Annually for each of its three years, Michigan’s Richland Park Horse Trials venue has offered yet another level of competition. In 2002, work building 2003’s intermediate course began before competitors had even departed. And this year, on Aug. 28-29, 19 riders competed in the first advanced course in Richland, Mich., designed by Michael Etherington-Smith and built by the renowned team of Bert Wood and Jay Hambly.

Becky Holder (nee Douglas) placed second and third in dressage with her Courageous Comet and Highland Hogan. Quick cross-country rounds moved “Comet” up to the win, and “Hogan” claimed third overall.

“They did a super job with the course,” said Holder, of Mendota Heights, Minn. “The fences were gorgeous. They were not huge, but it had all the questions; it was very technical, like a mini-Rolex. And they dressed all the fences beautifully.”

Despite heavy rains the night before cross-country, Holder said the footing held up well. “It was super galloping,” she said. “They had been working on the footing for a while, aerating, planting.”

The advanced course included a bounce into water, double corners on a bending line, a bank down to a toothbrush fence, and a drop down to two offset kennels.

After finishing first and second in the intermediate division at the Wayne Horse Trials (Ill.), Holder was hoping for another strong finish at Richland Park. “I’d hoped to build on that,” she said. “They had the rust knocked off and were ready to rock and roll.”

Holder plans to compete at Poplar Place (Ga.) in September, then spend the winter focusing on her dressage and show jumping, in preparation for next April’s Rolex Kentucky CCI****. “It gives me a chance to focus on my business and students here, and to save Comet for the future,” she said of her decision to skip a fall three-day.

While Holder will attend jumper shows this fall, she is also helping seven students prepare for the Midsouth CCI* (Ky.) in October. “This is their big shot, and it’s the first three-day for some of them,” said Holder.

One of her students, Coren Morgan, of Kansas City, Mo., bested a field of 20 riders to win Richland Park’s open intermediate division (61.1). Both Morgan, 16, and her horse, Higher Learning, a 12-year-old Thoroughbred, are in their first year at the intermediate level.

“We heard it was a nice event. The cross-country course is extremely tough, but it is one of the nicest by far,” she said. “It’s gorgeous. The course is immaculate, extremely well-built.”

Morgan was especially concerned about the double corners, two strides apart, at fences 5-6, and the Leaf Pit drop to a skinny fence. But she need not have worried about how “IQ” was going to handle the course. “He was excellent the whole course. He was easy to ride and set up,” she said. “The technical stuff was easy for him; he was right on.”

Jet-lagged Olympic bronze medal winner Darren Chiacchia arrived home from Athens on Tuesday before departing for the six-hour haul from Springville, N.Y., to Richland, Mich., on Thursday.

Chiacchia took fourth place in the advanced on San Salvador (76.76), second place in open intermediate with J. Walker (63.9), second place in open preliminary, division 2, on Huronia (38.3), and fifth in the same class on Gaspar (44.0).

“The quality of the [Richland Park] cross-country course is in the top four of horse trials in the U.S.,” said Chiacchia, placing Richland Park’s presentation on par with Florida’s Red Hills and Georgia’s Poplar Place. “The cross-country course is beautiful, the atmosphere is great, and although they were unlucky with the weather, the footing was good.”

After a relatively dry summer, Richland Park was inundated by more than eight inches of rain the week of the show, including two inches Friday night and three inches Saturday night. Although conditions were sloppy, competitors were spared from rainy rides during the daytime hours. According to hosts Bob and Kay Willmarth, volunteers dumped some 50 tons of finely crushed stone throughout the grounds over the weekend.

Scores in the two preliminary divisions were close, with just 1.4 points between first and third in division 1 and a 2.4-point spread in division 2. Winner of division 2, Gwen Lehari, 48, of Uxbridge, Ont., was especially thrilled, since a badly-broken back 10 years ago put in doubt her ability to walk again, much less ride.

Lehari won with a score of 37.1 on Daniel, her 10-year-old, Thoroughbred-Belgian Warmblood, after incurring just 1.6 cross-country time penalties and riding one of the few clean show jumping rounds. Now in his third preliminary season, Daniel has played a big part in Lehari’s return to the saddle.

“Cross-country was absolutely brilliant,” said a smiling Lehari after her win. “He’s getting to know his job, and he settled in well here. It was our first cross-country where each fence went beautifully.”  In show jumping, she said, “the course was really wet and I had to ride forward but be careful on the turns.”

Nicole Kowalski, 22, of Milford, Mich., was thrilled with her win over 14 riders in open preliminary, division 1. In her first full year at the preliminary level, Kowalski rode her 8-year-old, 15-hand Quarter Horse, Toby Sky Jumper, to a score of 48.6.

“I am elated! I never thought he’d do this well,” she said. “Cross-country was a little daunting, actually, but I have so much confidence in him that I wasn’t worried.”  After dropping just one rail in show jumping, Kowalski said, “The stadium course was beautiful, super-technical, which he loves. He eats it up.”

In 2005, organizers plan to run a CIC** in addition to the divisions currently offered.