Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Connor. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Caroline Pamucku has one primary goal on her mind this weekend at the Tryon International CCI4*-L, where she’s here to contest HSH Connor’s first run at this Long level.
Incidentally, this weekend marks the first official qualifier for the 2027 Pan American Games, which will take place next July 23-August 8 in Lima, Peru (also the site of the 2019 Pan Ams). You can view the full qualification guidelines for Pam Ams, which are run at the 3*-L level, here. With this in mind, she’s got her eyes set on ticking off that qualification here this weekend, giving her something to build on over the next 12 months with the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Caroline, her mother Sherrie and longtime supporter Luann McElduff.
That goal comes a step closer after the first phase of competition, which saw Caroline and HSH Connor score a 26.4 to go into the lead ahead of Saturday’s cross country. That score, however, is one Caroline’s eager to get down over time, because she knows the caliber of scores that will be required to win on an even more international stage.
“I’ve gotta figure out how to get in the 21s like those Europeans!” Caroline said. “So I forward the videos to my dressage trainers because I’m on a 26? And there will be some people at Worlds on like an 18 or 19 — so how do I get down to there? I felt I put in a good test, but it’s about ‘how do I get on an 18’? So it’s at least on my brain right now — how do I break it down and do even better? I feel like I crushed it, but it’s not quite good enough for the world stage.”
Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Connor. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
To that end, Caroline and her team will typically forward videos of her tests to her coaching group, primarily helmed by dressage coach Samantha St. Jacques as well as fellow 5* rider and Pan Ams teammate from 2023 Sharon White. Along with the videos, Caroline will snap photos of her test copies with the judges’ comments so that they can study the marks and where she could earn a few more the next time out.
“This same test Blake did at Carolina,” Caroline said. “And obviously he and Connor are different horses, but it’s still the same pattern, right? So I need to figure it out — I know there’s somewhere I’m giving points away. Maybe not going straight enough sooner after the shoulder-in on the centerline — that’s the sort of thing we need to a little bit analyze before Worlds.”
For his part HSH Connor has had a supremely successful international career to date: he’s won nearly half of the 20 competitions he’s started at FEI levels, and though this will be his first 4*-L, Caroline feels the development she’s put in so far should set her up well to test the gelding’s mettle on cross country tomorrow, though earning the qualification — which doesn’t need to be a clear inside the time — is her top priority.
“I need to get qualified for Pan Ams,” she said. “I want to give him a good experience because I think he can win a medal. He’s got the makings of a medal-winning championship horse. So I would love to just give him a good ride.”
Phillip Dutton and Denim. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Caroline may see some threat on the clock tomorrow from second-placed Phillip Dutton, who chose this weekend as Denim’s spring destination. Denim, an 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Ann Lapides, Neill Sites, Annie Jones and Caroline Moran, scored a 29.2 for an effort that made Phillip “happy — not ecstatic, but happy” overall. He’s got the World Championships on the brain as well, with two strong contenders for a spot on the U.S. squad in Possante (8th at Kentucky two weeks ago) as well as Denim.
Phillip’s taken a slightly longer road with Denim, who he describes as an eager partner but slower to mature and not the fastest at his top cruising speed. For him, it’s less about creating more speed tomorrow and more about riding efficiently. Smooth is fast, even when you’re not on the fastest horse in the field.
“I’m going to have to be pretty astute about not wasting time and having pretty efficient lines and that kind of thing,” Phillip said. “But you know, he’s a great, great jumping horse. It’s harder to get a better jumping horse that him, so I’ll be relying on that. He’s pretty honest, as well. I think [his speed] is kind of what God’s given him, but having said that there are many ways to go faster and it’s not always about top speed. You can save time on the approach and get away from the jumps, have tighter lines and try to keep a constant speed rather than slowing him up too much.”
Mia Farley and Invictus. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Mia Farley was the day one leader, scoring a 30.0 with Karen O’Connor’s Invictus, who just finished third in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at Kentucky two weeks ago. This is the second 4*-L effort for this pair, and Mia had to manage a bit more tension than she is typically used to on “Sammy” yesterday. It was truly an exercise in working with the horse you have on the day. At Kentucky, Mia had referred to Invictus as “Mr. Reliable”, not typically too fussed with atmosphere — but she had a slightly different ride underneath her yesterday.
“I felt it in the pre-ride and the warm-up,” Mia said. She wound up changing her pre-ride routine a bit to account for the change. “I wanted to do shorter — like, not one big ride, so two short rides. So I came out again and I still just wasn’t getting where I wanted to, so in the warm-up I just made sure I could lower him and raise him so I had those tools and then just went in there and tried to communicate as much as I could. The quality of work felt good, it just felt fragile. But I felt more mature in there too — like, before I’d get a little frustrated if it wasn’t perfect, and in there I was just trying to give him confidence and I think he was trying really hard.”
Here Mia uses the term “positive tension” which is a bit oxymoronic in its appearance. I asked her what this meant to her. “I think if they’re feeling a little on edge, it’s just about making the most of that,” she elaborated. “Obviously you can’t push them, and I did not feel I could push him yesterday, so it was just using those nerves to make the best of what we had.”
Looking to Clayton Fredericks’ (AUS) course tomorrow, Phillip was complimentary of the challenge ahead: “I like what he’s done this year. You have a minute and a half of just four [jumps], so I like that. And then it’s kind of technical, but not overly so in the middle section, then you cross the road. I may be wrong, but I think he might have gone a little easy on the coffin there. I thought it was straightforward. And then obviously the big lake is a very, very big jump in, but then you have a bit of time to get to the two narrows. And the rest of it is more [asking] if you’ve got any horse left, and being able to hold your line.”
And a quick update on the US Open Qualifier CCI4*-S — we’ll plan to catch up with the winner tomorrow, but for now it’s Tamie Smith still leading the way after adding no penalties to her 19.5 earned with Ruth Bley’s Danito yesterday. Show jumping was held this afternoon, and Tamie was able to keep her lead to gain a 7.6 point advantage over second-placed Will Coleman with the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off the Record (27.1). Initially second after dressage, Lucienne Bellissimo and Dyri lowered one rail to move to third place on a score of 27.2.
You’ll be able to watch live all day long tomorrow on Horse & Country! Here’s the link for the live stream. The first division on cross country will be the CCI2*-L at 8:30 am EST, followed by the 4*-S at 10:15 am EST and the 4*-L beginning around 12:05 am EST. For the full schedule, visit the Event Entries Show Center here and click “General Schedule”.
Tryon International Three-Day Event (NC): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Schedule] [Scoring] [Live Stream] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]
