Parker, CO – September 2, 2018 – The fourth day of competition at the 2018 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena® Feeds (AEC), concluded today at The Colorado Horse Park (CHP), as the final competitors in the Advanced, Intermediate, Novice and Beginner Novice divisions took center stage to be recognized for their hard work this week.
Divisional champions across eighteen divisions were crowned, as athletes from across the United States flocked to Colorado to compete at the world renowned equestrian venue. For a full list of results from the 2018 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena® Feeds,click here.
Adequan® USEA Advanced Gold Cup Final
You could hear a pin drop in the International Ring at CHP as California’s Tamra Smith maneuvered around the track in the final Show Jumping phase of competition aboard Alexandra Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn, and Eric Markell’s, Mai Baum (Loredano x Ramira). Smith and the 2006 German Sport Horse gelding rounded out their weekend on a score of 28.0, and their comeback was celebrated with a big blue ribbon and a round of applause, along with the title of Adequan® USEA Advanced Gold Cup Final Champions.
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Tamra Smith and Mai Baum ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
“It just feels so good to be back on him,” exclaimed Smith, “it’s emotional because it’s been a long road to get him back.”
The pair ceased competition after Mai Baum suffered a series of injuries that made for a long, three-year rehabilitation process. “He originally strained his tendon after Fair Hill,” explained Smith, “and we rehabbed him like a normal horse, and then he fell in the trailer, and he got a guttural pouch infection, and he had to be in a cast, and it was just one thing after another. And then he was huge, so it took me forever to get him fit again. He was couch potato so it took a while, but we took the time because he was worth it.”
Smith continued, “It seems like yesterday, but it’s taken three years. Now he’s back and feeling 100%, and strong, and so happy to be here. I’m happier, but he’s happy.”
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Tamra Smith and Mai Baum in their awards presentation ceremony with
Allyn Mann (Adequan®), John Staples (USEA Board of Governor), Rob Burk (USEA CEO), Mike Huber (USEF Representative), Alexandra Ahearn and Eric Markell (Mai Baum’s owners)
©USEA/LeslieMintz |
Smith also credited the staff at the Park and the event coordinators for their dedication to running a memorable AEC. “This whole experience has been wonderful,” she said. “My hat goes off to the course designers. I actually told the crew that I would give them a cut of my prize money if I won because they worked really hard. The footing felt phenomenal.”
Cruising into second place after Dressage, Jordan Linstedt of WA, and Revitavet Capato (Contendro x Annabelle), Barbara and Gary Linstedt’s 2003 Hanoverian gelding, maintained their spot throughout the weekend, to land on a final score of 39.5. “I didn’t go out of the start box with the plan to be super competitive,” said Linstedt, “I just went out there to let him run and I never kicked him once around the course, he flowed with it. I wanted to go out there and be efficient with inside turns. He came in pretty quick so I was happy with him.”
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Jordan Linstedt and Revitavet Capato ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
Smith also claimed podium spot number three after earning 45.4 penalties with Judith McSwain’s 2009 Holsteiner mare Fleeceworks Royal (Riverman x Marisol). “She got selected to go to Boekelo [Netherlands],” Smith summarized, “so I knew I was going to have a conservative weekend with her. She went fast at Rebecca Farm and I can’t go fast with her all of the time, so as much as I wanted to go for it yesterday, I had to think about the bigger picture. In the Dressage she was also pretty spicy, the atmosphere was quite electric and she really came up in there. Right before I went in to the ring for Dressage it started to rain a bit and the wind picked up, and I thought it may monsoon, but it didn’t and she held it together as she is very obedient. We just schooled in there and kept it conservative.”
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Tamra Smith and Fleeceworks Royal ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
Intermediate
Charlie Tango is used to being an AEC Champion having won the honor a whopping three times – Preliminary in 2014, Intermediate in 2015 and once again at the Intermediate level today. With all that experience, Heather Morris was able to ride Team Express Group, LLC’s 2008 Irish Sport Horse gelding (Shannondale Sarco St. Ghyvan x Our Queen Bee) to a perfect weekend. The pair added nothing to their Dressage score of 25.8 to win wire-to-wire by over five points.
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Heather Morris and Charlie Tango ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
The Novice Horse division welcomed yet another victory for California native Tamra Smith, as the fierce competitor took to the final Show Jumping phase with the MB Group LLC’s 2013 Oldenburg gelding MB MaiStein. The duo scooped up the tri-colored ribbon after landing on 28.1 total penalties.
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Tamra Smith and MB MaiStein ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
Smith intends to move MaiStein up to Training level after the conclusion of the AEC, and said she will end the year on that note. “Next, he’s going to go compete at Training level, and then he’ll do the Young Event Horse Championships at Fair Hill and then probably finish the year with a Training level three-day.”
Backus has been competing in England for the past six months, but was thrilled when she discovered that the timing would work, and her AEC schedule was set. “This horse has been in training with my mom for about three years,” she explained, “and I’ve been away in England for the last six months so I hadn’t ridden him in a little while. my mom kept him going and it worked out timing wise for me to bring him here. He’s been a really fun horse to work with. He came from a dressage background and then seemed keen about the Eventing and really took to it. It’s been great working with him.”
Third-place was rounded out by Whitney Tucker Billeter of CA, who also kept a tight grip on her Dressage score of 31.0, as she galloped to the finish aboard John Herich’s 2004 Hanoverian gelding, Bill’s Midnight Magic (Espri x Rena Ramzi). “It’s been a super fun weekend here at AEC,” concluded Tucker Billeter. “I just want to thank this horse’s owners for allowing me to compete him here this week. It’s been wonderful to have the ride on him, and get to learn from him, and play with him. He’s just a really cool horse.”
Amanda Boyce of CA, and her own 2006 Welsh Cob gelding, Mercury by Machno Carwyn, went into today’s Show Jumping round sitting in second place and maintained her competitive edge to finish on top of the Junior Novice division. “My trainer and I have a system, which is zip (forward), counter bend, steady, and then quick- We’ve been practicing that a lot,” stated Boyce.
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Amanda Boyce and Mercury ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
She continued, “This is my first AEC and my first time at the Colorado Horse Park. It’s a really huge facility and I love it. My favorite memory of the AEC is everything about it! My horse was perfect throughout the whole show. We met a few of our goals and the victory lap was really cool!”
Julia Brittain of CA, aboard her own Haiku, a 2012 Dutch Warmblood gelding by Sir Donnerhall fell from their first-place rank coming out of Cross-Country to finish in second. “I think it was the best he’s jumped all year,” Brittain described. “There was definitely a lot of pressure going in, but he’s jumped incredibly so I was happy with him. We did have a rail, but it happens. He was forward and he was focused. He was attentive, so I was happy with the outcome.”
Novice Amateur
Colorado native Erin Contino maintained her three-phase lead, concluding the week with a blue ribbon in the Novice Amateur division aboard her own Handsome Ransom, a 2012 Thoroughbred gelding (Desert Warrior x St. Casmir’s Secret), on their original dressage score of 25.8.
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Erin Contino and Handsome Ransom ©USEA/JessicaDuffy |
“My plan going into stadium was to be patient and keep my nerves under control,” Contino commented. “But in warm-up, I didn’t have very much horse, everything was just really dull, almost overly quiet. I just had to focus on keeping him in front of my leg, even if I didn’t see my distance. I just had to focus on keeping him coming, while I was sorting it out. I guess it worked out. I got a little lucky, but sometimes luck goes your way. He’s ready to go home and take a long nap!”
Third place was awarded to Texan Savannah Welch and her own Langcaster, a 2009 Oldenburg gelding (Languster x Galiffi), who climbed up the leaderboard from eighth place after Dressage, to end on 29.8 penalties. Of her final Show Jumping phase, Welch elaborated, “My horse likes to get a little wild in Show Jumping and he likes to drag me down the lines. So, getting a nice, steady rhythm, that was even throughout the course was really important, and he did that, so it was great.”
Novice Rider
Anna Howell and her own Bodacious Affair (Kaeson’s Tuxedo Affair x Exclusive Ballerina) a 2003 Thoroughbred/Shire gelding, steadily climbed the leaderboard all weekend, sitting in third after Dressage on 25.2, adding nothing to their score on Cross-Country to move into second, and finally jumping double clear this afternoon to take home the win in the Novice Rider division.
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Anna Howell and Bodacious Affair ©USEA/JessicaDuffy |
Beginner Novice Amateur
Cami Pease came all of the way from Washington D.C., and represented the East Coast well, as she held her own throughout the entire Beginner Novice Amateur division, ending the 2018 in first place with 24.5 penalties aboard her own 2000 Belgian Warmblood gelding, Vibrant. “You can’t ever count on anything,” stated Pease, “But we are both very comfortable in the arena and I could tell that he was having a lot of fun. If I ride fine, he’ll take me around. Cross-Country is our hardest battle. Both of us started out in the Equitation ring, so we can do flatwork, that’s all fine, but Cross-Country still makes us a little nervous.”
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Cami Pease and Vibrant ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
Beginner Novice Rider
The Beginner Novice Rider division was championed by Tricia Leslie of Colorado and her own Inate Dignity (Subordination x Indygo), a 2006 Thoroughbred gelding, as the duo finish atop the division on a score of 27.3. Area V rider Patti Champion came from Texas, and guided Invincible, her 2009 Thoroughbred gelding to second place on a 32.2, while Lindsey Kahn of MN, and Seoul Sister, a 2010 Thoroughbred/Connemara mare (Firebee x Limerick Lace) collected third place with their final score of 33.3.
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Tricia Leslie and Inate Dignity ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
“I was not expecting this victory, but it’s really wonderful,” exclaimed Leslie, who lives just down the road from CHP. “It was so nice to have the AEC in our backyard! It’s hard for us to get out East, so it was fun for us to have the opportunity to do this. I just got back into Eventing!”
Champion also agreed with Leslie’s compliments about the excitement of a Midwestern AEC. This was the mother of four’s first time competing out of her Area, and the weekend ended on a high note for her and her mount. “Vince and I have been together for two years, so we’ve worked really hard to get here. We’ve just had so much support from the kids, and my trainer and my husband,” she said.
Kahn also found herself at the top of the leaderboard after a consistent week of competition, moving up from eleventh-place after Dressage to third following both a fantastic Cross-Country and Show Jumping round. “It’s just been an awesome journey learning to trust each other. She’s a very brave mare, so I always have fun with her at competitions so riding her here is a huge honor,” explained Kahn.
Beginner Novice Horse
Alexa Ehlers and Clear Laveer, (Rascalino x Hauptstutbuch Wincenta 2), her own 2006 Hanoverian gelding, led the Beginner Novice Horse division wire-to-wire on their Dressage score of 27.4. “I have loved the AEC [this year] because I’ve been able to spend time with my family and my friends,” Ehlers shared. “I grew up in Texas and then I moved to Kentucky, so I haven’t seen a lot of people in five or six years. This is my first AEC! When I was in college, I went to try and go. I had a Preliminary horse that was actually here [this year] with a Preliminary junior rider, but I broke my back the day before we were supposed to leave. It just never worked out. It’s cool that it finally worked, and it worked like this.”
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Alexa Ehlers and Clear Laveer ©USEA/JessicaDuffy |
Junior Beginner Novice
Ella Robinson and Fernhill Fearless des Terdrix (Nabab de Reve x Untouchable), her own 2010 Dutch Warmblood gelding, waited patiently in the wings all weekend on their Dressage score of 30.3, moving from equal third to equal second after Cross-Country and taking home the win with the Cross-Country time closest to optimum time.
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Ella Robinson and Fernhill Fearless des Terdrix ©USEA/LeslieMintz |
Click here to view a full list of results!
For more information on the 2018 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena® Feeds, please visit www.useventing.com and to learn more about The Colorado Horse Park (CHP), please visit www.coloradohorsepark.com.
Photo Credit ©USEA/Leslie Mintz & Jessica Duffy. These photos may only be used once in relation to this press release with proper credit.
About the AEC
The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena® Feeds is the pinnacle of the sport for the national levels. Held annually, this event draws together the best competitors from across the country vying for national titles from the Beginner Novice through the Advanced level. This year’s AEC was held at The Colorado Horse Park in Parker, CO, August 30-September 2, 2018.