Plantation Field International CIC3* Wrap Up by Ashley Kehoe

Hello Everyone!

What an awesome weekend! Plantation really made this a fun event! Plantation Field is really turning into a top class event. I hear Plantation Field did an awesome job keeping the sponsors and owners tent well stocked, even my mother enjoyed a few bloody mary’s before watching me jump! (cracks me up, she gets more nervous watching than I do riding!) And PRO had riders working with the announcer, Ed Holloway, to give this event a real big time feel. One great thing about this venue is that you can see almost all the cross country fences from the top of the hill. On Saturday, The cross country courses looked beautiful, but there were alot of technical eliminations. The hard thing about having different courses for the national and CIC divisions meant there were a few riders that walked the wrong fences! It was a good reminder to make sure I never make that mistake!

Saturday started with prelim cross country, and I had some good practice on my horse, Magic Man. Unfortunately we didn’t get any more rain Friday night, so the ground was still quite hard. Most everyone came in with 10 or more time penalties on the 3* course. For me, I know my horse has a nitrous button, I’m just saving it for the CCI*** at Fair Hill in a few weeks. We had a super cross country round, Eric really listened to me the whole time. I took all the direct routes, and my ride went exactly as planned...except that long spot I saw at the ditch and wall(there’s always something to do better!) Later that evening, after lots of icing and equissageing (vibrating back pad to loosen up muscles) My mom and I stopped by the cocktail party on the way back to the hotel. A HUGE thanks to the Walker family for having such a nice party, and all they do to make the event possible. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay very long, I still haven’t found a way to make my homework do itself…so it was off to the hotel to do some work and get some sleep!

Today was fantastic. Mark Donovan designed a great stadium course on grass footing. Eric passed the jog, and in warm up felt like he was ready for cross country round 2! We had a clear round, which is a career best for us! The scores were all so close our clean round luckily moved us up to 2nd place! I was so excited; we won enough prize money to cover all the entry fees and expenses for the weekend! I’ll be busy with dressage bootcamp the next few weeks. I hope everyone comes out to Fair Hill, it’s the next stop on the PRO Tour Series, and Eric and I are going to give it all we’ve got!

~Ashley

Plantation Field International HT: Day Three by Lee Lee Jones

Today was the last day of Plantation Field International Horse Trials. Since I was finished competing, I came out to the event just to watch. In the CCI one star Nina Ligon and Chai Thai had one rail, but they held the lead and won. For the CCI two star, Lizzie Snow and Pop Star got very lucky with a clean round keeping them in the lead.

After the two star finished, there was a parade of the hounds followed by a shetland pony race, which I got a picture of. After the pony race there was the bare back jumping although Doug Payne turned it into a stripping contest as he was given the option by the announcer to discard his shirt as a way to get back into the competition!. In my opinion, Lillian Heard was the official winner. The picture below is of her jumping her friends horse over the brick wall, which got up to about 5'3. After all the fun the three star show jumping began. Jennie Brannigan who rides with Phillip Dutton had a beautiful round on Cambalda as shown in the picture below. They jumped double and won the division by almost 18 points! Overall this was a great weekend and a lot of fun. I can't wait till next year!

~Lee Lee

Plantation Field International HT: Day Two by Lee Lee Jones

The cross country went really well today! Cadet and I made it around clear with 8.8 time penalties moving us up to sixth. The first part of the course was all down hill so he got a bit strong. The first combination was a half coffin and I felt like I got a bit ahead of him, but he was so honest. The water was also a bit tricky because the striding was a bit off. It was either a short five, or a forward four between the rails in to the table out. A lot of people were coming to the out on a half stride, which was not very forgiving. When Cadet and I came through we jumped the left side of the rails and then bended right in four strides. It ended up being a little bit long but I just pushed him forward and he was great.

In the one star Nina Ligon with Chai Thai moved up into the lead. Lizzie Snow and Pop Star held the lead in the two star. In the three star Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda moved into the lead after Colin Davidson and Kristen Bond went off course. Overall I think the courses rode really well, but they definitely caused some problems. As for Cadet and I, we are finished but the one star, two star, and three star will jump tomorrow. The picture below is a shot I got on my phone of Amy Borun and Santas Playboy. I also took a really cool photo of a rider going down the drop at the ruins.

~Lee Lee

Plantation Field CIC Blog by Ashley Kehoe

Hi fellow Eventers!

My name's Ashley Kehoe, and I'm here at Plantation Field competing my horse, Mazetto, in the CIC***. It is great to be back in Pennsylania. I started riding with Radnor Hunt Pony Club not 20 minutes from the event, so this place brings back a lot of memories! I did my first Training level event here only 6 years ago, and now i'm getting a chance to ride the big course! Since 2004 there have been some great changes to the event. Plantation has always been beautiful, but now that the dressage rings are all set on top of the hill, the views are stunning.

The cross country course has a lot of great galloping, and the whole crew here has spent time aggravating the ground on all the hard downhill stretches. It rained a little last night, but the ground is still pretty hard. I'm looking forward to getting a crack at the 3* course, I think there are some good questions. I think the most influential fences on course will be 8a&b, 13ab &14, and the water jump. 8a&b is a winding skinny to a corner in the woods, it will require being very committed to your ride, and having a horse that doesn't mind a good surprise, as the fence is partly obscured by tree branches. 13ab &14 is a tricky combination of angled or turning tables. There is a big table, 7 strides to a hanging log, then either 3 or 4 strides through a gully (In the picture you can see a bit of the hill, but it is actually an old sunken road) then 2 strides to angle out over the last table. I think it will be ridden in a few different ways tomorrow. The jump into water is a long bounce, then 5 strides to a corner on the way out. I competed in the Intermediate here last year with Eric, and really liked how the open fields let you get in a good rhythm. I'm lucky my horse likes to do XC almost as much as I do.

For those of you who haven't heard of Mazetto, aka Eric, let me introduce you. He is a 15yo, 16.3h Cleveland Bay/NZ TB cross. Eric and I have been partners for a year and a half, but i'm still as obsessed with him as the day he walked off the trailer! He has the personality of a princess, a puppy dog, or a trouble maker...depending on the day. He likes to kick the stall wall, or trailer whenever he feels he is not getting enough attention! He knows he's talented, and would jump a house for me if I asked him. He LIVES for cross country, enjoys the show jumping, and tolerates the dressage...somedays. Other days, like today, he reminds me of a naughty kid rushing through his homework to get to recess!

At least the hard part is behind us, bring on the Cross Country!

~Ashley

Plantation Field International HT: Day One by Lee Lee Jones

This is my first blog for the Plantation Field International Horse Trials. My name is Lee Lee Jones, I am sixteen years old and a competing member of PRO. My stepdad and coach is Phillip Dutton. This weekend I am riding my six year old gelding, Model Cadet in the junior prelim. Today Cadet and I completed our dressage test as well as our show jumping. Our test was definitely not our best! He switched leads in the counter canter so we ended up getting a 40, which put us in 4th. Then we had two rails in the show jumping, dropping us down to 7th. I was a bit disappointed coming out of the ring because I knew that both of the rails were my fault. But the show jumping did cause a lot of problems for the other competitors! Overall today went really well! Kristin Bond and Are You Ready are in the lead for the three star on a 49.5. In the two star, Lizzie Snow and Pop Star have the lead with a 45.8. And for the one star, Missy Ransehousen and Fantastik are in the lead on a 40.8. Today, I also walked the XC course and it looks pretty good! There are some tough questions like the water, but it should be a lot of fun. The day wrapped up with a really fun barbecue. The main attraction was Kids Grand Prix Jumping Competition. This picture is of me jumping about 3'6! I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow!!!