I would add Stella buckingham. I thought her round was incredible.
Zayna had a great round but got jumped a little loose over 3 and one of the other big oxers. Still great, I’m hair-splitting.
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If you look at the Facebook page for the National Horse Show they have a couple of videos posted with the course designer Bobby Murphy. One yesterday when he talked about some of the individual jumps, and one this morning when he walked the course for the first round.
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Zayna’s upper body and Augusta’s upper body both bother me for different reasons. They both ride better than I do, so neither one of them cares about my opinion.
I do think Augusta has developed into an incredible hunter rider.
That line to three is showing up tricky for a bunch of riders
Agreed. Augusta isn’t the classic equitation rider and she was hunching something fierce there. But damn, she can convince a horse to go around in a lovely style. And everything looks so deliberate.
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She rides extremely well.
She has her equitation gloves on today. 
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I’ve always thought of her as a thoughtful, tactful rider. Every horse she rides responds so beautifully to her aides. She put in a lovely round today and it should see her high up on the call back list, at least for now.
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By the way, I don’t mean to damn with faint praise when I say Augusta has developed into an incredible hunter rider. I mean that she seems to bring out the best style in every horse she sits on, and she’s had that chill, sympathetic way of riding since she was on a pony. After watching John French ride for so long, she’s figured out how he does it.
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She has grown so much. Her style has improved a ton since she started with the eq. Reminds me of tori, not the most typical equitation ride or body type but damn can she ride and get the best out of a horse.
I was surprised to see her gloves today. Lol
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I have to say that I think Erynn Ballard is doing a great job on the commentary and making some excellent points.
I hope the other people they bring in today do as well. I think it’s very interesting to hear the perspectives from different people.
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Speaking of ponies, I thought McKayla Brombach and Alexa Lignelli both had very competent showings this year. It’s Alexa’s first year on the big eq as well, right?
Ugh, I missed Natalie’s round. How was it?
Not her best day. Ticked a rail at fence 2 and had a swap at the base later on. If not for that, would have been a top 3 sort of a trip. I don’t think we’ve had enough good ones that she will be out of the callback, but I don’t expect to see her stay on it.
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She had a rail at 2 and swapped to one fence. Rest was good.
Oh, too bad. She’s such a lovely rider.
Other than the little hiccup coming to the last fence, I thought that was a nice round for Alexander Alston.
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Boy, whatever Alexander Alston has been doing for his position over the last 6 months, it’s working. He’s always been a little softer than he is precise in his body, but he’s found a happy medium without compromising on what he does well. That was a great trip.
I am curious how that line to the last jump looked to the judges. He found the same track Skylar did, practically on top of the ferns on the left side. Head-on, you can really see that both of them were on top of the jump, but I’m curious what it looked like from the side. ETA and to the riders, who can certainly steer, but it looks like they perceived their lines differently than their horses read them.
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Really loved Alexander’s ride also. So soft while still being accurate and effective.
It looks like a sofa from a 70s Barbie Dreamhouse.
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