The Dover Saddlery/U.S. Medal Finals kicks off today here at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at 7 a.m. The estimated start time for the final round is 4:30 p.m.

There are 239 competitors riding for a chance at one of the most prestigious equitation titles around. That’s two fewer than last year.

Cynthia Hankins, Kip Rosenthal and Chance Arkelian will be judging today, and they also designed the course.

The Chronicle is ringside live blogging throughout the day, and you can follow along here.  A full description of the first-round course is below, along with a course map and a photo of the course.

Other useful links and information:

• The order of go is posted here.
• You can watch the live feed on EQSports.net or on USEF Network. (USEF Network is free for USEF members.)
• Results from all of junior weekend at the Pennsylvania National and a schedule are available on Ryegate.
• Don’t forget to follow the Chronicle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @Chronofhorse
• We will have full in-depth analysis of the competition in the Nov. 4 issue of the magazine.

The Course

The course was designed by judges Cynthia Hankins and Kip Rosenthal.

Riders start over a vertical heading to the out gate. They turn right and jump an oxer with haybales under it out of the turn, then loop around the in and out and jump a skinny vertical with no ground line. Fence 4 is an airy oxer with no ground line out of the turn, broken line to another oxer in five forward strides, broken line to another oxer with boxes under it in four strides. Riders loop around to Fence 7, the Dover gate, then ride to an in-and-out of oxers with no ground line in 6 strides labeled 8AB. Riders then jump a vertical with no ground line coming out of the ring, broken line to a Swedish oxer in eight strides. Riders finish with another in-and-out, this time of roll tops, labeled 11AB, set coming out of the turn in a broken line to an oxer in eight or nine strides.