Hurricane Helene bashed the facilities but did not dampen the spirits of organizers and participants at the $60,000 Oktoberfest FEI CCI-S 2/3/4* & USEF/USEA Horse Trials, September 27-29 at Stable View in Aiken, SC. Organizers issued the following press release on Saturday afternoon:
“On the eve of the first night of Oktoberfest, Hurricane Helene hit Aiken. When the sun rose in the morning there was no power, no running water, and most roads were impassable. Aiken was left in the path of destruction with downed trees and power lines. Stable View itself was littered with fallen trees, destroyed gazebos, and debris. However, with the hard work of many officials and volunteers, Stable View was quickly cleaned up (at least enough to be able to run competition). By Friday evening, the cross-country course looked as good as new thanks to the efforts of many volunteers and competitors who pitched in during the clean-up process.
One of many downed trees on course. (Stable View photo)
As a result of the hurricane the decision was made to cancel competition on Friday. Stable View’s secretary worked for hours on end to recreate the schedule in the format of a two-day show. After almost finishing she had to make amendments due to the curfew that was put in place by Aiken County. This curfew prohibited any non-essential workers from being on the roads from 7:30pm Friday night until 7:30 am Saturday morning. Due to this new schedule the FEI divisions as well as the Advanced, Intermediate, and Preliminary divisions ran as one-days today with Modified riders completing their dressage.
In the Four-Star Lucienne Bellissimo held the lead from start to finish. She started with a 26.3 in dressage before jumping double clear over Chris Barnard’s Show Jump Track. On Cross Country she managed to only add four time penalties to finish on a 30.3. Initially placed in second, Phillip Dutton and Possante finished in fourth after taking his time around Helen West’s Cross Country Course. Lucienne was in third place following dressage and show jumping. After also adding some time she finished in fifth with Tremanton. Canadian Lindsay Traisnel and Bacyrouge ultimately finished in second after being the fastest cross-country ride of the day, coming in eight seconds over optimum time. Aiken-based Emily Hamel and Corvett rounded out the top three on their score of 40.8. (Another Canadian, Katie Malensek riding Landjaeger, placed 6th.)
In the Three-Star Division Cole Horn and MBF Cooley Permission To Land made their way up the leaderboard after initially being eleventh. After double clear show jumping and cross country rounds they finished in first on a 34.7. After making the long haul from California, Tamie Smith added a second and third place finish to her resume. Pierre’s Farceur du Bochard finished second and Sumas Tina Turner finished third.
Madison Temkin and Fernhill Bertus won the Two-Star Division on their dressage score of 30.5. Phillip Dutton and Cooley Starship finished second adding only 2.8 time penalties on Helen West’s course on a 33.8. Cole Horn had a good day in the office. After winning the three-star he finished in third place in the two-star on The Wellerman with a score of 34.1.
In light of everything, Stable View extends their thoughts to everyone who has been affected by Hurricane Helene. Stable View hopes that this show gives some feeling of normalcy for riders, grooms, and their families. We hope this can be used as a light at what will be a long period of clean-up…”
Understandably, there was mixed reaction to the decision in light of the severity of the storm, with some on Facebook condemning the decision and others applauding it, as many horses and riders were stuck there anyway as roads were closed. One commenter noted, “sending all the trucks and trailers home would have definitely made a harder time for clean up crews and people trying to get out.”
Georgia-based event coach Joanne Morse commented on Facebook:
“Confident to say while this was not the weekend we envisioned we all made the most of it and together we kept our spirits high as we battled the challenges of showing during a natural disaster. I certainly do love my equestrian family and I was glad we all had each other to lean on this weekend.
“I’d also like to shoutout to Stable View for doing such a great job keeping everyone informed. The amazing food and wine in the evenings didn’t hurt either! And I hope everyone thanked the amazing Food Truck that worked solo to keep us fed all weekend!”
The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) Championships that were to take place at Stable View this coming weekend have been rescheduled to October 24-27, 2024 so as not to interfere with continuing recovery efforts in the area.
Full results here.