Raeford, N.C.—March 15

It’s no surprise to see Liz Halliday and Miks Master C turn in a double clear show jumping round today in the Yanmar America CCI4*-S at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International. Mikki has long been incredibly reliable in the jumping phase, but Halliday said his way of going has changed immensely since last year.

Over the winter she experimented with the right bit and noseband combination, and while it’s different than what she used two weeks ago at the Conceal Grand-Prix Eventing at Bruce’s Field (South Carolina), she feels the change to a hackamore and bit with two reins suited him well.

“I think we’re heading the right way with him anyway,” she said. “He’s much happier, and now he’s starting to really use his body, which is super.”

Her round wasn’t without drama however, as a member of the jump crew was standing in front of a fence as she approached, and she had yell for him to move. While it forced her to change how she planned to ride that jump—and affected her time—she finished just inside the allotted time of 85 seconds.

“He was gorgeous today,” she said of the 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood (Mighty Magic—Qui Lumba CBF, Flyinge Quite Easy 958). “I was just totally thrilled with ‘Mikki.’ He was polite and careful and really rideable. I was just thrilled with it. He was a really good boy.”

Watch their round, courtesy of Horse & Country TV:

Out of her four rides in the class, Halliday only had one fence down. That was on Cooley Quicksilver, which dropped him from third to sixth. Cooley Moonshine remains in second, while Cooley Nutcracker moved up one spot to fourth. She’s been working with Olympic show jumper Peter Wylde and has been practicing her show jumping at World Equestrian Center—Ocala (Florida) this winter.

“Mostly my goal is to be a little bit faster, get a little more comfortable turning up to the jumps, which I think I did well today,” she said. “I felt like I was back in my groove again, and I have jumped a few bigger classes this year. I’ve just been doing 1.35 meters and stuff, which has been great for me, really great, and Peter’s helped kind of push me to do that.”

Halliday will have just three to ride over Ian Stark’s cross-country course tomorrow, as she always planned to withdraw Cooley Moonshine, who has not competed since last July. She used this weekend as a combined test to prepare him to run the three-star at Stable View (South Carolina) in three weeks.

Halliday described Ian Stark’s cross-course, which the riders face Saturday, as similar to last year with a few tweaks.

“I think the out on the coffin is stronger than last year,” she said. “It should be a good test for them. A good question before Kentucky, I think. The last water is a fair bit different. The first water I think is nicer that it was last year.”

Stark has been designing at Carolina since 2015. He will be retiring at the end of this year after the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill. He said he believed in keeping his design style consistent regardless of when the event occurs in the season.

“If I look at it that it’s early in the year, backoff, then … it’s not giving them a proper introduction to Kentucky or Badminton,” he said. “And I’m a great believer in encouraging the riders and horses to come up to the level, and not taking the level to them. I’ve never really been shy at asking the questions.”

Caroline Pamukcu and her Pan American Games (Chile) gold-medal winning horse HSH Blake, a 9-year-old (Tolan R—Doughiska Lass, Kannan) have moved into third after a double-clear performance. 

“Kelley [Hutchinson] and I were just talking about how over the moon we are with him,” Pamukcu said, referring to her Hutchinson Sport Horses business partner. “This year, I keep hyping about him being stronger and a year older, but it really makes a difference. [Last year,] 8-year-olds to run four-stars, it’s a really big ask, just one more [year] for him to get a little bit stronger, having a stronger canter and a stronger topline, it just makes his life easier. He can show himself off more because it’s just easier on both of us.”

Pamukcu has been working with show jumping Olympian Anne Kursinski for many years, and she got some good practice last week at WEC—Ocala over courses designed by Gregory Bodo, who will be designing at the Paris Olympics this summer.

“The biggest thing is making sure I don’t rush the rhythm in the ring,” she said. “He’s such a good jumper. He’s a phenomenal athlete, so just going in and having a steady round, not being so worried about making the time. So we just kind of fine tuned our warm-up. We don’t jump too many jumps. We jump about six jumps before we go in. He felt good. Right now we’re all fine-tuning ‘Blake’ and thinking about the future and practicing what we would do at a championship.”

See results here.

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