2022 Maryland 5* at Fair Hill

[kt]

@JenJ

I remember Allyson and Arthur, after being left of the US Olympic team, went on to compete at Burghley and finish close to the top. there was a 2nd US rider also left off the team who did very well at Burghley, whose name I have forgotten. they clearly expressed their disappointment at being left off the team, but responded by proving their worth at one of the toughest events on the planet.

It was Sinead Halpin (now Maynard), in 2012. She finished second and very nearly won.

[kt]

@grzywinskia

I am here at Maryland and can speak to two things.
Harry was given permission to use his 10 mins in the white boards during a break. It did not interfere with anyone else’s time within the boards. A rider complained and it was a lot of drama getting it sorted. I think it could have been handled differently.

In terms of the bell ringing “early” I witnessed several of these being riders that were coming up late from the warm up. The riders that were given ample time around the arena were up at the entrance in plenty of time.

Did you see any of the judges ringing the bell immediately after the previous rider’s final halt/salute? This was mentioned further upthread but so far I hadn’t seen it on the replays, although I have a lot of rides left to watch.

[Jealoushe]

Thank you for sharing! Why on earth would they complain

[hopashore1]

My suspicion on the time is that there were so many galloping stretches riders were so far exceeding the 570 mpm speed in the first half of the course that they had enough in hand to easily slow down where they needed or wanted to.

I’m not sure it really could have been “wheeled tighter” if both his and the two TDs were wheeled within 20m of each other and you can’t just arbitrarily knock some seconds off the OT. My sense from Ian Stark’s comments in the H&H article is that unless there were places where riders took a very different line than what was wheeled the only way to slow the riders up is to throw more combinations/fences that require set up at them, or make the course more twisty. He doesn’t want to do the latter and he’d maxed out his # of efforts he could put on the course this year. But it’s problematic to have riders who had refusals or who circled legally to come home inside the time.

I do think there will continue to be some tweaks on start/end positions for the event and that will impact things. I know Fair Hill’s terrain always had a reputation as being “tough” – and I think maybe that reputation needs to be adjusted now that we’ve got top class Euro riders coming over and our riders are really upping the ante.

[TXnGA]

@evtrmom

On the Maryland 5star website go to competition, the results and order of go are there, tho they are hard to sort through on a phone … wish the jog was lovestreamed somewhere, i haven’t found it. https://www.maryland5star.us/ and here for results page https://results.hippo-server.net/2022/2181/html/us/hippodata/index.html

I think MLE is trying to live stream the jog

[hopashore1]

Looks like 1 withdrawal in each the 3 star (Lindsay Lanier and Vivero) and the 5 star (Lisa Marie Fergusson and Honor Me) and everyone else passed the jog based on the. live scoring website.

ETA- looks like another withdrawal somewhere between the horse inspection and the SJ for Rachel Lawson and High Tide in the 3*

[DogWithBigEars]

Oh, I have no problem with him making the request and the officials granting it. My point was that if there was ANY question that the officials’ approval wouldn’t be followed through on, they shouldn’t have accepted his request. I am definitely sympathetic toward Harry in this case. He made a request, it was approved, then turned into a cluster.

[bdj]

Glad to see Doug and Quantum Leap passed the jog this morning! Super thrilled to have a locally (not just MD, but Eastern Shore) bred horse in the top 10 going into the final day! Congrats Didi!

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

What a lovely SJ round by Sally Cousins on Wizard! I know they weren’t at the top of the leaderboard, but it’s so nice to see a combination such in harmony end on their dressage score.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Yeah, in a way, it’s the worst of both worlds–I agree if he’d been told he couldn’t be accommodated, that’s fair (and I kind of lean in favor of not granting “special favors” from the get-go), but it’s frustrating he was told it was okay, he got mentally prepared to be able to do the special warmup, and the opportunity was withdrawn at the last minute.

I wonder if this has ever happened before, or if there was anything contingent “you can be accommodated, but it may be withdrawn, based on the needs of the schedule.”

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Why? I have been at 4-H competitions where there have been rules about allowed warm-ups, and deviating from those rules to make exceptions for any one competitor is perceived as “unfair” and drama worthy. Although I have no idea who protested Harry’s exception, I know it’s deeply ingrained in the US grassroots culture that we gotta be fair to everyone.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

AGHHHHH!!!

Oh no, that’s the worst! Falling off at the last combination, of all things!

[AMWookey]

Agree! I thought it was so well done and lovely.

[Blugal]

Ian’s design philosophy re:long gallop stretches: “I’ve very much gone for my philosophy that cross-country riding is going from A to B, not going around in endless demented circles in 20 acres.”

Couldn’t agree more.

[punchy]

This isn’t a 4-H competition and these riders aren’t kids. Who cares if a rider wants to warm up early when no one else is in the freaking ring? That’s not grassroots American culture, that’s just stupid.

[findthedistance]

I know someone who is part of the film team. She’s a horse person and I know the company does a fair amount of show jumping. They do a variety of other sports as well and I’m sure many of the team are not horse people. She has talked about how much harder it is to produce XC vs other horse sports. As with everything in this sport, it takes so much equipment and so many people.

[UrbanHennery]

I really enjoyed watching this event, both last year and this year. I understand that it doesn’t have the thrills of watching riders fall or struggle to get home in the time. BUT. It was joyful to watch in terms of riders and horses at the top of the sport jumping huge jumps and figuring out tricky combinations without fear that they were going to not make it home due to injury or worse.

I want to watch these horses and riders continue to grow and improve over the coming years, on courses like this. Not watch for updates about whether or not a rider will ever ride again or know that a horse had to be permanently retired or put down after.

If that’s what North America 5* events are known for? I’m okay with that as a spectator and supporter.

[devvie_continued]

The livestream is produced by Carr-Hughes Productions (Copy) (carrhughestv.com), same as Kentucky. They’re listed on the livestream page.

[solarchaser]

Lovely ride for Elisa! Congrats to her and Renkum Corsair!

[UrbanHennery]

I agree with @Darkwave - cross country was influential. Of the riders in the top 5 after cross country (within a rail of each other today) only 1 was in the top 5 after dressage. I’m a data geek. So I made a table…

(edited to fix a terrible, if funny, typo)