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The Show Jumping for the Combined Test took place at the Horse Park of New Jersey, under lights, at 9:00 PM because the Show Jumping for Eventing at the Athens Olympic Games will also be under lights.

(Posted Thursday, July 15th): The following is some further news and rider comments re: The Mandatory Outing.

Stephen Bradley, who had a good Cross Country run with From, commented on the condition of the course in light of the 4 - 6 inches of rain which fell the afternoon and night before the Mandatory Outing, "The footing was actually quite good. It was good to have the rain as the ground had been firm. A fair bit (of the early competitors) slipped. Word got back to us to put in bigger studs".

Captain Mark Phillips, the Coach of the Eventing Team, explained, "These horses have not gone Cross Country since Kentucky. This is not a Secection Trial, this is a Selection Outing. More particular attention will be paid to their form in the Selection Trials in the spring and last year." He also spoke of the Brits, with Pippa Funnell and William Fox-Pitt and the French with both the reigning World Champion, Jean Teulere, and the reigning European Champion, Nicholas Touzaint, in their team as being the toughest competition.

Jan Thompson related, regarding the Show Jumping at night, that, "Under lights horses are very spooky. It's a great thing that we've been able to come here and practice stadium in these conditions."

Julie Richards was asked how it was that she was the only person to Show Jump double clear. She answered, "I have a horse named Jacob Two Two! - that's the secret!" (whereupon Abigail Lufkin interjected, "Yes, trained by me!). Julie continued, "My husband (Jim Richards, of Foxhall Cup fame) made me do it! He made me go to practice under the lights at Poplar Place. (Julie and Jacob Two Two are pictured at the right at the single corner on Cross Country.)

Everyone agreed that the Schooling Area was dark and that it was difficult to come from there into the brightly lit arena. Kim Severson said, "I was very pleased with Dan. The Schooling Area was dark I couldn't see the brown rails. It's hard to go from dark to light. It was much darker in the warm up. There were people on the rail, close to the fences."

When asked why the Show Jumping performances were so poor, David O'Connor commented, "We had a very hard jump school before we came on Saturday. The triple combination being against the crowd was difficult. Every time you do a bunch of stuff in one day it's a different game.

Amy Tryon talked about flying her horses from Washington State to Dulles Airport, in Virginia, just prior to last week's training session. "I didn't think I rode particularly well. They (My Beau and Poggio II) really tried. They flew out here from 60 to 70 degree weather to 90 degree weather. They stood on the tarmac in Atlanta for 8 hours. They broke out in hives." When asked if flying from tge relative cool of England to the anticipated 90 degree heat in Athens wouldn't be the same, Amy answered, "the last time (before the WEG in Jerez) we stayed here. The horses got stale in the heat in Virginia."

David O'Connor was enthusiastic about the Team and their chances in Athens. He said, "We have a strong group of horses. We have a strong group of people. If the cohese as a group, they'll be tough. We have two of the top horses in the world, Winsome Adante and Carrick. You'd be proud to take 'em anywhere in the world!" David continued regarding some of the strongest riders who would be in Athens representing other countries, "They put their pants on the same way we do." Kim Severson quipped, "Yeah, and take them off - - -!"

The Results were as follows:

1. Kim Severson, Winsome Adante - 44.2 (4 jumping, 0 time) (Kim and Nancy Hutch, President of the Horse Park of New Jersey, are pictired at the left during the presentation of ribbons.)
2. John Williams, Carrick - 47.2 (4 jumping, 0 time)
3. Amy Tryon, Poggio II - 54.6 (8 jumping, 1 time)
4. Julie Richards, Jacob Two Two - 55.2 (0 jumping, 0 time)
5. Heidi White, Northern Spy - 57.8 (8 jumping, 0 time) (Heidi and Northern Spy are pictured below at the tight jumping into the water on Cross Country.)
6. Stephen Bradley, From - 60.2 (12 jumping, 0 time)
7. Will Faudree, Antigua - 63.0 (12 jumping, 3 time)
8. Darren Chiacchia, Windfall II - 63.2 (20 jumping, 0 time)
9. Jan Thompson, Task Force - 64.4 (8 jumping, 0 time)
10. Holly Hepp, Damien - 64.8 (12 jumping, 6 time)
11. Abigail Lufkin, Kildonan Tug - 66.2 (4 jumping, 0 time)
12. Amy Tryon, My Beau - 69.2 (20 jumping, 0 time)
13. David O'Connor, Outlawed - 73.4 (12 jumping, 11 time)
Ret. SJ. Nathalie Bouckaert, West Farthing - No Score.
Withdrew before Show Jumping. Kim Severson, Maguire - No Score.

Editor's Note: The following Press Release came Wednesday morning. It will fill in interested readers as your intrepid reporter heads back to home base in Lexington, KY.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 14, 2004

Kim Severson and Windsome Adante Top Final Mandatory Outing
Final Phase of Selection Process for 2004 Olympic Eventing Team

Allentown, New Jersey - Kim Severson of Keene, Virginia and Winsome Adante are ranked #2 in the world and at yesterday's one day competition at the Horse Park of New Jersey in the Final Mandatory Outing they looked very deserving of that ranking. As they did at the Rolex
Kentucky Event in April, the only four star event in the United States, Severson and "Dan" grabbed the early lead in the dressage and never gave it up. Their final score was 40.2. They had a clean cross countryround.

The one day competition was the final phase of the selection process for the 2004 Olympic Eventing Team and consisted of dressage in the morning at 10:00 am, a short cross country course this afternoon beginning at 3:00 pm, and show jumping under the lights at 9:00 pm. The outing was
described by US Coach Captain Mark Phillips as "not a selection trial but a selection outing," the scores consisted of the dressage test and stadium jumping scores only, cross country scores were not counted toward the final score. Riders received coaching and training tips throughout the competition from Jessica Ransehoussen, Chef d'Equipe for the US Dressage Team; the legendary George Morris, who provides additional training to the team in show jumping; and from Mark Phillips.

"I'm thrilled today, right this second," said Severson, "but there's three more weeks," she added referring to the Olympic Games in Athens.

John Williams of Middleburg, Virginia on Carrick was second with 43.2; Amy Tryon of Duval, Washington on Poggio II was third with 45.6; Julie Richards of Atlanta, Georgia on Jacob Two Two was fourth with 55.2. Both Carrick and Severson knocked down one rail in the show jumping phase of the competition, which proved to be rather difficult for many riders. There was only one clean round for both time and jumping faults and that was posted by Julie Richards. The jumping competition was held under the lights to simulate what the riders will experience in Athens.
The rails at the long-strided triple combination seemed to be the nemesis of many riders as they came off a turn in the tight arena, looking into a crowd seated fairly close to the rail. Several riders
cited that the long day of competition for both them and their horses contributed to rails down in the show jumping.

New Jersey was pounded by torrential rain on Monday, the day before the competition, with as much as 17 inches in some locations, but the Horse Park of New Jersey managed to escape the heaviest downpours. Although the footing was slick on the cross country course, it was still quite
manageable. The course provided challenging obstacles most notably the water jump consisting of four elements and the "coffin," a combination of three big elements. John Williams observed, "the course Mark (Phillips) did for us was shorter. They all needed a run, they haven't been out since April," referring to the last major event, the Rolex in Lexington, Kentucky.

After the competition was completed David O'Connor, the individual gold medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, thought the potential of the Athens team is good, "This is a very strong group of horses, a very strong group of people. Everybody's got good technique, everybody has
experience. Whoever the top five are, if they get together as a cohesive group, that will be the difference. You've got two of the top four horses in the world here, who wouldn't want to have Windsome Adante and Carrick on their team?"

About the competition in Athens Coach Mark Phillips said, "On paper the French and British have the strongest chance, but at the Olympics you have to show up and shape up. If we go and do our business we'll be competitive."

Horses will be examined by veterinarians on Wednesday and Thursday. The team of five plus an alternate will be announced late Friday afternoon. On Sunday, the team, the alternate, plus four other horse and rider combinations will leave for England to train until August 10th, when
they ship to Athens.

For more information, please contact Maria Partlow, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications on (859) 225-6941 or via email at mpartlow@usef.org. USEF press releases are available on our web site - www.usef.org <http://www.usef.org/> .

Editors Note: Pictures and more rider's quotes will be available Thursday afternoon. Many thanks for your patience.

Tuesday, July 13th, Morning and Afternoom

The Mandatory Outing consists of a Combined Test with scored Dressage and Show Jumping, as well as an observed Cross Country. The Team for Athens, as well as travelling spares, will be named on Friday, July 16th. The Team will be chosen by the Selectors on "overall performance", not just on their performance at the Mandatory Outing. Horses will travel to Gladstone, NJ, the Headquarters of the US Equestrian Team Foundation, for veterinary examinations prior to the naming of the Team and Alternates.

The Horse Park of New Jersey is in the central part of the state, in Allentown. All of central New Jersey suffered a severe storm on Monday receiving 4 to 6 inches of rain. in spite of this unseasonable nor'easter, which tied road and air traffic in knots, the Dressage arena at the Horse Park was in wonderful condition.

Kim Severson won the Dressage on Linda Wachmeister's Winsome Adante. This pair were members of the Gold Medal Team at Jerez, Spain, in 2002. Her canter work was exceptionally professional and Dan's flying changes were seamless.

Jessica Ransehousen, the USET's Vice President for Dressage and the Chef d'Equipe for the American Dressage team, and herself a former Dressage Olympian for the USET, judged the Dressage Phase. After each competitor's ride she gave them a personal critique of their good and bad points. As it happened, Kim was the 15th and last to go. After Jessica's verbal critique she had Kim ride into the corners and ride half passes while she suggested finer points to make those trot movements even more acceptable.

Three people are tied for second, Stephen Bradley, an Eventing Olympian at the Barcelona Games, in 1992, and From (Steve and From are pictured at the right above, in the Dressage Phase.); Darren Chiacchia riding Dr.Timothy Holekamp's Windfall II; and John Williams with his WEG Team Gold Medal mount Carrick, from Jerez, in 2002. (John and Carrick are pictured at the left below, in the Dressage Phase.)

Amy Tryon, also a Team Gold Medalist at the last WEG, stands alone in fifth place on 45.6, 5.4 faults adrift of the leader, with Poggio II. Amy also stands ninth with her other ride My Beau, on 49.2.

Holly Hepp riding Mari K. Secrist's Damien and the recently married (to Michael Pollard) Nathalie Bouckaert riding her father's West Farthing are tied for sixth. Both have scores of 46.8.

Holly Hepp said, "I have to credit Sandy (Phillips, Mark Phillips' wife, also a former Dressage OLympian for the USET) for the great improvement (in Damien.) We worked together at the clinic in Virginia and I had a lesson with her here (in New Jersey) yesterday and this morning." Damien and I "... are really developing a relationship. We are starting to work as one. In fact this is the our one year anniversary." Holly took over the ride from Phillip Dutton almost exactly one year ago.

The Dressage results were as follows:

1. Kim Severson, Winsome Adante - 40.2
2T. Stephen Bradley, From - 43.2
2T. Darren Chiacchia, Windfall II - 43.2
2T. John Williams, Carrick - 43.2
5. Amy Tryon, Poggio II - 45.6
6T. Nathalie Bouckaert, West Farthing - 46.8
6T. Holly Hepp, Damien - 46.8
8. Will Faudree, Antigua - 48.0
9. Amy Tryon, My Beau - 49.2
10. Heidi White, Northern Spy - 49.8
11. David O'Connor, Outlawed - 50.4
12. Julie Richards, Jacob Two Two - 55.2
13. Jan Thompson, Task Force - 56.4
14. Abigail Lufkin, Kildonan Tug - 61.2
15. Kim Severson, Maguire - 62.4

* * * * * * * *

The the untimed and unscored Cross Country runs began at 3:00 PM. As one experienced Eventing reporter commented, "I'm glad I came. I wouldn't hve believed it if I had read it. I'm glad I saw it with my own eyes."

The Captain Mark Phillips designed, Morgan Rowsell built course caused an in-ordinate amount of trouble. The experienced riders and horses galloped around unscathed - Darren Chiacchia and Windfall; Steve Bradley and From; Amy Tryon with her two horses (Amy is pictured below at the left riding Poggio II, jumping the bounce into the water.); Kim Severson and Dan (Kim and Winsome Adante are pictured at the right jumping the corner out of the water.); John Williams and Carrick; and David O'Connor with Outlawed were fine. A few others scranbled and added strides and survived.

There is a saying at Rolex, "There is a broken heart for every dandelion on the polo field." Today the New Jersey Horse Park may well have earned the subriquet, "The field of broken dreams."

First to come to grief was Kim Severson with the relatively inexperienced Maguire, who ran out at the big corner after the Maui Jim Tiki Huts, left over from Jersey Fresh.

Next came Abigail Lufkin and Kildonan Tug, who tore through the water like Sherman's March to the Sea, scattering fence parts as they went. (The water complex consisted of a bounce in over a larger log than that used at Jersey Fresh, to a large corner in the water, to a second large corner just after the water.) At first Ab was going to try the complex again; then she decided to retire.

Holly Hepp and Damien simply could not unravel that a,b,c,d water complex. Three times they jumped in over the bounce and three times Damien ran out at the left hand corner. At last poor Holly asked one of the Selectors what she should do. The answer was to jump the "d" element, which she did and on they went.

Nathalie Bouckaert and West Farthing came to grief at the first of two logs on lumps, at which they had two refusals and barely made it over on the third try, through sheer guts and determination on Nathalie's part. Naturally, they went on to jump the troublesome water complex perfectly.

Finally came Jan Thompson and Task Force, who went as if Lucifer were chasing them, perhaps in a effort to make up for a somewhat undistinguished Dressage. All went well until the final complex - a coffin. Still going like the Hammers of Hell, Task Force got too close to the last element, left a knee and decanted Jan, who was unhurt.

Yes, the Cross Country course at the New Jersey Horse Park could well be named, "The field of broken dreams!"