Selena O'Hanlon Earns CCI*** Dressage Lead at Fair Hill

Spectators were greeted with crisp, fall weather Friday at the 2017 Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International Three-Day Event. At the conclusion of dressage, Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High lead the CCI*** while Thursday’s CCI** leaders, Tamra Smith and Sunsprite Syrius, keep hold of their top position.

Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High are winners of the first phase of competition in The Dutta. Corp/USEF CCI** National Eventing Championship. Owned by John and Judy Rumble, the 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse earned a personal best score of 39.4.

“Foxwood High felt a little bit fitter in the ring today which was great because he put it to good use. Being that much older he’s started to become more rideable in the ring, so I was pleased that he didn’t let it get the better of us,” O’Hanlon said. “In general the horse has just been leading up to this and I’m super excited to break into the thirties.”

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Second place belongs to Colleen Rutledge and her own Covert Rights, an 11-year-old Thoroughbred Cross, who earned a standout score of 39.8. “‘CR’ is really cool because he always feels good even when I’m wrong, so it’s just amazing to ride a horse like that. He’s my homebred and I love him to pieces,” she said, though she admits she still strives for an improved test. “It’s polishing the little details. It’s getting his walk to be just slightly more relaxed. He tries so incredibly hard. He almost tries too hard to do what I want, and sometimes he needs to tell me no. That’s what makes him just so amazing.”

Buck Davidson and Ryan Wood share third place on a tied score of 40.3 with Carlevo and Powell, respectively.

The very last horse in the ring today, Carlevo proved himself to be the best of Davidson’s three rides in this division. “He’s sort of hovering always around 40s. He’s very consistent. He’s a beautiful mover. He’s nice to ride in the arena, and he’s just getting stronger and more mature as we go, so I was very proud of him,” he said of the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Carlevo LLC.

For Wood, Powell’s dressage success is celebrated, but not without looking forward to Derek di Grazia’s cross country track.

“We got our personal best dressage score, so I’m very happy. He’s a very nice horse. Really rideable in the ring and he’s flashy and we were able to go through mistake free. To be able to perform like that is pretty exciting, but there’s a long way to go. Cross country looks pretty challenging. It’s relentless, and Derek [di Grazia]’s got questions going all the way to the end, so you’re going to have to have a fit horse and stay sharp,” Wood commented.

The top of the leaderboard remained unchanged for The Dutta Corp./USEF CCI** National Eventing Championship, with Tamra Smith and Sunsprite Syrius maintaining their lead. Owned by Sunsprite Warmbloods, the 9-year-old Trakehner carries a score of 40.9 to the cross country phase, where Smith expects a tough challenge.

“I always feel like the two-star here is almost like a three-star,” she said. “With the terrain and the technicality, it’s serious. I haven’t really seen a two-star harder than Fair Hill. I think he’s up for it and ready to go, so I’m excited.”

North American Young Rider silver medalist Cornelia Dorr moved into second place with her own Louis M. The 12-year-old Rheinlander gelding was given a score of 48.1. “He was slightly behind my leg throughout, and it was a little bit more difficult than our test at Young Riders. I didn’t quite have them up there with me, but he was super and as always did his job,” she smiled.

Allison Springer and Lord Willing moved to third place. The Lord Willing Syndicate’s 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding obtained a score of 48.3 to lead the way for Springer’s three rides in the division.

“I have three wonderful young horses in the two-star. I’m really excited about it. My horses were fantastic. All three put in their best tests to date. Lord Willing was wonderful. He’s a wonderful horse to ride. I was thrilled with all three horses,” Springer said proudly.

The USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championships also concluded with Exclusively Cooley crowned 5-year-old winner and Bea Ready taking the 4-year-old title.

Kim Severson’s Exclusively Cooley, an Irish Sport Horse by the stallion Ramiro B, took the win after his jumping score of 44.1 (out of 50 points) gave him a cumulative result of 86.65%.

“He was great this weekend. I think he is in a lot of ways very mature for his age and he handled everything very nicely,” Severson commented. “I think any horse of this quality, you just give them the right opportunities and ask them the right questions at the right time, and hopefully you do right by them and you end up producing quite a good horse in the end. You never know until they do it.”

Kristen Bond’s Bea Ready proved his suitability for the sport as he had the leading score through both the dressage and jumping sections of competition. The Dutch Warmblood finished on a final score of 86%.

The Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International three-day event is currently awaiting approval by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), as the new CCI**** event to join the Kentucky Three-Day Event as the only two CCI**** events in the Western Hemisphere and just the seventh CCI**** on the FEI global calendar.