Le Lion!

[Trak_Eventer]

Wanted to celebrate the fantastic weekend at Le Lion for US owned/ridden horses!

6YO Division
2nd - HSH Connor (Connor 48 (Holst)/Galwaybay Merstona (ISH)/Mermus R(KWPN))
Studbook: ISH
Rider: Caroline Martin
Owner(s): Caroline Martin, Sherrie Martin and Luanne McElduff
Breeder: Justin Burke (IRL)

5th - DHI QYARACOLLE Z (Quinar (Holst)/Celiacolle Z (Zang)/Chellano Z (Holst))
Studbook: Zang
Rider: Cornelia Dorr
Owner(s): Cornelia Dorr, Ann Wehrle
Breeder: Jansen Piet (NED)

7YO Division
7th - DENIM (Dinken (Holst)/Celia II (Holst)/Ibisco xx)
Studbook: Holst
Rider: Phillip Dutton
Owner(s): Ann Lapides, Caroline Moran, Neill Sites
Breeder: Martin Machmann (GER)

8th - SHANROE COOLEY (Dallas VDL (BWP)/Shanroe Sapphire (ISH)/Condios (Holst))
Studbook: ISH
Rider: Liz Halliday-Sharp
Owner(s): Ocala Horse Properties
Breeder: Anthony Smyth (IRL)

10th - HSH BLAKE (Tolan R (KWPN)/Doughiska Lass(ISH)/Kannan (KWPN))
Studbook: ISH
Rider: Caroline Martin
Owner(s): Caroline Marin, Sherrie Martin
Breeder: Justin Burke (IRL)

My hope is that we will see more US-bred horses competing at Le Lion in the years to come! Cheers to the US Event Horse Futurity for 4yos and the Turner/Holekamp Grant for 5yos!

[Benchmark]

Pasting my post from the Maryland thread to emphasize how excited we should all be about this:

Honestly the fact that people aren’t chatting about how great this weekend was for the future of US eventing is a little disappointing.

We had 5 horses with 4 really good riders in the top ten across the two divisions, all but one finishing on their dressage score (and who wouldn’t forgive a 6yr old a pole). I don’t think that’s happened before.

And just to add, they all look like very very quality horses. I particularly like Cornelia Dorr’s mare but world class young horses across the board.

[Carried_Away]

It was great fun to watch on FEI.TV as well - just class riding and really top notch horses - will be exciting to see how far these pairs go!

[Blackeventer]

Absolutely astounded at the lack of interest in the US for the Mondial du Lion , where many of the world best 6 and 7 yo horses perform every year.
(Especially for this year edition where an unusual number of US riders were entered and did quite well. Congrats to all of them!)

All in all and across the 20+ nations represented, a very high quality field of 6 and 7 year olds (one of the best I’ve seen in years).

Oh, and in case you’d like to catch up, make sure to watch it on replay on FEI - YouTube
Particularly, the winner of the 7 yo class, LAGONA OLD ridden by 21 yo Anna Lana SCHAAF (who were winners of the 6 yo class last year…!), they’re a MUST WATCH in all 3 phases!!!

[alicen]

Great fun to watch the big time pros riding young horses!

[alicen]

@Blackeventer

Absolutely astounded at the lack of interest in the US for the Mondial du Lion , where many of the world best 6 and 7 yo horses perform every year.

How do you know that there’s a lack of interest in the US for the Mondial du Lion? Just because there appeared to be little mention of it here? And in case you haven’t noticed, most posters here are primarily interested in events centered in the US of A. , except for the European 5* events.

[Blackeventer]

Of course I had noticed… Thank you
How stupid of me to think that the FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships at Le Lion should be of interest to eventing fans and/or riders in the US!

[beowulf]

I had a whole reply typed up… but frankly, the negativity on this thread and the Maryland 5* turned me off and I deleted it. I would say that a thread existing and having replies is sufficient evidence that people have interest. Most of the eventing voices on this forum are probably too busy running their barns or working to have replied yet. It’s only been a day since this thread was posted.

[Blugal]

I like to make connections between horses that excel at 4*-L and 5*-L, and their participation/success at young horse classes.

While I look at the current year’s results, I have no idea who is going to go all the way and who isn’t. But I can check results from past years, of the YEH classes here in North America, the Burghley Young Event Horse 4 and 5 year olds, the Mondial du Lion, and the European countries’ young horse finals - and try to draw conclusions.

One reason all this may be less interesting to riders who aren’t current ULR and/or funded riders - they aren’t out trying to buy the same type of breeding as they can’t necessarily afford it. Yes, Doug Payne has been a good example of buying purpose-bred event horses from the US, young, and bringing them along. But many riders aren’t as forward-looking, and I know quite a few that are completely ignorant about breeding, with no plans to become less so.

They may be looking for an OTTB (not eligible for Mondial in any event), or the horse that is local enough to see, or a horse that is already 4 or 5 and ready to go - and in their price range. None of those are in the same category as the cream of the crop seen at Mondial or Burghely YEH.

[punchy]

I watched some of the xc. I like the course a lot. But generally I’m not as interested for the same reason I can’t get too excited about 2-year-olds in racing—not sure how many are still going to be around in a few years. I think it’s great that Caroline and Cornelia were there, and did well. But, case in point: HSH Conner has some crazy high action and really wings out when it gallops. Seems like a tough horse to keep sound. So I’ll wait a few years to get excited.

[Marigold]

@punchy

But generally I’m not as interested for the same reason I can’t get too excited about 2-year-olds in racing—not sure how many are still going to be around in a few years.

Agreed. I am concerned about how low the blood percentages are for many of the top horses in these classes. I was encouraged that Tom’s 6-year-old winner was fairly high, and of course we know that the big predictor of success is less winning Le Lion and more being able to compete there in the first place (regardless of finish), but I can’t help but think that a significant number of horses in the top 10 with 20-40% blood are just not going to be functionally and repetitively competitive at the top levels of our sport.