Frankie Thieriot-Stutes of Occidental, Calif. leads the CCI** following dressage scoring 44.5 penalties on Chatwin in the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event (JFI), presented by BW Furlong & Associates. Local rider Holly Payne Caravella and Bruisyard Hall are second with 46.3. Tied for third with 47.1 penalties are Mara DePuy (USA) riding Congo Brazzaville C and Tamra Smith (USA) on Lagos Star. A record number of competitors are entered in the JFI which necessitated a schedule change and for the first time all of the competitors in the CCI** and six riders in the CCI***competed on Wednesday afternoon at the Horse Park of New Jersey.
Thieriot-Stutes needed to notch a CCI** with Chatwin and believes that the level of competition at JFI will help them gain more exposure. “I haven’t competed out here since 2013 so it was a last minute decision to come, but I am super glad that we did and I think it is what both Chatwin and I need,” said Thieriot-Stutes. “Yesterday he felt quite stuck and he usually doesn’t the day before. He is usually quite good but we were able to work through that today. I feel so lucky every time I get on him. He’s such a fun horse to get to ride and he’s a really good competitor. Part of my goal for coming out here was to see where we stack up. The level of competition here is higher and I wanted to see if we stack up against that. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with my score today because I know we can do better but I was happy with the way he was.”
Earlier in the day, a total of sixty-seven horses in the CCI divisions passed the first horse inspection to move forward to the dressage phase. In the CCI** 29 horses from four countries were presented to the ground jury consisting of Harry Payne (GBR), Gretchen Butts (USA) and Janis Linnan (USA) and 28 were accepted. Out of the 40 horses from six countries presented for the CCI*** 39 were accepted.