Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott.
After New Zealand’s Monica Spencer picked up some time penalties in the show jumping at the Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase at Bruce’s Field in Aiken, SC earlier this month, she ruefully laughed and told reporters that she needed to get herself back into more of a “competition mode.” It was a good wake-up call early in season, she said, and she put that mode to good use today at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International, retaining her lead in the Sandy River Equestrian Center CCI4*-S division with her own Thoroughbred gelding, Artist (Guillotine – Maxamore, by Satin Blush).
“I think it was about riding away from my jumps more aggressively,” Monica said of what she focused on today. Generally speaking, the big Twin Gates Derby Field here at the Carolina Horse Park and the large amount of space it offers can elicit more than a few time penalties; today, 36% of the 4*-S field accumulated at least one second of time over the amount allowed. “I tend to be a pretty relaxed rider by nature, which can sometimes mean I’m a little too relaxed. So today, I focused on landing and immediately riding forward, really getting into competition mode.”
Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Monica’s been candid that show jumping would be the most challenging for Artist, who’s already broken the old “Thoroughbreds can’t do dressage” mold. But she can see him improving with each round. “I think he’s improved a lot,” she explained. “He’s always tried to jump clear — he wants to be careful. But as a full Thoroughbred, he’s not bred to be a show jumper, so it’s very much a learned skill for him. That makes it even more special when he jumps clear rounds at this height, which is really the top of his ability. He’s putting his whole heart and soul into it, and I have a lot of respect for him. He’s getting stronger as he gets older, and you can feel his confidence growing, which is really cool.”
The World Championships medalist plans to use Derek di Grazia’s course to set herself and Artist up for a run at Defender Kentucky next month, and while she’s not planning to put the pedal to the metal, necessarily, she also wants to lay down a solid effort. This will be her final major prep event; she generally likes to drop her horses down a level or two for their final pre-5* run to give them an extra boost of confidence. Artist, for example, will likely run a casual Intermediate before heading for Kentucky.
“I’ve only had one proper run on him so far this year, so this event is about getting into competition mode,” Monica said. “I’m not going to chase the time, but I’ll go quick enough.”
“I think you have to treat every fence like it could cause problems. That keeps you sharp for the whole course,” Monica said, nodding to the cumulative, big picture effect of a Derek di Grazia course rather than one specific question that she’s concerned about. “My approach is to take it one combination at a time — tick that one off, move on to the next. But overall, it’s a well-presented course, and even though some parts are tough, the jumps are designed in a way that makes them easy for the horses to read. So as long as I give him a good ride, I think he’ll go well.”
Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Jennie Brannigan and Tim and Nina Gardner’s FE Lifestyle (Leo von Faelz – Berina A, by Brandenburger) continued their strong run with a double clear effort today, remaining on their score of 30.3 and in second overnight.
“He was fresh!” Jennie said after her round. She also retained the 1*-S lead today with Royal Scandic. “Honestly, I schooled most of them this morning, except for him, because they’d all been good in dressage and seemed relaxed. But once you walk over here, it’s a whole different ballgame. Every rider was saying, ‘My horse feels fresh today!’ So I think I got a little lucky — I’ll take it! But my horses are jumping great, and even when I don’t feel like I have the perfect rideability or my rhythm isn’t quite right, I always want to ride forward.”
Jennie is another rider keen to get out for a crack at Derek di Grazia’s inaugural design here — more on that shortly. “Bringing Derek in was a really smart move,” she said. “If we all want to be able to ride a Derek course before heading to Kentucky, Badminton, or wherever, this is the perfect prep. It’s getting very close to being a can’t-miss event on the calendar.”
Katherine Coleman and ESI Baltic Breeze. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Rounding out the top three today, moving up one spot, are Katherine Coleman and ESI Baltic Breeze (Baltic VDL – Brooklyn Breeze, by Fortunus), a former sales horse who’s flown a bit under the radar behind his 5* stablemate and half-sibling on the dam side, Monbeg Senna, but has continued to surprise and impress Katherine as he gains more strength and experience. The 10-year-old Irish gelding is contesting his third 4* event this weekend, likely aiming at a 4*-L in the summer, potentially at Bramham in the UK, where Katherine bases full-time. She comes to Wellington, FL for the winter, training with riders like show jumping Olympian Lauren Hough as well as World Championships dressage athlete Katherine Bateson and German Olympian Bettina Hoy for some specialized help. This year, she’s come over with her top three horses with two of them aiming for Kentucky (Monbeg Senna in the 5* and Sirius SB in the 4*).
“Honestly, I can’t believe he’s in third!” Katherine laughed when asked about ESI Baltic Breeze, who’s called “Wally” in the barn. “He’s behaving better than my two more experienced horses, which is hilarious. He’s one of those horses I originally thought would make a great young rider horse because he’s so easygoing and straightforward. I even tried selling him for that purpose. He doesn’t give you a huge feeling off the ground when he jumps, but I’ve realized he just keeps stepping up — jumping bigger and bigger and proving how careful he really is. He’s really impressed us. And now I’m starting to think maybe I should hold on to him!”
Katherine’s enjoying being back stateside for an extended period of time this year. She last competed here at Carolina in 2018 (and won the then-2*, now 3* in the process), and her family are planning to travel from Louisiana to cheer her on at Kentucky. “Honestly, my dad was a big reason for choosing Kentucky over Badminton,” she said “He loves coming to Kentucky, and it’s a lot easier for my family to be there and watch.”
Caroline Pamukcu and King’s Especiale. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Also jumping up the leaderboard from 10th into fourth are U.S. Olympian Caroline Pamukcu and King’s Especiale, a towering 18+ hand Dutch gelding owned by Redfield King’s HX Group. For Caroline, the process with “King” has been to lengthen his neck on the flat and to encourage him to build his efficiency over the jumps instead of soaring over them and taking extra time. Today, she picked up one second/.4 penalties to add to her score for a two-phase total of 35.2.
“I’m still kicking myself for the time fault,” Caroline said. “I’m trying to figure out how to make the time without sacrificing his rideability. He’s huge — over 18 hands — super adjustable, a great jumper, but he jumps so high, and that eats up time. There were a couple of places where I thought about leaving a stride out, but I second-guessed myself. I don’t want to be the rider who just guns it for the time — I want him to stay rideable and balanced.”
Caroline also has her Paris horse, HSH Blake, here in the 3*-S, where he sits third after show jumping. That makes all three U.S. team horses in attendance this weekend; Boyd Martin has taken the reins for Liz Halliday on The Monster Partnership’s Cooley Nutcracker, who’s competing in the 4*, and Boyd’s also got his own Paris horse, the Annie Goodwin Syndicate’s Fedarman B, in the 3*-S, which he’s currently leading after two phases.
Allison Springer and No May Moon. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Allison Springer and her Bromont 4*-L winner, Nancy Winter’s No May Moon (Catherston Dazzler – Ebony Moon, by Mystic Replica), once more proved their ability to jump their way up in the standings, adding no penalties today to sit in fifth on a score of 35.8. We saw Allison out on cross country yesterday evening, and she was keen to get out for a first ride around the refreshed course, noting that she felt the questions were there to be understood by the horses, and that she had immense trust in Derek to put fences in place that would be seen and understood well when approached.
The updated Pine Water at fence 12ABC. Photo via CrossCountryApp.
Looking to Derek di Grazia’s design, we have a course with 24 questions and an optimum time of 6:15. Derek has put a new look and feel on this first iteration. The two water complexes have been completely changed, and Derek’s also reversed the direction of some of the loops and even had the grounds team and course builders working on re-grading ground and laying down new grass on certain parts of the ground to give himself a blank canvas.
“One of the good things about this venue is that it offers a mix of everything: you have flat areas, wooded sections, and terrain changes,” Derek noted. “Riders will get a chance to navigate different types of challenges, which is important. Then, of course, there are the existing features like the water jumps and banks, and the goal is to figure out how to use them in a new way to create a balanced and educational test. In a first year, you don’t want to try to change the world — you want to come in and create something that works within the existing framework. For me, the biggest priority was finding a track with good flow. That starts with looking at the jumps available, determining what needs to be created, and then piecing together a course that not only meets the level but also feels appropriate for this time of year.”
What, exactly, does that “flow” look like to a designer?
“It’s interesting because the property itself, especially at the beginning of the course, actually feels quite open,” Derek said. “It gives off a very galloping-course feel, which is great. And when they took the fencing out on the racecourse, that helped open things up even more. I want to present different types of exercises that not only test the riders but also help educate the horses. At the same time, I design courses as a complete picture—it’s never just about one combination. The entire course should work together as a cohesive test, and that’s how I approach it, whether I’m designing here or anywhere else.”
[Preview the full course on CrossCountryApp here]
With that, we’ll look forward to seeing the course in action tomorrow. Derek has designed the 4*, 3*, and Advanced tracks here, while Beth Perkins has designed the remaining FEI and National tracks. We’ll kick things off bright and early at 8 a.m. with the 1*, followed by the 2* beginning at the very specific time of 8:59 a.m., the 4* starting at 11 a.m., Advanced beginning at 1 p.m. and finishing up with the 3* beginning at 2:10 p.m. You’ll be able to catch the full live stream of all cross country on Horse & Country here.
Setters Run Farm Carolina International (NC): [Website] [Schedule] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Orders of Go] [H&C+ Live Stream] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
