Top Gallant turned 9 before he ever saw a cross-country course, but with Mark Weissbecker’s expertise to guide him, he skipped around his first three-day to win at the Virginia International CCI* in Lexington, Va., held May 18-22.

Prior to starting his career in eventing, “Aaron” was a successful race horse, galloping on the flat track for the first seven years of his life before spending a year running over fences.

Some might have balked at buying a horse that had spent so long on the track, but Weissbecker, of Southern Pines, N.C. and Richmond, Mass., wasn’t deterred. “The horse reeked quality–his size, his movement, his brain, the way he used his parts over fences,” he said.

Not only was Aaron an athletic horse, but also his years on the racetrack proved his soundness. “We couldn’t find a pimple on him,” said Weissbecker. “He stood the test of time.”

Aaron was able to come out at training level in 2004 and move up to preliminary shortly thereafter. And he’s been in the ribbons more often than not, but there have been a few bumps in his eventing road.

“After running around an oval track for so many years, he still has some issues with the element of surprise,” admitted Weissbecker.

The Pine Top Horse Trials (Ga.) in February illustrated this perfectly when the pair came down to the eighth fence, a solid portable in the water.

“He took off to jump the house, put his feet on the house, and just stood there looking,” recalled Weissbecker. “I went over his head.”

But they had no trouble with the water or any other fence on David O’Connor’s Virginia one-star course. Weissbecker and Aaron led after dressage with a 44.5 and added no penalties to that score.

Weissbecker, 52, did make one concession to Aaron’s lookiness on cross-country. “I generally go the direct routes when I ride,” he explained. “But at fence 5 I did go one long route.”

The fastest way through fence 5AB was to jump a set of whiskey barrels and make a sharp right turn to a left-facing corner on the left side of a tree. The option involved bypassing the corner for a log on the other side of the tree.

“Since I’m on a race horse, I steeplechased the barrels and zipped around to the option,” said Weissbecker. “It’s easy to make up the time because he’s a race horse.”

Weissbecker enthused about O’Connor’s course. “My horse came off a smarter, braver horse than he was going in. It was horse friendly, but it wasn’t a giveaway,” he said.

O’Connor too was pleased at how things went on cross-country. He introduced a second water complex, and he tested it by riding through it several times the week before. They repacked the footing afterward.

“I was surprised that so many people went around the corner after the barrels,” he admitted. “The new water worked well, and the time was harder to make than I thought it was going to be.”

But his wife, Karen, had no trouble making the time on her young horse, A Phar Cry, and she was just .3 penalties behind Weissbecker going into show jumping.

The course was set in the Anderson Coliseum, and horses appeared backed off by the indoor ring, pulling rails and adding up time penalties.

“I had no idea what to expect,” said Weissbecker. But he gave Aaron a professional ride, whipping around the course, leaving every rail up and actually finishing 3 seconds under the time.

“You’d hate to lose it by dawdling,” he said with a laugh. “He’s a very careful horse, almost to a fault. He has the quality to be a show jumper.”

He plans to start Aaron at intermediate next. “I haven’t moved up sooner because he never experienced going out into fields in his formative years,” explained Weissbecker. “I didn’t want to scare him, but he’s mature enough now.”

From Start To Finish

Orion also gained some maturity in the young horse division (for 6- and 7-year-olds) of the CCI* with Craig Thompson of Purcellville, Va., aboard.

Thompson started the 6-year-old Thor-oughbred when he was 3, but sold him to a client shortly afterward.

“I took him to his first horse trials here [at the Virginia Horse Center] when he was 4,” recalled Thompson. And when his client’s circumstances changed and she had to sell the horse, he was happy to buy Orion back.

“I kind of regretted selling him,” Thompson admitted. “I think he’s the nicest young horse in the country.”

As he’s brought the talented youngster along, sometimes his ability has overreached his maturity. “We did the [American Eventing Championships] at preliminary last year, and he was in over his head,” said Thompson. “But then we did the 5-year-old Young Event Horse championships, and he wasn’t really paying attention.”

So Thompson started him in three intermediate events before coming to Lexington. Still he wasn’t totally sure about the dressage. “He’s a perfect gentleman, but he tries very hard, he’s very intense,” he explained.

Thompson appreciated having the extra time to help Orion settle in for his three-day, riding him three times on Thursday and an extra early morning ride on Friday before dressage.

Although Thompson still wants to improve Orion’s medium gaits, he was thrilled with their dressage test, which scored 44.4 and put them into first. But the additional factors of the long-format three-day meant that Thompson had a little more horse than he was used to for phase D.

“He was turned up a notch on cross-country,” Thompson said. “I think that’s why you’ll see people continuing to enter their young horses in long format one-stars.”

Thompson also opted for the long route at fence 5, which put them just down on the clock, adding 3.6 time penalties to their score, but holding onto first place coming into show jumping.

He had a rail in hand but didn’t need it. As they came to the third fence, Orion was still focused on the in-gate, but he managed to pop over the maximum oxer with feet to spare and didn’t come close to touching another fence.

“He wasn’t flapped by it,” said Thompson. “He generally feels really bad about poles down.”

Thompson usually sells his young horses, but he’s hoping to keep Orion. “I don’t have anything at the advanced level, and he’ll get there sooner,” he explained. “He’s so trainable, so happy to go to work every day.”

Love At First Ride

All Truth’s Be Known rounded out the group of horses who won their first CCI*, carrying Lindsay Shields Alston to the win in the young riders division.

“I didn’t plan on winning,” said Alston, breathless after her victory. “I just came to do a CCI!”

This first three-day has been a long time coming for the 21-year-old from Ewing, N.J. She was prepping for her first CCI back in 2002, when her mare, All Business, was injured three weeks away from the event.

A motivated teenager, Alston was able to catch-ride some other horses and to raise funds to buy herself a new project, All Truth’s Be Known. “Denzel” is by the same stallion as All Business and was just 4 when she started riding him.

“The first time I rode him, I knew I had to have him,” said Alston. “He’s super sensitive, but his canter was like sitting on a cloud. He was so athletic.”

The 8-year-old Thoroughbred-Hanoverian has been living up to his potential with Alston. “He jumps 4’3″ at home,” she said. “It’s not hard for him.”

The pair has competed at preliminary for the last two years, and Alston worked with Susie Beale before coming to the Virginia three-day. “We’ve had small problems at preliminary, but it’s been getting steadily better,” she said.

And she was determined to make sure there weren’t any problems at her first three-day. “When I went to do his dressage, I came out with the idea that I had to do it correctly, do it all the way,” explained Alston.

She started off on the right foot with a 55.5 that put her in sixth place. “On Saturday, I didn’t want to add anything to my score,” she said. “I kept telling myself that I couldn’t mess up.”

They did add 3.2 time penalties, but she wasn’t too disappointed. In fact Alston was worried about making time on the roads and tracks portions. “I’d never done it before, and I thought I’d be slow,” she said with a laugh.

Denzel was strong on cross-country, causing them to take some turns a bit wide and also opting for the option at fence 5, but their clear round moved them up to third before show jumping.

“I was so nervous before show jumping,” Alston admitted.” I knew I had to square my shoulders and not mess with him into the fences. If it was up to him, he’d never have a rail.”

She managed to do just that, and her clean, fast round moved her all the way into first when the riders in first and second had rails and refusals.
“I can’t believe I just did this!” she exclaimed upon leaving with her trophy.

Although overwhelmed by the win in her first CCI, Alston is already looking toward the future. Her mare is due to foal soon, and Alston hopes her offspring will be her next eventer.

She works for the Equine Trauma Center in Pittstown, N.J., where she helps veterinarians Brendan Furlong and Dennis Milne care for patients, as well as riding and assisting in barn management.

“They’re like second parents to me,” said Alston of the two veterinarians. “And I’m learning from them. In the three years I’ve been there, it shocks me how much of a horseman I’ve become.”

West Farthing Walks Off With CIC Win

Nathalie Bouckaert Pollard used the Virginia CIC** as preparation for her upcoming four-star in Luhmuhlen, Germany, with West Farthing. The experienced pair started the competition almost 10 points in the lead after another one of the 12-year-old Thoroughbred’s elegant dressage tests.

Despite his reputation for winning the dressage, Pollard, of Chatsworth, Ga., admitted they’ve been working a few things out this season. “The connection is tricky because he’s long and has a funny back,” explained Pollard, 24. “He can be hard to sit; he has to give in his back.”

Lessons with longtime trainer Jules Anderson helped smooth out their dressage. But they encountered another kind of crisis at Poplar Place (Ga.) this month when she jumped the wrong jump in show jumping.

She raved about David O’Connor’s two-star course, saying that it was equally good for West Farthing as it was for her 7-year-old Icarus. “David always has forward-thinking questions,” she said.

Pollard was a bit disappointed to miss the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** three weeks earlier. She’d wanted to redeem herself after having a refusal at the first show jumping fence and losing the lead in the short-format division last year. But she and West Farthing had been selected for the U.S. squad going to Luhmuhlen.

Jan Thompson and Waterfront, who will also be members of the Luhmuhlen squad, finished second, 7.7 penalties behind. Bonnie Mosser and Jenga, another squad member, won one of the two open intermediate divisions.

“It’s hard to sit through it when your horse is ready to go,” she said of not starting at Kentucky. But the opportunity to represent her country as one of the members named to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s talent tour was too good to pass up.