A strong contingent of U.S. combinations tackled The Irish Field CCI*** at the Tattersalls International Horse Trials on May 31-June 4.
Land Rover/USEF eventing competition grant recipients Phillip Dutton and Z were the top U.S. finishers in a solid international field, taking home fifth-place honors. Three other U.S. combinations finished in the top 12—Buck Davidson rode Carlevo into sixth, Dutton took seventh on Fernhill Revelation, and British-based U.S. rider Katherine Coleman took 12th with Back To Business.
Kim Severson was also competing, and was second after dressage with Cooley Cross Border, but retired on cross-country after stops at a combination on course.
Dutton, of West Grove, Pa., rode a quality dressage test on Z, a 9-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Tom Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Annie Jones, and Caroline Moran to score a personal best score at the three-star level of 45.0. The pair had a fantastic, double-clear cross-country round and one time penalty in the show jumping phase to finish in fifth place on a score of 46.0.
Phillip Dutton on Z. Photo courtesy of Tattersalls International Horse Trials
“The trip was a great experience for Z and me to come to Tattersalls,” Dutton said. “I could not be more proud of his performance and excited for his future.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Dutton and The Revelation Group’s Fernhill Revelation, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding earned a personal best dressage score with a smooth test that received a score of 40.6. They had a double-clear cross country round, but had two unfortunate rails in the show jumping phase for 8 jumping penalties to end on a score of 48.6.
Davidson, of Unionville, Pa., and Carlevo finished in sixth place between Dutton’s two mounts. Despite going in some of the worst of the rainy weather on Thursday, the pair had a lovely dressage test to score 39.0. Davidson and Carlevo LLC’s 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding incurred 9.2 time penalties on cross-country, though delivered a double-clear show jumping round to finish on a score of 48.2.
Coleman, who is originally from New Orleans, La., and Back To Business began the competition with a respectable test in the horse’s first CCI***, scoring 57.7. Coleman and her own 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare went double-clear in the cross-country phase and had 2 time penalties in the show jumping phase to end on a score of 59.7 in 12th place.
