Bromont, Quebec—June 5  

Emily Beshear was hoping for a tough three-star track when she brought Shame On The Moon to the Jaguar Land Rover Bromont CCI*** in preparation for the Blenheim CCI*** (England) in the fall, and she got exactly what she was asking for today as Derek Di Grazia’s course was full of corners, related lines and bold questions—all situated on notoriously tiring terrain.

But “Delta” stepped up to the plate and came home clear and inside the optimum time of 10 minutes to move into the overnight lead when dressage leaders Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood high added eight time penalties—all a part of the plan for a confidence-building round—to drop to fifth.

“I think I had a lot of respect for all the different questions on the course and I’ve ridden around this course on two other horses previously, both of whom were very solid cross country horses, and even they felt the terrain by the end,” said Beshear. “This is her second three star; the first was at [the Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International (Md.)] last fall, and there she got tired, so that was kind of my putting it all together between the terrain and the questions being asked.”

Beshear said she hadn’t made up her mind this morning about whether she would truly attack the course or cruise around on the 9-year-old Trakehner/Thoroughbred mare, but after eight jumps in warm up, she knew she could do the former.

“She just was really locked on to everything,” said Beshear, Somerset, Va. “I knew I just wanted to get out and get going forward on the course because she tends to be quite spooky early, and a lot of times I have time because she’s gawking and bouncing around early on the course and there’s a bit to look at as you gallop by the [VIP] tent and the first water. So I went out and went forward and she was just jumping great right from the start so I said, ‘Well, great, let’s keep this going.’”

Emily Beshear and Shame On The Moon had a fast round to take the CCI*** lead at Bromont. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

The pair became one of three double-clear rounds (Matt Brown and Super Socks BCF and Waylon Roberts and Kelecyn Cognac also finished with no time) to slot ahead of Marilyn Little and RF Demeter, who picked up .4 time penalties to move into second from third after dressage.

Beshear admitted Delta’s show jumping is a “work in progress”, so she’s got her fingers crossed.

“I love the result that I had today and she wants to be a careful horse, but she’s still developing in the show jumping,” she said. “She gets tense and spooky and just doesn’t always jump up around the fences as well as she should, so I have realistic expectations but I’m going to go in there and give her a good ride and see how she feels. Maybe she’ll surprise me there too, I don’t know.”

For Little, the three-star track was perfect for “Demi”, a horse she’s come up with through the ranks of eventing when she made picked up the discipline as a hunter/jumper riders a few years ago.

“Demi was herself,” she said. “I pulled her up early at Rolex because I lost both of her front shoes at the third jump and I thought she wasn’t running very well. Then she was good through the water but then slipped going down to the coffin. She slipped at the wrong place and I found out she lost a shoe, so I got back to the vet box, so thank goodness I did pull up.”

“She’s become a really wonderful upper level partner, and it’s a real privilege to ride a horse that knows what they’re doing and she’s seen so many things,” she continued. “We’ve learned to do it together. It’s like putting on an old leather jacket; when you walk in the start box on a horse like that, and can really trust her, and I know the good and the bad about her and she knows the good and the bad about me too. So it was a great day and it was a beautiful course, very challenging and one of the most interesting things is that there were so many different places that all of the riders were worried about different things.”

Marilyn Little and RF Demeter will show jump in second place in the CCI***. Photo by Taylor Joyce.

Of the 20 riders to start the three-star, 17 finished. Zach Brandt fell from Cavallino Cocktail at the second water at fence 22ab and both were up quickly and walked home. Both Sharon White on Wundermaske and Peter Barry on Kilrodan Abbott faulted at fence 4b coming out of the first water. White later retired at fence 9, while Barry retired after two stops at 4b.

Overdressed Is Spot-On In CCI**

Marilyn Little budgets her time down to the minute at Bromont. With multiple rides and their owners at the event, there’s a lot of pressure to do well, and her intense focus paid off with the lead in the CCI** division aboard RF Overdressed.

“His barn name is Oreo, because when you put the grease on him to go cross-country, he looks like a giant Oreo,” said Little, whose father Ray Little came up with the nickname, which, to her reluctance, stuck. She named the regal black gelding Overdressed because he looked like he was always in a tuxedo.

“This is our first CCI**,” Marilyn, of Frederick, Md., continued. “He did the CCI* in Ocala [Fla.] and he was wonderful there. And he actually gave me a very different ride at the CCI* in Ocala, and then this was really the first time that I’ve really felt that horse again. Maybe he’s a CCI horse, which is great news!”

Sharon White, who sits second in the CCI** on Cooley On Show, noted that the two-star track at Bromont is unique in that it is a true test of whether or not you’re sitting on an advanced level horse. Between the varying terrain, magnitude and technicality of the elements on course, there’s certainly a lot to think about.

“I think that Sharon said it really well; you really know whether you have an advanced horse here, the way they go around the two-star,” Little agreed. “[Oreo] was very bold and very brave and I thought that there were plenty of technical moments out there, and plenty of terrain questions, and he got to get onto that a little bit at The Fork [N.C.] and Carolina [International] but I’ve been in Ocala [where it’s flat] for most of the year so it was nice to see that he handled that well. He’s a really exciting horse.”

Marilyn Little and RF Overdressed held their CCI** lead after cross-country. Photo by Taylor Joyce.

The 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding came in second at the Carolina International CIC* and fourth at The Fork CIC*, having dropped back down a level after completing a handful of intermediates. And now he’s taken back to the two-star level with a new, very apparent confidence.

White also went double-clear on Cooley On Show. She took the ride on that gelding in January.

“[It’s been] really fun to get to know him,” she said. “I’m slow to get to know a horse; I like really just taking my time so I’ve been just slowly and steadily working them, and the goal was always to come here because I knew the course would be—it’s really a test of fitness and it will tell you if you’ve got advanced horses or not, and the course is always just so spectacular. So it was always the goal to bring them here and they peaked at the right time! So I’m thrilled.”

White also rode Clifford M into a tie for third with Ryan Wood on Woodstock Bennett, both of whom were faultless. Both White’s mounts are owned by Parker Collier and formerly campaigned in Europe.

“They’re so different,” said White. “Clifford M is the perfect gentleman—just anything you want and he’s like, ‘Absolutely; I will do my best to just get that done for you.’ And he’s just such a worker. And Cooley, his barn name is ‘Louie,’ and he’s just an absolute infant. He’s just like a bull in a china shop; he does whatever he wants to do, and he happens to love this sport. You could do anything on him if he’s focused in the right direction.”

Of the 33 to start the CCI**, sixt retired and 13 made the time.

In the CIC**, Waylon Roberts and Bill Owen moved into the lead with a double-clear round and in the CCI*, dressage leaders Beau Guimond and Filibuster FT held their lead.

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