PrintBecky Holder’s Courageous Comet spent his winter rolling in the red Georgia clay, but today, Sept. 11, he was sparkling clean and back to running across it—and running fast.
Holder, of nearby Palmetto, Ga., rode into the lead with one of only two double-clear cross-country rounds in the advanced division the Land Rover USEA American Eventing Championships at Chattahoochee Hills in Fairburn.
“I thought the course rode great,” said Holder. “I felt like some of the things I was worried about rode easier than I expected, and I put in a few extra strides that I didn’t plan for, but he felt super.”
The pair placed third at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** this spring and second there in 2008, and they represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. So Holder is rightly looking forward to a spot on the Land Rover U.S. Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the end of this month.
The AEC advanced division doubles as the mandatory outing for the Canadian and U.S. WEG hopefuls. (Names in bold denote these short-listed horses and riders.)
“It’s always difficult in the team selection process to keep your eye on the real goal, which in this case is the World Equestrian Games,” Holder said. “I feel like I'm very good at the training and preparation at home, but I don't have that many horses, so I get less time in the competition setting. I need practice at being a competitor—the practice of running for time and putting it on the line. And I had real confidence in his fitness and soundness, so I really needed to go out there and lay it down today.”
Holder had been tied for second after the dressage on a 41.5. She'll walk the show jumping course tonight with jumping legend Katie Monahan Prudent, who's been helping the shortlisted riders on their WEG prep, and she'll have one rail in hand tomorrow.
Jumping Up
Nate Chambers, who’d been the top-placed non-shortlisted rider yesterday in 16th (48.0), moved all the way up to second today with the division’s only other round within the time. He and Rolling Stone II finished 16 seconds fast.
Chambers, of Vienna, Va., said the ground was hard, and he’d planned to pull up if he felt “Rollie” was uncomfortable. But his horse’s glue-on shoes, which have a thick layer of gel cushioning underneath, acted as a buffer against the hard ground, and the gelding kept taking him to the fences.
“My horse is just so rateable,” he said. “I’m definitely not the most efficient rider out there, but I feel like Rollie is very quick through the combinations, and you can bring him back and then kick on very easily. It’s not about who has the fastest Thoroughbred who can run flat-out on course, it’s about being efficient.”
In his last two events, Chambers had been leading the competition heading into the final phase, but multiple rails in show jumping have spoiled his wins. He hopes tomorrow will be different.
“To be honest, not going into the show jumping in the lead does take some pressure off,” Chambers said. “The biggest problems are my nerves and my form. I’m not doing this professionally anymore, so I only ride one horse a day, and it’s showing in my form.”
