Maui Jim Wayne Horse Trials, 2004

Sunday, July 11th Show Jumping Day

Editor's Note: Apologies to all our loyal readers who expected to find Cross Country Results either Saturday evening or early Sunday morning. Technical difficulties in the form of recalcetrant telephone line in the home of my hosts, in Wayne, made it impossible for the Saturday story and photos to be posted until your intrepid reporter arrived at a Holiday Inn in West Toledo, Ohio on Sunday night - and you thought there was absolutely NOTHING charming about West Toledo, Ohio. Guess again! - the telephones work!

Stuart Black, who will be representing Canada in his third Olympic Games, in Athens, in August, won his third Maui Jim Wayne Horse Trials Advanced Section with his own Fleeceworks Pacific Storm on the strength of a double clear Show Jumping round for a final score of 40.45. Just to put the icing on the cake, Stuart also finished seventh with his and Mr Elkins Wetherill's Fleeceworks Blackout, who will be his Olympic mount.

Stuart said that the Canadian Coach, James Wofford, had told the team members to "definitely" not go for the time. When Jimmy walked the course with the Canadian Olympians he said, "I'm purposely not taking the wheel, just jump the fences and bring them back (in one piece)." (Stuart and Fleeceworks Pacific Storm are pictured at the right during their Victory Pass.)

Stuart also spoke of his 8 year old winner, Pacific Storm. "I saw him at a clinic at Chase Creek, in British Columbia, when he was six. He belonged to Barbara Marks. He's been doing Preliminary and Intermediate since I've had him. He did a CIC** this spring and was second in the Advanced at Pine Top. I'll be getting him ready for Fair Hill."

Becky Douglas Holder, who lives seven hours northwest of Wayne, in Minnesota, finished second with Courageous Comet. The pair had one rail for a three day score of 46.68. Becky spoke of the grey horse's Cross Country, "I tried to get his confidence back after (Rolex) Kentucky. He had foot issues there. I tried to give him a positive ride and show him that I was back on his side. He had no confidence problems. This is the second time he has run here (at Wayne) and his trip showed the experience he has gained in a year. I plan to take him to the Richland Advanced, outside of Detroit, and Poplar Place and maybe Fair Hill. Becky and Courageous Comet are pictured above at the left.)

Canada's Ian Roberts finished third with Mata-riki, who jumped a double clear for 47.95 and fourth with Napalm, an 8 year old grey, who pulled one rail for a final score of 48.45. Ian said, "The boys were good today and yesterday." Ian's biggest win so far was the CCI** in Mexico, in 1995 with Zappa. "Mata-riki finished fourteenth or fifteenth at Rolex this year," Ian added. (Ian and Mata-riki are pictured at the right.)

Ian's fellow Canadian Bruce Mandeville and the lovely mare Larissa, who jumped a double clear in the arena for a final score of 53.01, ended up sixth place. They will be heading to Athens next month.

Mark Kraus, the overnight leader, had 12 jumping faults for three rails down as well as two time faults to drop to fifth place on a final score of 51.39.

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Intermediate Sections

The Open Intermediate was won by Zoe Bedell (48.70) and Patmos Bentley from Bernard Morauw, who rode Kirwane (51.10) and Denise Rath with Dinasaur Roar (55.10).

Canada's Stuart Black, who had won the Advanced Section, won the OI/ Youing Horse Section with Fleeceworks Starlight. This pair finished on their dressage score of 37.50. Canada's Kelly Plitz and Amelia placed second on 49.00. Joshua Williams rode Trick to the third spot with a score of 63.50.

Megan Moore, of Ashland, Kentucky, won the OI/Young Riders with Never Stop Dreaming. This pair finished on their Dressage score of 37.00. (Megan and Never Stop Dreaming are pictured at the left jumping down the steps at the Intermediate Bank.) Coren Morgan, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Higher Learning (38.60) were second. Bonner Carpenter, who lives in Dallas, Texas, and Acapulco Jazz captured the third position with a score of 41.00.

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TThe Canadian Team for the Athens Olympic Games

Pictured above is the Canadian Olympic Team along with two of the Alternates

with their Coach James C. Wofford.

(L. to R. Stuart Black, Bruce Mandeville, Gary Roque, Mike Winter, Hawley Bennett, Suzy Pettman and Ian Roberts. Jom Wofford is standing in front of the Maple Leaf Fence.)

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Saturday, July 10th - Cross Country Day

The Dressage scores in the Advanced Section of the Maui Jim Horse Trials had been so close together that fast Cross Country runs were of the essence for success after the second Phase.

Mark Kraus, riding Prospector's Claim, had been off the Leader Board after the Dressage; but, rose meteorically to first place with a mere 1.2 time faults, for 3 seconds over the Time Allowed on the Cross Country course, and a two day score of 37.39 which moved him up to first place. Mark is from McHenry, Illinois. (Mark and Prospectors Claim are pictured at the right at the Steps up the Bank.)

Canada's Stuart Black stands second with his own Fleeceworks Pacific Storm. Stuart and Pacific Storm had the second fastest run of the day over the 30 fence course in the Pratt Wayne Woods Forest Preserve. They incurred 4.8 time faults for 12 seconds over the time allowed of 6 minutes 39 seconds, for a score of 40.45. Pacific Storm is not Stuart's Olympic horse. (Stuart and Fleeceworks Pacific Storm are pictured at the left below at the Steps up the Bank.)

Becky Douglas Holder, who was the travelling spare for the USET's 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Squad, placed third with Courageous Comet, on a score of 42.68. This pair had been tied for sixth after the Dressage Phase. (Becky and Courageous Comet are pictured below at the right Jumping into the second part of the water, at fence # 21.)

Ian Roberts, a Canadian not named to the team, stands fourth with Napalm on a score of 44.45, as well as 5th with Mata-riki on 47.95.

The two highest placed competitors from the Canadian Team for the Athens Olympic Games were Stuart Black riding Fleeceworks Blackout, who is in sixth place on 51.51, and Bruce Mandeville and Larissa, who stand seventh with a score of 53.07.

Yet another Canadian not named to the Olympic Team is in 8th place after Cross Country. Karl Slezak earned that distinction riding Private Ryan to a score of 54.28.

One of the Canadian Olympians had a refusal - Suzy Pettman and Kilcoltrim (113.04) stopped at fence # 9, the Log, Ditch, Doughnut, while Hawley Bennett finished on a score of 66.64 and Mike Winter's two day score with Balista was 87.83. Neither Hawley nor Mike were in any hurry on the Cross Country.

Brittany Kart, the overnight leader with Semper Fidelis had a refusal at fence #15, the Corner, Bank, Corner, and retired at the skinny after the water.

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The Intermediate Leader Board is as follows:

1. Zoe Bedell, Patmos Bentley - 44.7
2T. Bernard Morauw, Kirwane - 51.1(closer to optimum time) (Bernard and Kirwane are pictured below at the left, jumping the Corner in the Water on the Intermediate Course.)
3T. Denise Rath, Dinasaur Roar - 51.1
4. Peter Green, Magical - 51.6.

The Show Jumping begins on Sunday at 8:00 AM in two arenas. Training Sections are in the Middle Arena. Preliminary Sections are in the Grand Prix Arena followed by Advanced and Intermediate.

Your intrepid reporter will be travelling from Wayne, Illinois to The Horse Park of New Jersey for the Mandatory Outing for the US Three Day Squad for The Athens Olympic Games, which will take place on Tuesday, July 13th. Final results for the Maui Jim Wayne Horse Trials will be posted either late Sunday night or early Monday morning with pictures to follow.

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Friday, July 9th - Dressage Day

19 year old Brittany Kart, of Americus, GA, pipped the entire Canadian Olympic Team in the Dressage Phase of the Advanced Section at the Maui Jim Wayne Horse Trials, in Illinois, on Friday.

Brittany, who will be 20 in August, scored 32.17 with her 15 year old gelding Semper Fidelis, just .44 of a fault better than Canada's experienced Olympic and World Equestrian Games veterans, Bruce Mandeville and the liver chestnut mare Larissa, who finished on 32.61. (Brittany and Semper Fidelis are pictured at the right.)

Bruce, who has a law degree and a Masters in French translation from The Sorbonne, in Paris, lives in South Hamilton, MA and trains out of the barn that used to be the USET barn, when Jack LeGoff was the USET's Three Day Team trainer. "She scored a 25 at Groton House (two weekends ago), that's the best she's ever done, " Bruce commented. (Bruce and Larissa are pictured below at the left.)

Three Canadians are tied for third, all on the score of 33.04, a mere .87 of a fault adrift of the leaders. Hawley Bennett, who rides Livingstone, and Suzy Pettman, with Kilcoltrom, are both from British Columbia and both are named to the team for the Athens Olympic Games. Penny Rowland, on Windswept, who missed the cut for Athens when her Olympic candidate was spun at the Final Veterinary Examination at Rolex- Kentucky, in April, joined the above pair in a tie for 3rd. All three scored 33.04.

Hawley Bennett, who is 27, has owned Livingstone for ten years. He is her only horse. (Hawley and Livingstone are pictured below at the right.)

Tabitha Lee, riding Kalypso, and Becky Douglas Holder, with the grey Courageous Comet are tied for 6th, with scores of 33.48. Courageous Comet has a lovely way of going and displayed good self carriage; however, Becky incurred two errors of course. She forgot to halt and back at "C" and rode through the final halt at "X". Could Becky's mind be on something other than the Dressage Test? - perhaps her recent marriage? Nonetheless, she and Tabitha Lee are only 1.31 faults out of the lead.

Organizer Katie Lindsay commented at the beginning of the week, "We're having rain right now which is perfect. We've done a preliminary three days of aera-vating and the rain soaks in and does nothing but improve footing. We have entries from 22 states and 2 Canadian Provinces among the 270 . . ." competitors in levels from Training through Advanced. "We actually turned people away."

The Advanced Cross Country starts at 9:20 Am Saturday, at Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve, across Dunham Road from the Lamplight Equestrian Center, the site of the Dressage and Stadium Jumping.

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From: "Equestrian Sports Promotions", equestriansports@earthlink.net>

Jane Savoie Dressage Coach for Canadian Three Day Event Team
Date: Friday, July 09, 2004 12:50 AM

United States Equestrian Team member Jane Savoie has been asked to be the Olympic dressage coach for the Canadian Three-Day team. Building on her 1996 and 2000 coaching experiences, Savoie brings her competitive expertise in the international arena to the Canadian team.

Working with Jim Wofford, Canadian Eventing International Technical Advisor and Eventing Team Coach for the 2004 Olympic Games, Savoie will be assisting with various training camps prior to the Olympics. “The best part of coaching is to see how open and appreciative the riders are and to track their progress from training session to training session,” said Savoie.

The initial training sessions were held in February and March in Florida, Georgia, respectively. Additional training will take place July 27 thru August 2nd at the York Equestrian Centre in Newmarket, Ontario in preparation for the August 14-18 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

In addition to her coaching duties, Savoie has a busy training business in Vermont and Florida and is also a spokesperson for Tropical Rider fine riding apparel.