Mill Spring, N.C.—Sept. 4

As Ryan Wood cantered into the George Morris Arena at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, some of the overnight pressure he felt to retain his overnight lead with Powell was lifted. He’d already jumped clear with Woodstock Bennett, and with rails coming from both Doug Payne on Vandiver and Emily Beshear on Shame On The Moon, he was guaranteed the top check in the Adequan Advanced Gold Cup Final at the USEA Nutrena American Eventing Championship.

He dropped a rail midway around the course and rattled the final fence, but it stayed in the cups for a victory with the 10-year-old U.S.-bred Oldenburg.

Ryan Wood and Powell. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

“You know, starting with the dressage, I thought he did a fantastic test, and he’s actually very good at that, so I was really happy with how that went,” said Wood. “Cross-country, I thought he handled the conditions really well. Everything he read and was spot-on there. He had a few time penalties but still strong enough to hold the lead overnight. Going into the show jumping, I had an advantage with riding the course three times before I got on Powell, so I had a good feel of it.”

With another victory added to Powell’s résumé, to add to the CCI*** win at the Jersey Fresh International (N.J.) this spring, Wood will aim towards the Dutta Corp. Fair Hill three-star (Md.) and, assuming the horse continues on a positive trajectory, he’ll pencil Rolex Kentucky CCI**** into the gelding’s spring schedule.

When Payne arrived to the press conference he joked, “That was a $15,000 rail.” The rider, based in Apex, N.C., was sitting second overnight, but a costly rail on the out of the one-stride set early in the course dropped him to third.

“Coming today in show jumping I felt pretty confident,” said Payne. “We were showing here last week to get their feet wet in the classes at the 1.30-meter in the same ring, and if he’s going to have a rail it’s going to be the back rail of an oxer at the end of a combination. I would have banked on the triple at the end, but it does happen, and it’s something we’re working on, but I can’t fault him.”

As a joke, managing partner of Tryon Equestrian Partners Mark Bellissimo gifted Payne the rail, which both he and Wood signed with the message “Good luck next year.”

Though he missed out on the top AEC prize, Payne was named the USEF National Advanced Horse Trials Champion. Buck Davidson, who finished fourth in the division with Ballynoe Castle RM, was named the reserve champion.

Julia McElligott And Ricky—Broadstone Junior Beginner Novice Champions
Before this year, Julia McElligott had never competed in an event. Fast forward a few months and a lot of hard work, and she’s leaving the AEC with a blue ribbon and a car full of goodies after topping the Broadstone junior beginner novice with Ricky.

Julia McElligott And Ricky

“I’m really pleased about his dressage test,” she said. “He gave me a lot of effort there, and the cross-country and stadium just kind of fell into place. He loves all three phases, so he had a blast, and he had an amazing weekend, probably the best ride we’ve had. I’m very proud of him, and it’s a great accomplishment for me considering it’s my first year eventing.”

McElligott started leasing Ricky, a Swedish Warmblood, this year after his owner Lauren Myers learned she’d be starting a family, and the pair got along right away.

“He’s just done amazing with me, and he’s shown me the ropes of eventing considering it’s my first season,” said McElligott. “I’ve had some really good rides, and I’m so proud of him. He’s perfect.”

Annabelle Kress And Batteries Not Included—Broadstone Junior Beginner Novice 14 And Under Champions
In true eventer fashion, when Annabelle Kress falls off, she dusts herself off and gets right back to business. She fell from Batteries Not Included in the warm-up before the Broadstone junior beginner novice 14 and under division, but she said that actually taught her an important lesson.

“That was a good thing because I learned that I have to sit back, and I have to just trust myself, and that’s when I went in there,” she said.

The 12-year-old left all the rails in the cups but accrued 1 time fault, leaving her tied with Mackenzie Lea and The Man In Black on a 27.5, but since Kress was closer to the optimum time on yesterday’s cross-country, she was named the winner.

Annabelle Kress And Batteries Not Included. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

Kress’ partnership with “Batman” is still new. The Pinto gelding originally qualified for novice with Elizabeth Welker-Ebling while Kress qualified on a different horse, Shall We Dance. She paired up with Batman in July, and they had two competitions prior to coming to Tryon.

“I think I was really happy with the way everything went,” said Kress. “I was really nervous for cross-country, just because it isn’t necessarily my strongest phase, but he was a superstar. He didn’t question anything, and I’m just really happy with him overall because he was just so willing to do his job.”

William Zuschlag and RF Southern Command—Junior/Young Rider Preliminary Champions
Just over a month ago William Zuschlag had the perfect prep for the AEC with RF Southern Command. The 18-year-old was in Tryon for the USPC National Championship where the pair topped the preliminary. This gave them a sneak peak at the cross-country course even if the jumps were in different places.

They led the week with a 27.3 in dressage and never let go of their lead, posting double-clear scores from both cross-country and show jumping.

“I think mostly my weekend has been forward,” he said. “Everything has been forward; dressage he was a little bit too fresh, and then cross-country was really forward and going. The show jumping he was forward and going, which was good because we generally come into the show jumping, and he is just dead, and we’re kicking him trying to get him going forward and go forward, and he just won’t, so it was really good to get him going and forward and ready to move on.”

After this Zuschlag hopes to contest a couple one-stars before making the move up to intermediate.

McKinsey Wickman and Dassett Profile—Professional’s Choice Junior Training Champions
When McKinsey Wickman isn’t tearing up a cross-country course, she dons her whites, braiding Dassett Profile to compete in dressage at training and first level. That extra preparation paid off with a 23.6 in dressage. They added just a single time fault in show jumping to beat out Georgia Dillard on Normandy’s Cole’s Clover.

“I think that we both handled the environment really well, and it’s a lot to take in,” said Wickman. “It’s definitely not like the Texas AEC was, and I think we handled that really well under the pressure. In warm-up it was a little nerve-wracking knowing that I didn’t really have a rail to spare, but I think that with focusing and just doing what I knew to do, he did really well. It was awesome.”

Wickman trains with Ashley Bearden, who primarily shows in dressage, so it was only natural for her to start showing in dressage as well. She’ll be heading to GAIG/USDF Dressage Regional Championships in a few weeks.

Alexis Mazzatta And Shigatzi—Junior Novice Champions
For the past five years Alexis Mazzatta has lived by the motto of “If at first you don’t succeed, try again.” First she tried to event with her mare, but when the mare dug her heels in time and time again, she switched that mare to a bit of jumpers and some dressage.

But with Shigatzi everything came together. The two paired up in July and had success right out of the start box. She won the novice at the Horse Park of New Jersey Horse Trials II and followed that up with a win this weekend in the junior novice.

“This is my fourth event, so I couldn’t be happier,” said Mazzatta. “I’ve been trying to event for the past five years, and it was failed attempts, so I couldn’t be happier. I’ve worked so hard for so long to be able to event, and having this outcome is just amazing.

“Right when I got him we had an amazing connection,” she continued. “He’s super sweet and super great on the flat.”

See all the results from the AEC. Don’t miss any of the Chronicle’s coverage.

Ryan Wood and Powell. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.