Ottawa, ON—Kyle Carter, originally of Calgary, AB, was the top Canadian rider in the only Canadian FEI Eventing World Cup™ Qualifier, held Wits End Horse Trials, August 6–9, 2009, in Mansfield, ON.
Out of an extremely high calibre field of 34 starters in CIC 3*W division, Carter, riding Madison Park, an 11-year-old American thoroughbred gelding owned by Carter and Nicole Shinton, lay in 19th place on a score of 59.2 penalty points, following dressage. With a perfectly clean cross country round over David O’Connor’s course, which saw only three riders make the time, and a clear jumping round, Carter moved up to finish in fourth place overall. The pair was the only entry to finish on their dressage score in the division.
“Madison Park is a super horse. We have been carefully developing him, and he is coming along really well,” said Carter, who was using the competition as a preparation for competing at the CCI 4* Land Rover Burghley Three Day Event, which will be held at Burghley Park, Stamford, Lincolnshire, GBR, September 3–6. “This is an excellent finish for us because were competing in really great company. The Wits End Horse Trials is a very well run event, and it is very nice to have a competition of this calibre in Canada.”
Other Canadians in the World Cup qualifying division included Kendal Lehari of Uxbridge, ON, and Understudy, a 12-year-old Canadian thoroughbred gelding owned by Gwendalyne Lehari, who finished in eighth place with a score of 71.8. The pair was in 18th placed after dressage with 59.0, and added only 8.8 cross country time penalties and four jumping penalties to finish with 71.8. Right behind Lehari, was Kelly List and her 11-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding Minstral. With a dressage score of 62.7, List, of Bracebridge, ON, added six cross country time and four jumping penalties to score 72.7 for ninth place. In 10th place was Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, ON, riding her 12-year-old thoroughbred gelding Exploring, with a score of 73.5.
Other Canadians competing in the CIC 3*W division were Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch of Summerland, BC, and Port Authority, her 11-year-old Selle Français gelding, who scored 78.2 for 12th place. In 13th spot was Phoenix with her second horse, Exponential, an 11-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding, scoring 78.4. Karl Slezak of Tottenham, ON, and Don J. Good’s 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Charley Farley, placed in 15th overall, scoring 82.3. With a final score of 82.4 and 16th place was Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master, Caroline Bazley’s eight-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding.
For many Canadian riders, Wits End represented the final preparation competition for the CCI 3* Fairhill Three Day Event, taking place October 15–18 in Elkton, MD, USA.
Bruce Davidson Jr., from the United States, won the CIC 3*W division aboard My Boy Bobby with a score of 50.0 penalty points.
Wits End also hosted a CCI 1* division. Leahona Rowland of Kelowna, BC, was the overall winner aboard Lambrusco, her seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding. Sitting in second place after dressage on a score of 50.4, Rowland was clean throughout the rest of the competition to secure the win. Sam Elsenaar, 19, of Brooklin, ON, riding Armon, her 11-year-old Thoroughbred cross, were in fifth place following dressage with a score of 55.2. The pair had a double clean performance over Jay Hambly’s cross country course, and were also clear the jumping round to finish in second on their dressage score. Canadian Olympian Selena O’Hanlon riding Heron Hill’s Wilhelmina, a six-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Diana Lawrence finished third, also finishing on their dressage score of 55.4 penalty points. O’Hanlon also finished in fourth, scoring 62.6, with A First Romance, a seven-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding owned by O’Hanlon and Sean Dennis. Former Olympian Peter Gray of Orangeville, ON, rounded out the top six finishing with a score of 69.3 with La Boheme Z.
Seventh place went to Shandiss Wewiora of Oakville, ON, and her horse, Fionn McCuhal. Amazing Grace and William Dow of Hastings, ON, finished in ninth. In 10th place was Katherine Martineau of Brossard, QC, riding H.M. As Sprits Go, and Gwen Lehari of Uxbridge, ON, and Logan’s Run placed 12th. Nicole Krzemiem of Shomberg, ON, and Menuet finished in 13th, and Haley Armstrong of Palgrave, ON, and Ichabod rounded out the Canadian entries in 15th place.
Complete results for Wits End Farm Horse Trials are found at http://www.witsendhorsetrials.ca/results.htm. The HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing Final 2009 will take place from August 21–23, 2009 in Strzegom, POL. For complete FEI Eventing World Cup Qualifying series information visit the FEI web site https://admin.feiworldcup.org/Eventing/Pages/HSBCFEIWorldCupFinal.aspx.
More from Horse Sport:
