Raeford, N.C.—March 14

If you wanted to be in the top three after dressage at the Yanmar America CC4*-S division of the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International, your name needed to be Liz Halliday. The rider is well-known for her prowess in the dressage court, and she showed it again today by taking the top three spots with Miks Master C, Cooley Moonshine and Cooley Quicksilver. Her fourth horse, Cooley Nutcracker, slotted into fifth.

It’s Halliday’s third season with Miks Master C, and over the winter she’s been fine tuning their partnership and working to get him using his hind end more.

“Probably the biggest thing I’ve worked on is just changing his frame a little bit and just teaching him to be much more up in front, because if he gets that little bit down on me then he can really pull … and get a little curled, so all winter I’ve just tried to teach him to push from behind and really take the nose up and out a little bit more, so I’ve shortened up my reins a lot [to] say, ‘Come on, we’re going to be up here.’ ”

The work paid off, and “Mikki,” a 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Mighty Magic—Qui Lumba CBF, Flyinge Quite Easy 958) owned by Deborah Palmer and Ocala Horse Properties, scored a 22.5 to take a three-point lead over his barnmate.

“He’s a very, very powerful horse, and he offers a lot of power in the ring,” she said. “Definitely a couple little mistakes, like the halt and the reinback weren’t the best, maybe a bit of nerves for him; he’s still settling into the season. I thought the good bits were very, very good, and it was some of the best changes he’s done in a test, and [he’s] really starting to find his self-carriage and his lift now without dragging me, which is great. So overall I was really, really proud of him.”

Watch their winning ride, courtesy of Horse&Country TV:

Cooley Moonshine, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Cobra—Kilpatrick Duchess, Kings Master) owned by The Monster Partnership was first in the ring this morning, and “Billy” put in a strong test for his first time in the ring since Rebecca Farm (Montana) in July, to sit on a 25.5.

“I just adore him,” she said. “I’ve had him from a 5-year-old, and we’ve been through a lot. He’s had a few setbacks along the way, but if we can keep all the wheels on the car, he’s a world-class horse. And he was just such a pro today. I was thrilled with him. He was just so professional, calm and organized. I was really over the moon with him, especially being first to go.”

Rounding out her trio at the top of the leaderboard was Cooley Quicksilver, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Womanizer—Kylemore Crystal, Creggan Diamond) also owned by The Monster Partnership, with a 27.1

“I was really happy with him today actually,” she said of “Monster.” “Sometimes he can go in the ring and do something a little goofy, but he did nothing goofy today, which is very exciting. I actually thought he tried really hard, and I was pleased with his paces. He’s a very different horse from my others. He’s kind of his own character, but again he’s also quite professional now. I can’t believe he’s 13; I’ve had him from a baby as well. I actually thought it was a good test; the centerline in the beginning is always tricky with him, but the rest I thought was very professional, and [he] tried pretty hard. He’s become quite a consistent horse, which is pretty cool.”

Halliday’s spring plans are a bit up in the air until she knows how many horses she’ll be able to compete in the CCI4*-S at Kentucky this spring, but she’s found a formula she likes to use to prepare. Her horses competed in the Conceal Eventing Grand-Prix at Bruce’s Field (North Carolina) two weeks ago before heading to Carolina, which she feels is a good fit for horses headed towards a five-star or four-long in the spring.

“I always start with the showcase [at Bruce’s Field]; I think that kind of sets them up well, gets them looking ahead a lot, because it’s so twisty, and there’s a big track in the show jumping, and they can practice the five-star test in an Olympic year, which is great,” she said. “And then I try and target Carolina for the horses going to the big stuff, because I think it kind of gets them comfortable with a serious four-star track, and then I aim for Stable View [South Carolina] after that because I think the time frame is good and again, a really good course with a little bit of terrain and a big, up-to-height, bulky course, which I think is also good for the horses before they go to a five-star or a big four-star.”

See results here.

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