Tiffani Loudon-Metze didn’t take any chances when she left the start box today, April 17, at the Florida International Three-Day Event in Ocala. She and Lo Fino blazed around the CCI** course with time to spare to remain in the lead for tomorrow’s show jumping.
While Loudon-Metze took control of the CCI** early in dressage on Friday, she knew she would have to go clean in order to stay on top. Leahona Rowland and Lorenzo III and Danielle Dichting and Tops were hot on their heels in second and third, respectively, and only 5.8 penalty points separated the top five combinations.
Lo Fino, a Thoroughbred-Hanoverian gelding owned by Kim Lampert, wasn’t fazed by Jay Hambly’s cross-country course even though it was his first attempt at the level. Dichting also put in a clear jumping effort, but added 1.6 time penalties to her score to drop them into fourth. Rowland maintained her second placed position with Lorenzo III, and also moved into third with her second ride, Lambrusco.
Overall, the cross-country event was trouble-free. A field of 34 riders began the event and 33 started the cross country after Andrew Palmer and Incantare were eliminated in dressage. Today, 27 riders finished the course and 12 had clean jumping efforts. Only two riders had jumping penalties. Four pairs, Michael Pollard on Jos Calfun, Jonathan Holling on Pamiro W., and Ashley Kehoe on Magic Man all retired after having problems on course. Buck Davidson and Haifa Bay parted company at the C element of the Colebrook Bank, a corner jumped on a bending line coming off a drop. Both horse and rider where unhurt, but Davidson withdrew his last CCI** horse, All The Aces. He rode his CCI* horse, Mastercraft, later in the day.
Earlier in the CCI** division, Absolute Liberty, ridden by Davidson, broke the Prolog at the Safer Building Materials Prolog question at fence 15. Made from Expanded Polystyrene Technology, these logs are designed to break at 500 pounds of pressure. They help to prevent rotational falls and to cushion horses that drag their stifles over the fence. It only took a few minutes for the ground crew to secure a new log and the rest of the event ran smoothly. When a jump is broken, the ground jury has the discretion to decide whether to award a 25-point penalty for breaking a frangible structure without the fall of horse or rider. In this instance, they chose not to award the penalty to Davidson.
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Hannah Sue Burnett and Lisa Marie Fergusson are set to dual over the CCI* show jumping course tomorrow. After posting identical scores, 42.5, in the dressage on Friday, they both jumped double clean cross-country rounds. If both riders jump clean around the show jumping, Burnett has the edge because she was 18 seconds closer to optimum time.
However, Burnett and Fegusson are not the only tied riders in the CCI* division. Every rider who left the start box came home clean, and only one pair added time penalties to their score.
The CCI competitors will jog at 8am tomorrow morning. Show jumping begins at 11:00 with the CCI**, followed immediately by the CCI*.
