April 2—Norwood, N.C.

Liz Halliday-Sharp has led the dressage at several of her spring events on Fernhill By Night this season, but when given five minutes of warm up at The Fork CIC*** this morning, even she was understandably nervous about the outcome.

After a schedule change moved her ride time up, Halliday-Sharp realized she’d better get a move on to get to the ring on “Blackie”, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Radolin—Argentina XII, Argentinus) owned by Deborah Halliday.

While she wasn’t happy about the way the schedule change was handled, Halliday-Sharp said she took a breath and let it go.

Luckily, the extra pressure paid off as the pair scored a 41.8 to take the lead heading in to tomorrow’s show jumping.

“I was really happy with the trot work—it was some of the best he’s done,” she said. “[The short warmup] suits Blackie OK it turns out because he’s super lazy, so he was like, ‘Woohoo!’ and I thought, ‘Well, maybe I should do this more often!’

“I don’t think I did more than 30 seconds of trot before I went in the ring. I picked up a canter and did a change each way and went right in,” she said with a laugh.

Halliday-Sharp grew up competing on the West Coast, but moved to England in 2000 for a working student position with William Fox-Pitt and never left. She started her own business a few years ago and came to Florida this season with Blackie and HHS Cooley, who’s sitting in fifth place in the CIC***, to prepare for her first four-star at Rolex Kentucky.

She’s been working with the U.S. Eventing Team chef d’equipe David O’Connor on the flat and had her longtime dressage trainer, James Burtwell, fly over from England this winter for some help.

“I think [O’Connor] suits my horses a lot and gets them. He’s watched them for a couple of years now,” she said. “I had one lesson with Jacquie [Brooks], which was awesome to get another idea. [Burtwell] came out back in January from England and he’s coming over for Rolex and staying through for a mini holiday. He’s a great guy and he’s been my trainer for a bunch of years, so it’s nice to have him around.”

Jennie Brannigan is close on Halliday-Sharp’s heels with Cambalda, her longtime partner. They’ve never finished worse than third at The Fork, and they won the three-star in 2011.

“I love this event. I’ve always seemed to, knock on wood, have a pretty good weekend here. Hopefully this weekend will be the same,” she said.

“Ping”, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Balda Beau—Cathy’s Lady) owned by Nina Gardner, scored a 42.8 to keep the pressure on Halliday-Sharp for show jumping, where there’s one rail separating the top five.

“He’s not a big mover, to be honest. He’s got a great canter and I just have a nice partnership with him,” said Brannigan. “At this point, I know my horse and it’s nice to know your horse and know what you’ve got. Yeah, he’s probably never going to score in the 30s, but he puts in an accurate test and he’s consistent.”

The only drama of the day came when Rolex-bound pair Meghan O’Donoghue and Pirate were eliminated in the CIC*** when O’Donoghue memorized the wrong test. She tried valiantly to ride through it after the ground jury read it to her, but was ultimately excused from the ring. She was later given permission to ride in the advanced, test A division, where she scored a 32.2 for 13th place.

Back In The Saddle

Just over a month after having her daughter Jordan, Jessica Phoenix came back to competition with a bang, leading the CIC** with Pavarotti. Phoenix rode up until the week before the Rocking Horse Horse Trials (Fla) in early February and was back in the saddle just weeks after her daughter’s birth on February 20^th. Though sitting Pavarotti‘s medium trot was a struggle at their first event back, not taking a big break from the saddle kept the adjustment period short.

Phoenix and Pavarotti, her 2011 individual gold Pan American Games (Mexico) partner, scored a 35 in the CIC** to top the class of 37 entries.

“He felt really good,” she said. “He gets a little bit of tension in the trot work in the ring and I think, luckily, it looks better than it feels; it doesn’t feel the greatest in some of the movements. But his canter work felt really solid and I was really happy with him.”

Phoenix is bringing the Westphalian gelding (Pavarotti VD Helle—Fidelia, Foxiland) to Rolex, but only for dressage. They took the same route last year, showing Pavarotti on the flat to accustom him to the electric atmosphere in Kentucky. They’ll be competing in all three phases at The Fork and plan to aim for the Pau CCI**** (France) later in the year.

“Then there’s still some discussion as to whether we would run the Pan Ams if the season went well,” said Phoenix. “I think we’ll just see how he goes and what he wants to do and then go from there.”

Both Lillian Heard and Tamra Smith put new partnerships to the test to ride into second and third place, respectively.

Heard recently took over the ride on Abbie Golden’s Arundel, a Canadian Sport Horse gelding that Golden had ridden to the CIC*** level. Busy with her first year of law school, Golden handed the reins over to Heard. She was well acquainted with Arundel (Vice Chanelor—Sally), having taught Golden for two years and riding the horse on occasion.

“I’m a different rider and he’s got to relate to me a little bit differently, but he’s really just an awesome horse. We’re ready to go,” said Heard, who left the ring with a 37.5. “Him getting that score in the dressage was still pretty insane, but whatever, I’ll take it!”

She’ll keep the ride until Arundel, now 14, is ready to retire and explained, “[Golden] just kind of wants him to be doing what makes him happy, so whatever level that is; he’s older and it’s fun for me.”

Tamra Smith rode Alexandra Ahearn’s gelding Mai Baum to third place with a 38.0. Though Mai Baum is also a new ride for her, she trained Ahearn and is enjoying getting to know the German Sport Horse (Loredano—Ramira, Rike).

“He’s a really good boy as well so it’s been an easier transition, but it’s always a little nerve-wracking riding an amateur’s horse because if you mess up, you’re really bad,” laughed Smith. “But he’s been really good and I’m just trying to get him stronger.”

She might not have her sights set on the Pan American Games just yet, but Smith is looking forward to the future with Mai Baum. “He’s been so much fun,” she said. “He goes in a snaffle and he’s really been incredible; he has such a great mind and it’s hard to believe he can be that careful and that brave cross-country. I’ll be excited when he gets to do a three-star.”

Show jumping gets underway tomorrow starting at 8 a.m, followed by the advanced, the CIC*** and the CIC**.

Live scores can be found here.