Blenheim Report!
September 28, 2009 – Canadian eventers recently completed a successful competition tour in England in September
Canadian eventers recently completed a successful competition tour in England in September. Competitions included CCI 3* Blenheim International Three Day Event in Woodstock, Oxon, September 10th - 13th, and at the CCI 4* Land Rover Burghley Three Day Event in Stamford, Lincolnshire, September 3rd - 6th.
The top Canadian in the CCI 3* Blenheim Three Day Event was Jessica Phoenix, 25, of Cannington, ON, and her 11-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding, Exponential. Out of extremely high caliber field of 80 starters, Exponential and Phoenix placed 24th on a score of 54.4 dressage penalty points plus 17.2 cross country time penalties, over a course which saw only six riders jump clear within the time, and an eight penalty jumping round.
Phoenix also achieved a personal best in the dressage ring on her second horse Exploring. The pair secured a score of 49pp which placed them in excellent position to head out on the cross country course. Unfortunately the pair incurred 20pp while jumping up a maximum size bank when Explorings right hind leg slid off making it impossible to bounce over the next element, a hanging log. This was a disappointment however Exploring tackled the rest of the demanding course with ease in excellent form. He then jumped a beautiful show jump round seeing only one rail come down.
Both Exploring and Exponential finished the event in excellent health and made the trip home with ease. After a weeklong quarantine the horses returned home on Friday the 25th of September.
This trip was an incredible learning experience for Jessica and her equine partners! Both Exploring and Exponential are now qualified for the 2010 World Equestrian Games being held at the Kentucky Horse Park next September. Jessica would like to thank everyone that made this trip possible! This experience has been instrumental in gaining international experience and will be one of their greatest assets heading to the World Equestrian Games and the Olympic Games in 2012.
A note from our International Technical Advisor;
"As we expected, this endeavour was a great experience. While the results were positive, there is clearly a need to keep chipping away with international exposure and experience," added International Technical Advisor, David O'Connor. "There were phases of the competitions that earned personal bests for our riders, which is to say the least, encouraging. The few instances where the results fell short were offset by an obvious strong effort by the riders involved to be competitive. I was very pleased with how all of our riders adapted to their surroundings from the point of view of travel, training and venues with close to one hundred thousand spectators; to say nothing of competing head to head with the best in the world. We must continue to strive to include this type of exposure on annual basis. The Gold medalists in our sport have all gained experience from European competitions. I am very appreciative of all who made this trip happen and am already looking forward to our next one."
 |
It’s people like you that |
