March 11-13 Tallahassee, FL
The Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee, Florida marked the first event of the 2011 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series. Allison Springer and her own Irish Sport Horse gelding, Arthur, took home the top prize earning 200 points for the win and 40 bonus points for a clean show jumping round. Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos were second with 215 points, while Michael Pollard and Icarus round out the top three with an even 200 points.
From a respectable third place after dressage, Allison Springer and Arthur were the first on course during the CIC3* cross-country competition. Their comparatively quick round moved them up from third to first by the end of the day.
Course designer Hugh Lochore and his team had worked hard to improve the course and “open it up” for the competitors to have more space to gallop compared to years past. “None of the three-star competitors got inside the time,” explained Hugh. “But you wouldn’t expect anyone on this terrain to do so.”
“You always wonder how things are going to go,” Allison said. “It’s nice to be able ask other competitors.” Her plan was to “just go out there and do it,” and Arthur’s scope and big stride made easy work of the course.
[Contributed by USEventing.com http://useventing.com/competitions.php?section=gcs&id=2701] The 36-year old Virginian needed a near-perfect run in the stadium jumping course to maintain her lead over Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos. Springer clipped a rail on Jump 3, Jump 7B and number 10, but none fell over, much to her delight and that of the crowd at the Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park.Springer finished with 53.3 points, just ahead of Martin's 54.6. Perfect runs from Michael Pollard (Icarus) and Selena O'Hanlon (Colombo) could not improve the position of either and they finished third and fourth, respectively.“I don't get nervous and I’m not dreading competing,” Springer said. “I love to compete. But as far as executing and getting it right every time, that is the next thing I have been working on.”Over the past two years Springer has worked with Arthur to improve their show jumping. Sunday, Springer thanked Katie and Henri Prudent for their help in working with her and Arthur in that respect.“It’s been a number of years producing this relationship with this horse,” Springer said about the Irish Thoroughbred she owns. “It feels so great to know him so well. That’s what made cross country so easy: I know him so well and he knows me and trusts me so well. It’s just so much fun!”[Contributed by Will Brown, Tallahassee Democrat: http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20110314/SPORTS/103140320/Springer-wins-CIC-three-star-event-at-Red-Hills ]
Red Hills CIC3* is part of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, a prestigious series now in its eighth year. It includes seven events from across the country, giving top horse and rider combinations the chance to win prizes and cash throughout the season, as well as picking up leaderboard points. The top pair at the end of the Series takes home a check for $20,000.
Besides the eventing competition, Red Hills is a participating event in the USEA Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research Study. “We had two studies going on this weekend,” said Dr. Catherine Kohn, DVM, a leading veterinarian involved in the study. “In one we were testing the heart rate monitor. We are trying to report the cardiograms continuously while horses compete. The second is to look at the blood levels of a compound called cardiac troponin.” Cardiac troponin is naturally occurring in the muscle cells of the heart, but researchers hypothesize that some horse may liberate more troponin than others, suggesting potential stress or damage to the heart muscle. “Our overall goal is to learn why we have some horses getting seriously injured during competition,” Dr. Kohn said.
[Contributed by USEventing.com]
The Red Hills Horse Trials in Tallahassee, Florida marked the first event of the 2011 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series. Allison Springer and her own Irish Sport Horse gelding, Arthur, took home the top prize earning 200 points for the win and 40 bonus points for a clean show jumping round. Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos were second with 215 points, while Michael Pollard and Icarus round out the top three with an even 200 points.
From a respectable third place after dressage, Allison Springer and Arthur were the first on course during the CIC3* cross-country competition. Their comparatively quick round moved them up from third to first by the end of the day.
Course designer Hugh Lochore and his team had worked hard to improve the course and “open it up” for the competitors to have more space to gallop compared to years past. “None of the three-star competitors got inside the time,” explained Hugh. “But you wouldn’t expect anyone on this terrain to do so.”
“You always wonder how things are going to go,” Allison said. “It’s nice to be able ask other competitors.” Her plan was to “just go out there and do it,” and Arthur’s scope and big stride made easy work of the course.
[Contributed by USEventing.com http://useventing.com/competitions.php?section=gcs&id=2701] The 36-year old Virginian needed a near-perfect run in the stadium jumping course to maintain her lead over Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos. Springer clipped a rail on Jump 3, Jump 7B and number 10, but none fell over, much to her delight and that of the crowd at the Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park.Springer finished with 53.3 points, just ahead of Martin's 54.6. Perfect runs from Michael Pollard (Icarus) and Selena O'Hanlon (Colombo) could not improve the position of either and they finished third and fourth, respectively.“I don't get nervous and I’m not dreading competing,” Springer said. “I love to compete. But as far as executing and getting it right every time, that is the next thing I have been working on.”Over the past two years Springer has worked with Arthur to improve their show jumping. Sunday, Springer thanked Katie and Henri Prudent for their help in working with her and Arthur in that respect.“It’s been a number of years producing this relationship with this horse,” Springer said about the Irish Thoroughbred she owns. “It feels so great to know him so well. That’s what made cross country so easy: I know him so well and he knows me and trusts me so well. It’s just so much fun!”[Contributed by Will Brown, Tallahassee Democrat: http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20110314/SPORTS/103140320/Springer-wins-CIC-three-star-event-at-Red-Hills ]
Red Hills CIC3* is part of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, a prestigious series now in its eighth year. It includes seven events from across the country, giving top horse and rider combinations the chance to win prizes and cash throughout the season, as well as picking up leaderboard points. The top pair at the end of the Series takes home a check for $20,000.
Besides the eventing competition, Red Hills is a participating event in the USEA Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research Study. “We had two studies going on this weekend,” said Dr. Catherine Kohn, DVM, a leading veterinarian involved in the study. “In one we were testing the heart rate monitor. We are trying to report the cardiograms continuously while horses compete. The second is to look at the blood levels of a compound called cardiac troponin.” Cardiac troponin is naturally occurring in the muscle cells of the heart, but researchers hypothesize that some horse may liberate more troponin than others, suggesting potential stress or damage to the heart muscle. “Our overall goal is to learn why we have some horses getting seriously injured during competition,” Dr. Kohn said.
[Contributed by USEventing.com]
