The Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team took home the gold medal in the FEI Eventing Nations Cup—Canada CCIO4*-S, held Aug. 18-21 during the Bromont CCI in Quebec. The team of Liz Halliday-Sharp, Lillian Heard, Andrew McConnon and Colleen Rutledge under the direction of Chef d’Equipe Leslie Law, finished with a total score of 138.6. Canada won silver with a score of 158.3 in the first Nations Cup competition at Bromont. Australia finished in third on a total score of 2050.3 after two of their team members withdrew.
“I was very pleased with our team’s performance,” said Law. “It was mainly a developing team of both horses and riders, and they put up a strong performance in all three phases to win very convincingly. I thought there was very good team spirit amongst everyone, and it was a promising result as far as developing pairs for our future, which is what my program is all about. I’m very pleased both for our riders and our program.”
The winning Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team of (from left) Andrew McConnon, Colleen Rutledge, Lillian Heard and Liz Halliday Sharp with Bromont organizer Sue Ockendon (left front) and ground jury member Peter Gray (right front). Cealy Tetley Photos
Halliday-Sharp (Lexington, Kentucky) and Miks Master C, a 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned by Ocala Horse Properties LLC and Deborah Palmer, were the wire-to-wire leaders in the CCI4*-S, adding only a few time penalties on cross-country to their dressage score. They finished with a score of 37.6 to lead the U.S. team to gold and win place first individually.
“He’s an incredible horse,” said Halliday-Sharp. “I’ve only been with him three months now, so we’re still getting to know each other, but I really think he’s completely world-class. He’s very special. He’s very brave. He’s powerful. He moves beautifully. He kind of is the whole thing. It’s just been a matter of putting our partnership together and getting to know him.”
The pair are fresh off a win in the CCI4*-S at The Event at Rebecca Farm in July, and Halliday-Sharp is looking forward to building on their early success.
“He’s changing all the time because he’s getting stronger, and every event I’m taking him to, he’s different,” she said. “It’s been a learning process and I very much looked at Bromont as a stepping stone to the future with him. He was quite strong at Rebecca Farm, so I’ve been sorting out my controls and just gelling with him and really getting to know him better. I was really happy with the rounds that I had, both in show jumping and cross-country. I felt like we were really together. A lot of the areas that he needed tidying up on were there this time. It was a strong enough track that I believe I’m in a place now with him that I’m hopefully going to be able to go to Boekelo with him and a five-star in the spring.”
Liz Halliday Sharp and Miks Master C won the Bromont CCI4*-S and helped the U.S. take team gold in the FEI Eventing Nations Cup—Canada, held Aug. 18-21, in Bromont, Quebec.
Canadian Colleen Loach was the highest-placed rider for the home country, finishing in second and third with Vermont (43.3) and FE Golden Eye (45.1), respectively.
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U.S. team trailblazer Lillian Heard (Cochranville, Pennsylvania) and her own and Deborah Greenspan’s 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Dassett Olympus, also had no jumping faults, adding only time to their dressage score to finish in fourth place overall with a 49.4.
Making his Nations Cup debut, Andrew McConnon (Southern Pines, North Carolina) rode Caroline Martin and Jeanne Shigo’s 10-year-old warmblood gelding, Ferrie’s Cello, up from 18th place after dressage to finish in seventh with only cross-country time faults added to their score.
Colleen Rutledge (Frederick, Maryland) and her longtime partner, Covert Rights, a 16-year-old Thoroughbred cross gelding she co-owns with FSG Inc., had a runout on cross-country but were able to finish and add a Nations Cup completion to their long list of accomplishments together.
The Bromont CCIO4*-S is the only FEI Eventing Nations Cup to be held outside of Europe this season, and it provides an invaluable experience for U.S. athletes looking toward championships competition.
“I’ve competed on multiple Nations Cup teams over in Europe, but it’s awesome to have one over here,” said Halliday-Sharp. “I think it was a very true track as well. Derek [di Grazia] built a strong four-star that was a tough track and took some riding. I think that’s another opportunity—when you see it as a Nations Cup, you can build up quite a challenging four-star, and we need more of that in this country. We need to make sure we’re all being challenged. It also gives everybody a chance to compete in a team environment without having to go to Europe, so that’s a great opportunity for all of us, really, and for the up-and-coming riders.”
