2022 Maryland 5* at Fair Hill

[FitToBeTied]

I was hoping that XC would be properly influential like in other 5*'s but it wasn’t. More than half the field went double clear. Only two eliminations and four completes with jump faults. At that level it was a canter through the park.

Kentucky is a notch below the likes of Burghley and Badminton, and I was hoping Fairhill being a fall event would try to attain the same level as B&B. There really is no reason why Fairhill couldn’t be like that. It’s like we’re afraid to step up our courses in this country to be on par with what the Brits ride.

[Blugal]

If the weather had been bad, it could have gone very differently.

[Texarkana]

I had a fabulous two days of spectating! I thought everything was as close to perfect as you can get. I am bummed I have to miss tomorrow, because I would have been more than happy to go back for more.

As for the XC course being boring or easy in some people’s opinion, I think there is something to be said for it being a short field of very experienced riders. There were only a few riders who could be considered green at the level, and they had problems.

@AllTheCarrots and I went on the course walk Friday and the only thing better than meeting AllTheCarrots was getting Kyle Carter and Sharon White’s insight on the course. It seemed like they thought the questions were technical but fair. They said Ian Stark reconfigured the location of the start and finish so the terrain was used in a kinder manner; I imagine we will see designers playing with that over the first few years until they get it just where they want it.

[evtrmom]

IMG_0256

We had the best time tailgating today! We walked a lot of the 5 * course and after it was over went up close and personal with the jumps. They were huge!!

[Larksmom]

I would agree with you but I do not think we are as talented on this side of the pond. Kentucky is perhaps a half step below B&B, and for a brand new event, better to be a little soft for a year or two to build up people wanting to come. Just my two cents worth.

[Jealoushe]

I thought it was a great day. Maybe the time could have been a bit tighter but remember it’s the end of the season and most of this field were super experienced. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hate seeing all the negative talk (not just here I’ve seen a bunch elsewhere). The 5* isn’t going to perfect in the first 5 years. It just takes time. Not a horse fall to be seen. Lots of galloping. Great day of sport.

[Mander]

Does anyone know when the 5* XC replay will be posted? the 3* is up, but I would have expected the 5* to be posted by now.

[horseshorseshorseshorses]

I loved watching the 5* today. The field made it look easy but I don’t remember a single green to the level rider out there. I thought the course looked fun, technical and used the terrain in a very smart way. I would rather have a “boring” day than equine and human carnage. There were definitely some pearl clutching moments (Woods and Doug’s rides) but still very approachable to the general public.

[Blugal]

Last year even the overseas riders found Maryland to be tough enough. Terrain-wise, Equi Ratings figured out there was more elevation gain/loss on that course than at any other 5 star - in other words, a LOT of fitness was required.

With Ian Stark as a course designer, it’s not as if he’s a stranger to the sport or how difficult things need to be.

It’s hard to extrapolate very much from two runnings of this event, with such low entry numbers.

[eventammy]

5* replay has been posted

[AllTheCarrots]

This is my first experience at a 5*, and I am having the BEST time. Getting to meet @Texarkana was icing on the cake!

I think the XC was tough but fair. I appreciate a course that challenges horse and rider to be brave and nimble (fence combos 10ABC and 15ABC were bananas to look at from the ground), without introducing constant worry and carnage. As someone said upthread, I’m curious to see how the Day 2 experience influences Day 3 performance — this course had to have taken a lot out of everyone.

Random feedback: As I remarked to Tex earlier in the day, the portapotties have been pristine. Don’t know whether that’s due to the efforts of the service crew, or if we horsepeople are a preternaturally tidy bunch, but it has been appreciated either way!

[Texarkana]

Quote from Ian Stark (bold mine):

“I think what made my day is the fact that these two [Price and Smith] along with Oliver Townend are riding first-time five-star horses and the horses are incredibly lucky to have three of the best riders in the world, but they were magnificent in how they coped with the young horses and helped them and encouraged them. For me, that sort of highlights why I do this. I am kind of expecting to get a bit of abuse about so many getting inside the time, but for me, it was perfect footing, perfect ground, some great riding, and I would much rather see ten get inside the time than five on the floor. I was kind of concerned about so many getting inside the time, but it was some great riding so I can live with it. And it puts some more pressure on these guys because there is more pressure going into the show jumping tomorrow as well, and I don’t have to worry about that!”

Full article:

Five-Star First Timers Rise to the Occasion During Cross-Country at Maryland...

[skydy]

Someone objected. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/maryland-5-star-dressage-harry-meade-806397

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Speaking broadly, I think the general public in Britain has more familiarity with eventing as a sport than the general public in the US - partly due to the long tradition of Badminton and Burghley and their high bar for difficulty with the resulting “thrills and spills”. I don’t think the US public - even among general horse enthusiasts - has the same tolerance.

Re my previous post, points taken from various replies that even though the field was small, it was quite deep in experience, and it certainly will be interesting to watch tomorrow and get an idea of how much the xc today took out of the horses. I think maybe part of what led to the “boring” observation on my part was the way the live stream was produced - lots of footage of the last two minutes with the associated commentary about the riders being “well inside the time”. Although I am happy to be able to watch a live stream, I still get frustrated with seeing SO much of selected riders and almost nothing of others. A couple of times John Kyle even mentioned other riders on course like “hint to the folks in the production truck - show so and so!” - but they seemed to be oblivious.

[Darkwave]

@FitToBeTied

I was hoping that XC would be properly influential like in other 5*'s but it wasn’t.

I think a lot of this may come down to what we define as “influential.”

Here’s a list of the top 10 after dressage, with their placement after cross-country in parentheses:

1 C’est la Vie 135 (19)
2 Coup de Coeur Dudevin (1)
3 Morswood (12)
4 Babylon de Gamma (20)
5 Cooley Quicksilver (RT)
6 Danito (2)
7 Quantum Leap (9)
8 Harbour Pilot (8)
9 Carlevo (5)
10 As Is (3)

Of the top 5 after dressage, only one remains in the top 5 after cross-country.

By my definition, cross-country was very influential.

[nzrider]

Catching up on the xc. My random thoughts
Lovely round from Jennie, as good as I’ve seen her ride.
Great to see Buck cruise around x2 and have a great ride without breaking his collarbone!
Lisa Marie has, IMO, shown why she wasn’t selected for WEG with a minute over time on a course where it appeared not difficult to make the time, plus very unremarkable dressage. I honestly think for her “don’t be bitter, be better”.
In 5-10 years, if he can get the horse power, Woods is going to be world class
Barnaby, nothing more needs to be said
I need to stop writing Lauren Nicholson off as being too slow to ever be competitive. Second big event in as many months that’s she’s proved that impression wrong. Maybe she just had one slow horse years ago and I need to get over it
Heartstopping jump of the day - TP over the crab drop

And I thought the course made for great TV viewing, no long holds, no falls that made me wonder if I wanted to watch the rest. Love the shot of the long gallop. More of this please.

[DogWithBigEars]

Was anyone here on-site for Harry Meade’s dressage ride? In the warmup area? I’d love to know more about what happened here. What a shame for him.

[Highflyer1]

I was there, but in one of the other warmup rings so missed most of it at the time. He apparently has a whole routine where he warms up and then gets off the horse and grazes it and then gets back on.

I guess (and I say this as someone who competed an extremely emotionally fragile horse who often couldn’t even go in the warmup) that I have mixed feelings about this. I get that it’s difficult, and that you want the horse to have the best possible experience and also that there’s a lot of time and money and effort involved in getting to the 5* level, traveling so far, etc. But I also think that it’s not necessarily reasonable or fair to expect that you will always be given special accommodations simply because you asked for them. And that seems especially true at this level, where everything is extremely regimented and heavily supervised in order to provide everyone the same experience because of all the time and money and effort involved.

[DogWithBigEars]

Good points. So did another rider object to a steward? And he ended up with no warmup?

[Highflyer1]

There’s a full dressage ring set up inside the larger warmup ring, and each rider gets a ten minute slot in that, a pre-determined amount of time before they ride. So he wanted to do his ten minutes earlier/out of order and then hand graze, and I guess that’s what the objection was to. AFAIK he still had the opportunity to ride in it in his original slot, and I assume he chose not to take it because it interfered with the rest of his routine. He definitely was able to still warm up in the rest of the regular ring as well.