Maryland 5*

[risuenaVT]

From the aerial shots, I could tell that they’d definitely been trying to water the course because the grass was definitely greener inside the lines than out. But I’m sure it was still pretty hard.

And yeah, so many seemed to really start out lovely and ride the first third or half of the course beautifully, but had no horse the second half.

That said, as tough as it wound up being today, it did seem like it was a generally pretty safe course. I think only one mims clip was activated and none of the three falls seemed terrible, though I don’t like any fall. And two of the horses were green, and rider error always contributes.

I also kind of think Fair Hill is maybe still trying to find a happy medium? The first two years, it seemed like lots of riders were getting around within the time. Last year seemed reasonable. This year, well, not a lot of riders getting around period. I hope they are able to find a balance and get more entries in the future, because they need that to be able to continue to host major events like this.

[Texarkana]

@Jealoushe

it almost seemed like the ground was tiring them?

Maybe, but they really worked hard to keep the lanes of the course well watered and aerated. Water trucks and sprinklers have been running for days if not weeks. I walked the whole thing yesterday.

[TXnGA]

Its the 3* national championships- so always going to be the biggest, most technical 3* course and many people want to ride there- it’s a bucket list event. I’ve ridden around Fairhill 3* twice and Maryland 3* once and will live in my memories forever because you never know if you’ll get to the next level - because it’s horses.

The 5* has less entries this year due to it being an Olympic year, and many of the UL horses were sent there or overseas to compete at other events. So less USA entries and I thought the European contingent was a good showing with some top riders.

Not to mention- it’s the same weekend as the young horse championships at Le Leon so many top riders that have top horses had to choose I would guess

[Texarkana]

@FitToBeTied

With all the comments about heat and ground conditions, aren’t riders conditioning their horses? This is the tail end of the season, shouldn’t horses be in top condition? The high today in that area was 72. So it was not scorching hot.

They know what the course is like, it was not the debut season for the event.

The sun was brutal and it felt much warmer, especially after most places have had a taste of cooler fall weather.

I don’t think the horses were under conditioned. I just think they were tough courses. I heard a lot of murmurings that the 3 star rode more like a 4 star, although I cannot confirm that.

[FitToBeTied]

@TXnGA

The 5* has less entries this year due to it being an Olympic year,

I don’t think this is valid as we sent six horses to Paris and a couple of them had never run a 5*. So where are the rest of them? How come the other 5* on either side of the Olympics had much larger entries? Bughley had 65 entries. Pau has 80 entries. Luhmuhlen had 42. Badminton had 82.

I thought the course was a good stiff 5* course. Making excuses over entries (e.g. Olympics, World Championships, COVID, etc.) just gets in the way of really solving the problem.

[EventerAJ]

I spent almost all day in the riders tent at the finish. Watching every camera view, you see more of the course than what’s shown on the live feed.

The footing was great, thanks to the hard work by the ground crew. It was hard and slick in the unwatered YEH field, but the CCI galloping lanes were like a golf course in many places, and thoroughly spiked and aerated everywhere.

Too many horses looked tired, hit the wall with 3 minutes to go. That’s disappointing. The climbs were long, but not unpredicted for this venue and the level. The TBs that finished looked much fresher than most of the others.

Comments among the riders included complaints about the lighting, sun reflection and jump placement for time of day. Frustration with flags; felt horses are making honest efforts and unfair to get flag penalties, expecting the horse to go straight on nearly impossible line.

I walked the course yesterday and thought it would take a Murphy Himself to go around clear, inside the time, and make it look fun. This was a difficult course with no room for a single mistake, and even horses who finished probably wouldn’t call it their favorite 5 star. I’m glad it wasn’t a dressage show, but I felt really bad for spectators who paid good money for tickets and saw very little.

[CatchMeIfUCan]

Can confirm the footing inside the gallop lanes was great. Both my horses pulled up without any signs of foot soreness thus far, and one lost a shoe in the beginning of the course.

[leighbo009]

@leighbo009

There are 6 flag penalties that can be removed, which will probably change up the scoreboard just a little bit.

Jennie - 1 (could be a 37.3 - 4th)
Buck - 2 (could be a 39.2 - 5th)
Lilian - 3 (could be a 64.4)

Just to point out it maybe a little closer on Sunday once those gets cleared up. I’m not sure if any will be removed, but there is a chance.

So, both of bucks flags where removed, moving him into 5th. 2 of lillians removed as well. Just as an update to the scores.

[Jealoushe]

yeah and I watched the video about the watering they made! Sinead commented they almost over watered it, so wonder if it was just something going on? Or maybe riders were just mentally not on it today.

[Jealoushe]

I feel like some at Lion might be wishing they came to Maryland instead

[Jealoushe]

Amazing! Well done to them!!!

[Djones]

@Jealoushe

watched the video about the watering they made! Sinead commented they almost over watered it, so wonder if it was just something going on? Or maybe riders were just mentally not on it today.

That’s not a fair retelling of what she said.

[Texarkana]

@Jealoushe

I feel like some at Lion might be wishing they came to Maryland instead

I overheard one rider who could have competed more horses this weekend, but didn’t, say that they opted to run their horses elsewhere because of the drought/footing concerns. Which really ended up being a non-issue.

[Jealoushe]

Interesting!

[alicen]

I confess. I enjoyed watching the 3*: the 5*, not so much.
I did appreciate Sinead’s comments, especially about horses being polite and well mannered. Reminded me of the time I told a classroom of high school students that I knew horses that had better manners then they did.

[elizabeth_Callahan]

He looked fabulous!

[alyssaequestrian]

It’s just mind blowing that this place ran such an incredible competitive 4*, yet the 5* keeps getting smaller. It’s not that they are not putting the effort in, but it’s trying to hard to be visibly appealing and not readable for the horses.

The fact that even the best of the world didn’t jump the direct route at those weird water corners should say everything.

[jcraig10]

Interested to see what will change next year with the new course designer

[Live_Wire]

First of all, it’s a 3*…

[alyssaequestrian]

I’m referring to when they ran the 4*, on the other half of the property