitement to be really good.” The careful youngster is a reliable stadium jumper equally at ease out of the ring. “He looks carefully at everything, whether it’s scary or not. Then he lands and wants to run on. He can be pretty quick.”

Arnell partner, amateur rider Lauren Burnell, was fourth in the 2* with Freedom Hill, and Bec rode Arnell’s Penhill Celtic to a solid middle-of-the-pack finish in the same division. The native Australian rode the sporthorse sourcing company’s Caravaggio II to fifth in the the 3*. He’s just 8 and is another quickly moving up the levels. Being based at Central California eventing venue, Twin Rivers Ranch, Bec is able to “do the right homework” to enable all horses “to really come out and compete.”

Fifteen-year-old rider Meg Pellegrini continued a remarkable two years with her reserve finish aboard the Thoroughbred RF Eloquence, and a fifth aboard her Connemara/TB pony Ganymede. Lauren Billys and her rising youngster Can Be Sweet, a 7-year-old German sporthorse, held their third-place position after stadium with a fault-free cross-country.

Along with beautiful ribbons and prize money, top finishers received generous prizes from Professional’s Choice, Marcus Greene Outdoor Photography, Auburn Labs and Ride On Video.

International division course designer Ian Stark, of Great Britain, enjoyed his latest visit to California. “Over the many years I’ve been coming to America, I’ve really seen the quality of horses and riding improve. Noting the relatively small 4* field, he stressed that lower entry numbers don’t equal lower course demands. “We’ve got standards to adhere to and, if we soften them, those horses and riders qualify for the next level and have troubles. Instead, they have to come up and meet the level.”

Organizers including Woodside’s Robert Kellerhouse, Rebecca Farm’ Broussard family and others on the West Coast have been instrumental in improving the level of the sport, he added.

Stark looks forward to his next California visit, serving as the star attraction for the Galway Downs fundraising clinic in January of 2020, a long-standing West Coast eventing tradition.

Woodside organizers and competitors are grateful to long time sponsors Devoucoux, Parker Equine Insurance and Auburn Labs.

The national divisions of the Woodside International Horse Trials continue Sunday. Live streaming is available at www.rideonvideo.net and live scoring can be found at www.evententries.com.