The defending champions from the USA took a firm hold at the top of both the team and individual leaderboards when the Dressage phase got Eventing underway at the Pan American Games 2023 in Quillota, Chile.

Performing the CCI4* test it was Sharon White who took the early lead on a score of 28.2 with her 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding Claus 3, and then US team-mate Caroline Pomacku overtook her when putting 26.8 on the board with her Irish-bred eight-year-old gelding HSH Blake. But leading the last group of the day into the ring, Liz Halliday and Miks Master C shaved another two marks off the target score to go into tomorrow’s cross-country phase at the head of affairs on 24.8.

The Californian-born 44-year-old described her 11-year-old gelding as “a keen bean, he has a big engine and he wants to get on with the job! It’s a pretty electric atmosphere in there, this horse has been to Kentucky and he definitely noticed it. I had to work to keep him relaxed”, she said after delivering a really smart performance.

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