PrintWhen Robyn Fisher took the lead in the Fair Hill CCI*** dressage on Thursday, Oct. 13, she didn't expect to still be standing at the top of the leader board at the end of Friday, Oct. 14. But no one else managed to break into the 30s, so she and Le Samurai still hold the lead with a score of 39.6 in Fair Hill, Md.
On Friday, Nathalie Bouckaert-Pollard rode into a close second place (40.4) on West Farthing, and Mara Dean secured third place on Nicki Henley (42.2). Will Faudree is in fourth with Antigua (43.9), and Buck Davidson holds fifth place with Idalgo (45.4), the final ride of the day. Judges Ulrich Schmitz and Lisa Martin each put Fisher first, but the president of the ground jury, Judy Bradwell of Great Britain, placed Dean first and Bouckaert-Pollard second. She put Fisher sixth.
"I'm stunned," said Fisher, of West Hills, Calif. "I feel lucky to be in such company. I don't remember [the test]. I just had Phillip [Dutton's] voice in my head, telling me to sit up and get his head up."
Fisher has been training on the East Coast with Dutton in preparation for Fair Hill, and Dutton won a division of advanced aboard Le Samurai for Fisher at the Morven Park Horse Trials (Va.) two weeks ago.
She thought the test was by far the best he's ever done. "I knew he would do it, although I thought maybe with someone else," she said.
And she thinks tomorrow's cross-country looks like fun. "I just need to go out and do one fence at a time," she said. "I can't get overwhelmed."
Bouckaert-Pollard said she had a few moments of concern in the warm-up, when her 12-year-old, English Thoroughbred caught a glimpse of one of the carriages in the CDE. "He got a little on the muscle then, but he was good in the ring," she said. "If I get nervous, he can get tight in the neck and get up and down too much, so I had to really think to let go of his face."
The last time Bouckaert-Pollard, of Chatsworth, Ga., rode here, in the 2003 Pan American Championship, the course was slightly softer, she said. "There's a lot to do in less time [than in the Pan Ams]," she said. "But it looks like fun—I'm excited."
The riders agreed that the time should be hard to get tomorrow. "The terrain here is always much harder than it walks," said Dean, who finished third here in 1994 with her 1996 Olympic mount, Hopper. "It's a beautiful course and very challenging," she added. "[Course designer] Derek [di Grazia] has done a beautiful job making it inviting and positive, but at the same time asking technical questions—you have to be able to hold a straight line."
Dean, of Round Hill, Va., said that Nicki Henley, on whom she won the Bromont CCI** (Que.) this spring, is the most brilliant horse she's had. "He can be a bit temperamental, a bit Irish," she said, "and he had some small mistakes [in his test], but obviously the judges loved his brilliance, and I think there's more to come."
She credited Dutton with helping her keep Nicki Henley focused in the warm-up. "I've got to keep his rideability, not get stuck in one frame or movement," she said.
Despite heavy rains all week, Dean, who also stands in 12th place on Good Stuff (49.1), didn't think the footing would be too much of a problem for the horses tomorrow. "It's such good old turf, and I think it will continue to dry," she said.
On Friday, Nathalie Bouckaert-Pollard rode into a close second place (40.4) on West Farthing, and Mara Dean secured third place on Nicki Henley (42.2). Will Faudree is in fourth with Antigua (43.9), and Buck Davidson holds fifth place with Idalgo (45.4), the final ride of the day. Judges Ulrich Schmitz and Lisa Martin each put Fisher first, but the president of the ground jury, Judy Bradwell of Great Britain, placed Dean first and Bouckaert-Pollard second. She put Fisher sixth.
"I'm stunned," said Fisher, of West Hills, Calif. "I feel lucky to be in such company. I don't remember [the test]. I just had Phillip [Dutton's] voice in my head, telling me to sit up and get his head up."
Fisher has been training on the East Coast with Dutton in preparation for Fair Hill, and Dutton won a division of advanced aboard Le Samurai for Fisher at the Morven Park Horse Trials (Va.) two weeks ago.
She thought the test was by far the best he's ever done. "I knew he would do it, although I thought maybe with someone else," she said.
And she thinks tomorrow's cross-country looks like fun. "I just need to go out and do one fence at a time," she said. "I can't get overwhelmed."
Bouckaert-Pollard said she had a few moments of concern in the warm-up, when her 12-year-old, English Thoroughbred caught a glimpse of one of the carriages in the CDE. "He got a little on the muscle then, but he was good in the ring," she said. "If I get nervous, he can get tight in the neck and get up and down too much, so I had to really think to let go of his face."
The last time Bouckaert-Pollard, of Chatsworth, Ga., rode here, in the 2003 Pan American Championship, the course was slightly softer, she said. "There's a lot to do in less time [than in the Pan Ams]," she said. "But it looks like fun—I'm excited."
The riders agreed that the time should be hard to get tomorrow. "The terrain here is always much harder than it walks," said Dean, who finished third here in 1994 with her 1996 Olympic mount, Hopper. "It's a beautiful course and very challenging," she added. "[Course designer] Derek [di Grazia] has done a beautiful job making it inviting and positive, but at the same time asking technical questions—you have to be able to hold a straight line."
Dean, of Round Hill, Va., said that Nicki Henley, on whom she won the Bromont CCI** (Que.) this spring, is the most brilliant horse she's had. "He can be a bit temperamental, a bit Irish," she said, "and he had some small mistakes [in his test], but obviously the judges loved his brilliance, and I think there's more to come."
She credited Dutton with helping her keep Nicki Henley focused in the warm-up. "I've got to keep his rideability, not get stuck in one frame or movement," she said.
Despite heavy rains all week, Dean, who also stands in 12th place on Good Stuff (49.1), didn't think the footing would be too much of a problem for the horses tomorrow. "It's such good old turf, and I think it will continue to dry," she said.
