All would agree that you could not have had better weather with the top equestrian sport presented this week at the MARS EQUESTRIAN Bromont CCI Three Day Event.
Over 150 rider and horse combinations representing 6 nations rode in front of FEI officials from around the world at the Bromont Olympic Equestrian Park in the picturesque rolling hills of Bromont, Quebec.
Three rails made all the difference in the CCI2*-L this morning. Unfortunate for the cross-country leader, Sondra Shantz (CAN) on Unique. The rails for Sondra gave Bobby Meyerhoff and Lumumba who added nothing to their dressage score of 30.60 a red ribbon in the division. Lumumba is an 8-year-old Mecklenburg mare owned by the rider and The Donavan Group.
Purchased as a 7-year-old and “since day one she was just lovely to ride and train” said Bobby said of Lumumba. Further the rider said “She has the quality and desire to win. She likes to win.”
Not to be left out of the prizes special award in the CCI2*-L division named The Ledger Family Amateur Award and offered by Dr. Gaby Ledger was presented to Sondra Shantz of Napanee, Ontario as the top amateur rider.
The winner of this award will take home a beautiful bronze depicting an eventer in full flight, a commemorative cooler and a cheque for $1,000.
To be eligible for this award, a rider needs to have a full-time job outside the equestrian world and face the ultimate challenge of balancing their professional responsibilities with the love of eventing.
Sunday jumping in the CCI2*-L U25 saw Gabrielle Hutchison (USA) move up the ranks on her own Straight Moonshine (Moony) in a faultless round to finish on a final penalty score of 34.00. Straight Moonshine is a 7-year-old Thoroughbred mare bred by Eric J. Myer.
Gabrielle, who is originally from Maryland bought Moony from a polo player in Aiken, SC as a 4-year-old. This is the first CCI2*-L for both Gabrielle and the horse.
Asked about the win Gabrielle said “this is just a bonus, I am very happy with her”.
CCI3*-L winner, Kylie Lyman finished the day on their dressage score of 28.30 riding the 12-year-old bay Irish Sport Horse gelding, Da Vinci Code owned by Joan Nichols.
“He was incredible. He goes out every single day and he is a class, class horse. Everything he does he just gives it everything. It’s just a special day.” Kylie gushes about her horse and her round.
The winner of the CCI3*-L division receives the traditional cooler provided by Sandridge Saddlery, and the Eaman Perpetual Trophy, a beautiful bronze donated by Debbie and Skip Eaman, long-time supporters and dedicated friends of Bromont CCI.
Texas born and raised, Alyssa Phillips (USA) on Oskar made light work of the CCI3*-L U25. Leading start to finish and completing on a penalty score of 27.30, 22-year-old Alyssa rides with Coatesville, PA based top rider, Jennie Brannigan.
Speaking about Oskar, Alyssa said “he jumped super, he was a great boy all weekend”.
Cochranville, PA based Olympian, Boyd Martin finished the weekend with an impressive first and second with Ray Price and On Cue respectively in the CCI4*-L. Boyd was awarded the Todd Sandler Perpetual Trophy for the 4* win.
The Sandler family have supported the Bromont CCI since its very first moments, for which the Organizing Committee is eternally grateful. The Todd Sandler Perpetual Trophy is named after Todd Sandler, an aspiring young Quebec event rider who passed away in a car accident while returning from Rolex Kentucky, where he was pursuing his passion for Eventing.
Boyd bought Ray Prices grandmother off of Olympian, Heath Ryan when he lived in Australia and imported the Ray at the age of 3 to the US while On Cue is a British bred mare.
Sharing some of his thoughts going in to show jumping, Boyd said “the show jump is not about making your horse careful it’s about making him confident and jump with joy”.
Speaking of the Bromont CCI Boyd placed the event up there as equal with the best and even went to on to say that “it makes Boekelo and Jersey look like a pony club track”.
Boyd’s successful week at Boyd did not end with the CCI4*-L. Riding a horse in the CCI3*-S appropriately named Barry the pair won on a penalty score of 30.60. The horse which could be described as a thoroughbred cross is the offspring of Peter Barry’s mare June and the British stallion, Catherston Liberator.
This week eight US developing athletes earned the opportunity to foster their team skills this week through the USEF/USET Foundation North American Team Challenge at the MARS EQUESTRIAN Bromont CCI Three-Day Event. Serving as an intra-country scrimmage mimicking the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ format, U.S. Eventing Director of High Performance Erik Duvander and U.S. Eventing Emerging Athlete Coach Leslie Law each served as a chef d’equipe for a team. Law’s team competed in the CCIU25 3*-L and Duvander’s team in the CCI3*-L, with scores weighted equally. Duvander’s team won the competition with an overall score of 96.90.
The many show jumping courses on the final day of competition at the MARS EQUESTRIAN Bromont CCI Three Day Event were all designed by Marc Donovan of Whispering Pines, North Carolina. Jumps were provided by Brody Robertson Show Jumps.
Full results here.
More from Horse Sport:
