Zone two show jumpers victorious in a nail biter at NAYRC

The team show jumping competition is run in a similar format to the Olympics and World championships - each team jumps two rounds over the same course, and the team with the least faults is the winner. Each team of four is allowed to drop a score each round, and teams of three have to count all their scores.

In the first round the water jump off a hard u-turn seemed to be more question than many of the riders could answer as pair after pair jumped into the water. Number 7, an in and out on the far end of the ring caused it's share of problems, including a fall for Zone 10's Kelly Fong and Fripponnier II and a near fall for Zone 7's Melissa DeCaster and Blue Ciel. The triple combination at number 11 saw it's share of rails also.

Lurking in second with 13 faults was the team from Ontario of Rex Get Busy and Carly Campbell-Cooper, Quincy and Rebecca Irvine, Freestyle and Elliott Stone and Libidou and Keean White. Cooper had jumped clear but had one time penalty, Stone had put a foot in the water and dropped the middle of the triple, Irvine had 12 faults and White also put a foot in the water.

In a three-way tie for third were the teams from Zones 10 (California and Nevada), 1 (far Northeast), and 5 (the Midwest), all standing on 24 faults.

In the second round the riders comeback in reverse order of team placing, so the final or anchor riders on each team faced the potential pressure of making or breaking their team's final placing.

The first rider for Ontario, Cooper and Rex Get Busy dropped one rail and had two time penalties, but McCormack and Marga had an unusually lackluster performance, finishing with 20 penalties.

"The first round she gave everything she had," said McCormack of the bay mare. "The second round she was just tired, she's never done that before. Then she came back for the jump-off and just tried so hard.

In the race for the bronze, Fong overcame her crash in round one to put in a decisive clear for her Zone 10 team, while Zone 1 had three rails down, and Zone 5 had two.

In the next rotation of riders, Stone and Freestyle dropped one rail, while Stevenson and Galiana jumped into the water, ticked the vertical after the water, and took the last fence for a total of twelve faults. Zone 10's Trevor White and the charming dappled bay Classico VI took three rails for twelve faults, while Zone 5 had four rails down for 16, and Zone 1 had two rails for eight.

In the third rotation, both Irvine and Quincy and Pia and Mable had four faults at fence 9, both zones putting pressure on their anchor riders to decide the outcome. Meanwhile the race for the bronze medal was heating up as Zone 1 dropped one rail, Zone 5 brought down two, as did Zone 10's Brooke Johansen and Calino De Lezeaux, who showed a bit of temper after being hit with stick over the now-infamous water jump.

As the anchor riders got ready to ride, and Zone 1 had 24 faults, and Zone 5 had four, it became clear that if Andrew Ramsay and Lisa could duplicate their clear first round, his Zone 10 team could drop Trevor White's score of 12 and secure at least a bronze medal. Ramsay didn't disappoint, with a gorgeous clear round on the lanky chestnut mare to guarantee his team a medal.

Ontario's Keean White and Libidou had only a foot in the water to put the responsibility for the team competition's outcome squarely on the shoulders of Georgina Bloomberg and Riviera. If she could come home double clear, Zone 1 and Ontario would be tied with 25 faults, and they would have to jump-off to decide the medals. If she had so much as a time-fault, let alone a rail, her team would settle for silver.

At first, it looked like the pressure was taking its toll as they survived a scary moment at fences two and three where Riviera crept over the fences. Team chef d'equipe Ralph Caristo bellowed out "Wake Up!" and Bloomberg seemed to shake off her nerves to ride a strong clear round to force the jump-off for only the second time in NAYRC history.

By now the team competition had been going on for nearly five hours, and this reporter admits her hiney was ready for it to be over. Horses who had gone early had been tucked back into their stalls, and had to be retrieved post-haste to jump-off. The shortened course didn't feature the dreaded water jump, but it did have two elements from the triple combination. Whoever had the fewest jumping faults would win the gold medal, but should the jumping faults be tied, the times of the three best jumping rounds from each team would be added, and the least amount of time would win.

Cooper and Rex continued their strong performances with a smooth, fast clear round. Marga and McCormack still looked weary and had two down for 8 faults. But then Stone had 12 faults to Stevenson's clear, and Irvine had the last fence down to Pia's clear, followed by a four-fault performance from White. Suddenly, things looked familiar-Bloomberg needed one rail or less to clinch the win, or else they were down to tiebreaker by time, which Ontario would have won by two seconds. But she and Riviera had clearly found their stride, and cruised to a strong clear, bringing the gold home for their team.

"He's such an amazing athlete," said Manhattan native Bloomberg, 19, of her mount. "However he gets to a fence, he can pull it off. Sometimes its hard because he knows he can get away with stuff - he's cocky and he wants to win - but if you can make him be concentrated and focused he's just amazing."

Bloomberg felt the pressure, but used it to her advantage in her two make-or-break rounds. "I was definitely nervous, but I just turned it into determination. Especially after I [had my bobbles at 2 and 3], I knew that luck was on my side, and I just became determined to ride hard and go for it,' she said.

Pia has had her mount longer than any of her team mates, and that relationship served the pair well throughout the team competition. "She's hot and careful, but she always gets out of it. She's brave and honest and I just trust her so much. I know I can make a little mistake and she'll work it out.

"She's really sweet," continued Pia. "She loves people and peppermints, and wants your attention."

Stevenson is only leasing her mount from owner Joe Zada, and had a relatively short amount of time to qualify and prepare for NAYRC, but she says her mount's kind personality helped her meet her goal of riding at NAYRC. "He's very easy and very sweet," she said.

The rider's focus now switches to Sunday, when the individual medal winners will be decided. Accumulated faults from the first qualifier on Thursday, and the two rounds of team competition will decide the top 20 who will move on to that competition. Ramsay and Lisa who have been wonderfully consistent throughout the two days (really folks, this kid can RIDE) leads Bloomberg, Cordelia B and Catherine Boettcher, Cooper and Rex Get Busy, and Jashar and Cayce Harrison. Harrison is another rider who really impressed with her smooth, flowing, strong riding style, and is going to be one to watch in the future.

The junior team championship was decided in the morning, with Zone 10 taking the gold over British Columbia and Zone 7. However, while they were doing their rounds I was over watching the first leg of the individual dressage competition. This competition is the top twenty-five scorers after the team competition. The top twelve after the individual test is ridden will then perform a freestyle on Sunday to determine the medallists.

Every year I've seen the young riders dressage I've always been impressed by the riding skills of these youngsters, and by the quality of character of their mounts. While at most "grown-up" FEI dressage competitions you tend to see movement and gaits of the mount valued over personality and trainability, at NAYRC it's not uncommon to see horses who aren't perhaps as spectacular movers, but are soft, correct, and so tuned in to their riders, that they truly do justice to the classical principles of dressage. I've often thought more judges should come and watch NAYRC to be reminded what harmony between horse and rider truly is.

Young Jackie Paxton had a sizable lead after the Team Test, and her ride today on the tall, elegant mare Sangmelima only put her further in front. Paxton is a lovely rider, and the mare seems to flow from movement to movement. This a relatively new mount for Paxton, so the future should only be better.

Lindsay Anderson and Intrepid had some gorgeous trot work, but the horse came a bit undone in his canter work and half-pirouettes, however the rest of their work was of sufficient quality to keep them in second chasing Paxton. Leahe Webb and Hugo improved on their team performance by placing third in the Individual Test. The dark bay looked a hair stiff at times, and missed one of his changes, but was smooth and accurate throughout. Paxton's Region 1 team mate Martin Kuhn and Romulos showed off their strong rapport and the horse's flashy gaits to finish 4th in the individual test, though the big bay showed he hadn't learned from his tangle with the arena fencing in the team test, rattling the white plastic a few times throughout the ride.

The Malone sisters looked ready to do a salt-and-pepper pas de deux as the put in strong tests. Mary Alice was 4th aboard the nearly white (and humorously named) Gray Horse, while sister Catherine was 15th aboard the nearly black Kashmire. Finally, I wanted to mention region 7's Natalie Hamilton and her fiery chestnut Donnerworth, her coach had to help lead the horse into the ring, at a strong trot and there was some serious eyeballing of the judge's stands. The horse looks like a rocket to ride, and her exuberance overtook them in a few places (they cantered most of their extended trot), but the horse is a spectacular mover and gifted athlete, and Hamilton gives her a wonderful and sympathetic ride. Though they'll finish out of the top spots this weekend, they will be a pair to watch in the future.

One of the unintentionally humorous moments at the NAYRC is that the eventing dressage is run concurrently, and right behind, the "straight" dressage, and there is no way the event horses can't look somewhat silly in the ring compared to their professional dressage counterparts. I've always though it would be far kinder to keep the event dressage far away from the regular dressage, to avoid any comparisons.

In the CCI** there was a bit of an upset in the dressage as Brazil took the lead in the team competition over Area 2, and a combined team of riders from Areas 3, 4, and 7. In the individual standings Brittany Kart and Semper Fidelis finished the day in first, followed by Kathleen Dingus and Springcroft Tia Maria and Meggie Elledge and Seven's Up.

In the CCI* last year's gold medallists Area 1 led the way in the team competition over Area 3 and Area 4, with Sportsfield Twist and Charlotte Merle-Smith leading individually.

Tomorrow, Saturday, will be all about cross-country as the eventers take center stage.