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2022 Maryland 5* at Fair Hill

Well said! I’m looking forward to the action across all divisions. No place like fair hill in the fall

I think it’s notable that Tamie, Will, and Lauren are all entered at Maryland i.e. their strings have more than one 5* horse right now while Boyd’s and Ariel’s apparently don’t.

Below are the riders who competed in the 5* at KY that aren’t entered for the 5* at Fair Hill. I did quick lookups on all of them in the FEI database to see what they’ve done since Kentucky. Not knowing much about some of the lower profile riders, it’s hard to say why they aren’t entered at Maryland, but I’d guess there are a variety of reasons - long way to go for west coast horses, probably a few injuries, maybe a few who did their 5* and crossed it off the bucket list, another few who are at the end of their 5* careers.

Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire - was on the long list for WEG, did Aachen and Great Meadow
Meghan O’Donaghue and Palm Crescent - did Burghley
Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights - did Bromont Nation’s Cup
Alexandra MacLeod and Newmarket Jack - no international events since KY
Fylicia Barr and Galloway Sunrise - no international events since KY
Mike Pendleton and Steady Eddie - no international events since KY and I think I have read that the horse is stepping down
Hallie Coon and Global EX - no international events since KY
Lexi Scovill and Chico’s Man - no international events since KY
Leah Lang Glusic and AP Prime - no international events since KY -
Elisa Wallace and Let It Be Lee - entered in Maryland 3*
Marc Grandia and Campari - west coast based, ran 4S at Rebecca Farm
Bobby Meyerhoff and Fortuna - no international events since KY
Will Faudree and Pfun - withdrew from Great Meadow
James Alliston and Paper Jam - west coast based, ran 4
L at Rebecca Farm
Ashlynn Meuchel and Emporium - dramatic fall at KY, ran 4*S at Rebecca Farm but w/d before SJ

Edited to add: being horses, there probably are a few of them that are injured!

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Thanks for doing the heavy lifting and checking their recent performance. Several of those horses are not young, so KY could have very well been their swan song. But others must have needed a break for whatever reason because they are at the peaks of their careers. I hadn’t realized they were inactive all summer.

Jennie Brannigan was riding Hallie Coon’s horses somewhere recently—don’t remember where—so I’m guessing she is/was hurt.

I looked it up—JB and Global Ex ran in the 4* at Great Meadows and retired on course.

I wonder if that has something to do with the footing this summer. It seemed like everywhere it was hard, so maybe they were saving their horses’ legs?

Info from Instagram posts in case anyone is interested…. (All public knowledge, none of these are private accounts)

Fylicia Barr- Sunny had a minor injury over the summer. Recovered but taking it easy this Fall

AP Prime was spun at 2nd horse inspection at KY…doesn’t look like LLG has posted anything about riding him

Hallie Coon had some pregnancy issues :frowning:

Lexi Scovil- Chico’s Man just ran (and won) the Advanced at Tryon and is headed to Morven Park

Elisa Wallace- sounds like they dropped some levels to gain some confidence

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Will F has not competed (recognized) since his fall in the 2* at Great Meadow

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So it sounds like a) a lot of bad luck and horses and riders aren’t in a position to compete for whatever reason.

What’s up with Sea of Clouds? Phillip Dutton’s daughter ran him prelim a few weeks ago; I assumed that was because Phillip was heading over to Europe to be the WEG reserve around the same time and they probably wanted to keep him fit. I thought we’d see him at Maryland, especially given that he’s basically the hometown horse. Neither the Duttons nor the Motions have said anything publicly about it…

This was in a Dutton Eventing Facebook post re Plantation Field a few days ago -

" In the CCI2*, Olivia Dutton and Sea of Clouds had their first of hopefully many great runs together!"

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Haha, I’m laughing at myself. How did I miss that?!? I even watched some of PF’s livestream.

I’m pretty sure AP Prime ran intermediate at a small Midwest event this summer.

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Colleen Rutledge broke her leg about a month ago so is out for a while.

And no place like Boekelo in the fall! Just about the most prestigious 4*L in Europe.

MJ is in France this weekend at Saulieu, Burgundy to prep Kilcandra Ocean Power for Boekelo + another of his horses.

Boekelo is running the weekend prior to Maryland and a must for a lot of the top notch European pairs.

Another reason why European pairs have opted not to travel to the US, in spite of how attractive the Maryland 5* may be…?

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Yep I missed that one! Glad to hear :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Times past, a horse achieved a 5* as the pinnacle of their competitive career and never did another one. Those with the ability to run at 5* are very rare and take years to develop. Horses able to achieve more than one or two 5* are exceptional, generally ridden and trained by exceptional horsemen.

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Some Canadians in there too!

No fault of the volunteers and I think it was just first-time chaos, but sure! As soon as we arrived, we talked to 3 different volunteers who passed us off to another person because they had no idea where to help us find a map. Once we found the map, no one knew where our tailgate spot was or the most direct route to get there. The shuttles had been advertised online as available for everyone, but we were told they would only be for handicapped people and everyone else would have to walk. Then they sent us what turned out to be the VERY long way to Sawmill Field…it was a 1.5 hour walk for a few very fit people lol. No one knew where the bathrooms were or where we could buy official 5* merch (which was also all sold out of anything decent by the times gate opened Saturday morning, big miss!).

Someone else explained the shuttles below - once they started taking passengers, no one knew where they picked up/stopped, who could ride on which ones, etc. The drivers were understandably super overwhelmed as they were so overloaded we literally had people hanging off the sides…it was funny and part of the experience but I definitely felt bad for them as people were crazy about trying to get a ride!

Another big miss unrelated to the volunteer aspect was signage. As I said, both my friend and I plan large scale events for work and are very self-sufficient…had there been better (or any, really) signage it would have been a LOT easier to get around without having to ask volunteers for help.

All in it was a GREAT day and walking the course turned out to be cool, but I think there are improvements to be made that will hopefully improve the volunteer and spectator experience. We also got the parking passes for Sawmill this year so that should remedy the shuttle issue for a lot of us. I am going all three days this year and so excited!

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Agreed 100%. Last year was a lot of fun, and overall for the first go I think they did really well, but there was definitely room for improvement. The food vendors were severely lacking, and getting to the top of the course was a HIKE. I was fine to do it, but a lot of other folks would’ve struggled or gotten really tired. The merch was dismal as well. I was only there for Saturday, and I went to the tent first thing when we arrived, but it was basically wiped out already. I just wanted a t-shirt or a hoodie or something, and they had nothing left. They also needed a better food/drink vendor situation at the top of the course. They had a waffle truck and an alcohol booth, but the lines were insanely long, and if you just wanted to buy a bottle of water after your major excursion to get up there, it was almost impossible to get.

BUT they seemed very open to hearing reviews/experiences and I think they’re trying really hard to improve for this year, and they won’t have the opportunity to get better if people write the event off. I got tickets for Fri/Sat/Sun this year, really excited to be back.

I will say I’m surprised by the vendor list this year. Last year they definitely offered a lot more than what was offered at the previous 3*/4*, but this year some heavy hitters aren’t on the list? No Ariat booth and no Charles Owen booth? I was hoping to get fitted for (and buy) a new skull cap this year, but maybe not.

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go to Fair Hill Saddlery, I’m surprised not to see them as a vendor this year, but they have a large selection of helmets and Ariat!

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Ah good thinking, I saw some tack store vendors but I wasn’t sure about what exactly they’d have in stock or if they’d be able to fit me? I think I know what size I need, but I haven’t bought a skull cap since like 2013, and I’m going to start eventing again next year so I definitely need a new one :sweat_smile:

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