The Ram Tap Horse Trials, a staple of Area VI eventing for 50 years, celebrated its anniversary by adding an advanced division for the first time in nine years on Feb. 16-18 in Fresno, Calif. Familiar names topped the leaderboard of this new division, with the juggernaut of Gina Miles and McKinlaigh taking home the win over Hawley Bennett and the venerable Livingstone.
Miles, Preston, Calif., led from the start, receiving an impressive 23.3 in her dressage test, hallmarked by McKinlaigh’s powerful extensions and excellent flow. Bennett stood second with a 28.3, followed by Tiana Coudray and King Street with a 29.6.
“I was really happy that some of the things I’ve been working on over the winter came through in the test,” said Miles, who rode McKinlaigh in the 2002 World Equestrian Games (Spain) and was third in the 2003 FEI World Cup Final (France). “I’ve been trying to get him to sit a bit more in his trot work and carry more engagement in his lateral work–those few things we need to work on to carry us to the next level on the international stage. His changes were good, though we are always working on them, and the quality of his overall frame was better.”
Miles and Bennett both jumped double-clear on cross-country to maintain their overnight positions, while Coudray had 13.2 time penalties to let Jennifer Wooten and The Good Witch slip past them for third.
Show jumping proved a bit tricky, with only two clean rounds in the advanced division going to Wooten and Coudray to finish third and fourth, respectively. Miles had a rail in hand going in, but when Livingstone rolled a pole, it gave her even more breathing room. McKinlaigh also dropped one rail, but it was enough to cement his victory.
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After finishing 2006 as the USEA Gold Cup champion and the winner of the Fair Hill (Md.) International CCI***, Miles has her sights set across the pond for 2007. She is aiming McKinlaigh to compete at the Badminton (England) CCI**** in May.
“He felt great, especially because it was his first event back since Fair Hill,” she said. “He’s going to do Twin Rivers and Galway and then we’re off to Badminton. I just watched the [2006 Badminton] video last night and kept saying, ‘Oh, look at that, we can do that.’ I’m really excited.
“I was kind of looking at what to do this year, and it just seemed like the right time. He’s done Kentucky several times well, and we’re between the World Games and Olympics, and he’s at a great age for it, so why not take that once-in-a-lifetime shot at it,” she concluded.
Organizer Bill Burton hired Ritch Temple to design the new advanced course for Ram Tap, and construction started five months ago. “It was just gorgeous, perfect, you couldn’t ask for better,” Burton said. “Ritch does a great job. And the riders too.”
Miles concurred. “It was straightforward, but it fit perfectly in to the calendar as the first advanced of the season,” she said. “It had a little of this, a little of that, and good big fences so you could really get them galloping.”
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Burton began his assoc-iation with the event in 1957 at the age of 11 as a stable boy for the show, which was founded and organized by Pat and Marion Humphries (Ram Tap is the first three letters of their first names, spelled backwards). By 1978, after serving in Vietnam, he became the co-organizer and took over duties full time in 1985. His wife Margaret has also been part of the team, as a secretary for the event.
“Only a dummy would want to do this, this long,” joked Burton. Plans are to offer the advanced division three times a year, at the February, April, and October events. Miles, for one, is thrilled with the addition. “We’re super excited that Bill was willing to bring it back and put it on the calendar. It’s so nice to have because now it creates a really good, complete advanced season out here in the west.”
Miles has been competing at Ram Tap for 17 years and remembered running around the novice course on her first horse, an Arabian. “Ram Tap was always the place,” she said. “It’s great that it’s been such a part of California eventing and that we have such a great organizer who’s willing to put in the time and work to make it great.”
In an era where it seems like many events are disappearing, Ram Tap’s staying power is impressive. But Burton refuses to take the credit. “[The secret] is working with everybody. I have never called Ram Tap mine; it belongs to all of Area VI. Teamwork is what makes something happen, and it’s the organizers, especially, who have to help each other. I help out at every event in California, and so they all help me. I’d be the last person to take credit for Ram Tap. It takes a lot of people to make it happen.”
After 50 years spent on the grounds outside Fresno, Burton knows that someone else will have to take over his leadership someday. “I think it’s a beautiful piece of property, great for horses. I hope somebody keeps it going,” he said.
But when asked about his retirement date, Burton is ready with a joke. “Yesterday,” he said with a laugh. “No, I keep saying I’m thinking of doing it, but I just signed another 10-year lease, so I guess we’ll be around for quite some time yet.”
Heather Bailey
