She masters the CCI** and the preliminary division at Bromont’s new fall event in Quebec.

After an 18-year absence, Jan Byyny returned to the Bromont CCI**, held Sept. 20-23 in Bromont, Que., to triumph in two divisions. Byyny and her own Syd Kent received the blue in the CCI**, and she won the preliminary division with Allie Lawaetz’s Dario.

Byyny, who owns and runs Surefire Farm in Purcellville, Va., began riding the horses last year. Lawaetz bought the 5-year-old Dario in France last November. Byyny purchased Syd Kent, an 8-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred, last June. “I took a gamble to buy this horse—he doesn’t have an owner yet,” she said.

Byyny’s bet paid off, as she was second in the intermediate with Syd and first with Dario in the preliminary this summer at Stuart Horse Trials (N.Y.). The pair also took top ribbons at Waredeca (Md.) and Seneca (Md.).

With the Ocala Three-Day Event (Fla.) as the only other fall two-star on the East Coast, Byyny chose Bromont. “I wanted to do it now instead of waiting until November,” she said.
 
Both of Byyny’s horses took the lead after dressage. She scored a 49.1 with Syd and kept the top position for the weekend. “The dressage test was one of the best tests he could have done,” Byyny said.

Byyny scored a 53.6 with Dario in the preliminary dressage. “The arena had a lot of atmosphere, with or without spectators, and Dario was spooky but sharp in the dressage,” she said.

Competitors took notice to the improvements and changes at Bromont made by course designer Derek di Grazia, including the 30 new jumps to the cross-country course.

Byyny was pleased with the course, which has always been demanding as a fitness test. “It’s not like it used to be. You still have to go up the mountain, but it’s structured very well into the course,” she said. “[Derek] asked a lot of questions; my young horse was taken aback by the atmosphere, but it was good to get him in there.”

Byyny was one of three in the field of 24 to go double clear in the CCI**. She took 2 time faults on the cross-country with Dario. Hadley Warner’s No Secrets was the only preliminary horse to go clear in both the cross-country and show jumping phases.
 
“The top five horses were all good jumping horses, and Allison Springer left me no room for error!” said Byyny, who entered show jumping as the leader.

A momentary lapse caused Syd Kent to try to run out the gate after passing the eighth jump, but Byyny maneuvered him quickly enough to stay in the ring for a clear round.

“He doesn’t want to touch a jump,” she said. “He tries so hard he worries himself, but it doesn’t bother me. Both horses were fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer weekend; these are two of the nicest horses I’ve sat on.”

While Syd Kent is finished competing for the year, Byyny will be busy working with him this winter to make him better in all three phases. “We will do lots of dressage; he needs to become stronger,” said Byyny, whose goal is to do a three-star next spring.

As president of Horse Trials Quebec and a committee member of Bromont, Tom Todaro was pleased with the fall event. With the loss of the Virginia CCI**, demand and support of a fall two-star made this a first-time event for Bromont, which boasted nearly 100 entries.

Byyny commented, “The organizing committee did a very good job to make sure people were taken care of. It really made it quite friendly for competitors.”

A three-star is planned to take place at Bromont on June 12-15, 2008. Construction is underway with the aid of di Grazia and course builder Jay Hambly.

“Derek’s done a great job with the cross-country and taken a lot of the mountain out of the course, which is good,” said Byyny. “The three-star sounds like it will be good too. I’d forgotten what a nice place Bromont is to compete.”

Bromont organizers hope that the site may be considered for a qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Beth Johnson