Several weeks ago Jan Byyny broke her foot in Phillip Dutton's arena when the young horse she was schooling spooked and fell on her. So it was from the sidelines that she cheered as her horse, Inmidair, won the CIC*** at Plantation Field Horse Trials in Unionville, Pennsylvania with Dutton in the irons last weekend.
Byyny bought the Australian import last August through Will Coleman and after running several Preliminary and Intermediate horse trials he placed fifth in the two-star at Jersey Fresh this spring. Byyny and Inmidair then placed fifth at the Advanced horse trials at Maui Jim Horse Trials before Dutton took over the ride for Richland Park and Plantation.
Dutton also rode Waterfront for Byyny, finishing third overall in the three-star. "Jan's done all the work on them so they were easy to ride," said Dutton.
Sinead Halpin and her Selle Francais gelding Manoir de Carneville finished second in the three-star. The pair also finished second last year at Plantation Field, in the two-star division. Halpin broke her arm right before Jersey Fresh this year and said that she is just feeling back in condition, though she and her horse competed in the World Cup Qualifier at Wit's End in Canada a few weeks ago, where they finished fifth.
Halpin recently moved from Middleburg, Virginia to Gladstone, New Jersey, and has a barn just a few miles from her boyfriend, Doug Payne. She received a training grant and has enjoyed being down the road from Betsy Steiner and Anne Kursinski, and also traveling to Virginia to work with Katie Prudent.
"My horse has been very consistent, but he's still kind of green at this level, and I really wanted to make the time on cross-country and be competitive on the flat," she said. "I was really happy with him all weekend."
Erika Treis Petersen and Under the Influence led the three-star after dressage but racked up more than 16 time faults on cross-country, dropping to ninth place. A double clear show jumping round moved them back to fourth, just ahead of local rider Boyd Martin riding Ron and Densey Juvonen's Remington XXV.
Plantation Field is just up the road from Dutton's True Prospect Farm, where Martin also trains. Dutton is on the organizing committee along with event director Denis Glaccum and the success of the competition was a personal reward. "I'm proud of our event," said Dutton.
The event boasted record entries in the international divisions and Glaccum said that they were turning away entries in the horse trials divisions. "We really ran more than we should have anyway," he said. "Saturday was a long day." But with careful scheduling, running some of the show jumping early so that some of the divisions were finished on Saturday, they managed to squeeze everyone in.
Glaccum designed the cross-country courses, which were constructed by Eric Bull. Glaccum said that the tracks were essentially the same, but they made things more interesting by giving the three-star and advanced divisions, different paths at the big complexes like the water jump and Plantation Field's signature "ruins" fence.
He also said that they worked all year on the footing, and he was pleased with the condition of the ground after plenty of rain that kept the grass growing all summer. "Normally in July you don't have to mow much, but we've mowed a lot and it shows," he said.
In the CIC2* Leslie Law piloted Java, a 7-year-old Hanoverian gelding, to victory. Java belongs to Law's wife, Lesley Grant-Law, who had ridden the horse to Preliminary, but she broke her leg earlier this year and is expecting a baby boy in November, so her husband took the ride several months ago.
 Leslie Law and Java had a great weekend to take home the blue ribbon on the CIC2* division. © Amber Heintzberger |
"He's extremely talented but very cocky," said Law. "Everything's a little too easy for him but the good thing is that the harder the task the better he performs - he likes a challenge. He's still only seven, so when Lesley is riding again she plans to do the spring season with him and then take him to the two-star Jersey Fresh. She wants to keep him for the long run. Meanwhile, I plan to take him to the two-star at Fair Hill next month."
Law also finished second in Open Intermediate-B riding Paladin, an 11-year-old sales horse that belongs to Chris Hitchcock. He has been riding the gelding, by Denny Emerson's stallion Loyal Pal, for a month and called him a "great example of an event horse."
In the Preliminary, Law finished fourth on Sophie Belle, an Irish Sport Horse mare that he is selling for Young Rider Brett Handy. Another horse Law was riding, Windsor High, was ranked third in the Preliminary but he was held on cross-country when Boyd Martin had a fall. Unfortunately officials stopped him just before a corner with a downhill approach. Since the horse is only six and still green Law decided to retire from the competition rather than start again at a challenging fence.
 Ryan Wood competed in the bareback puissance jumping competition which was organized for spectator's entertainment. © Amber Heintzberger |
Law was especially pleased with the support of the Professional Riders Organization (PRO) at Plantation Field, which provided a total of $15,000 prize money at the event.
"The prize money made it well worth the trip - I took home $1500 for winning the two-star, and that makes a big difference," said Law. "People forget that we do this for a living. That's the way the sport has got to go."
In addition to the regular competition, the event had some fun offerings for spectators. One popular event was the bareback puissance jumping competition, held before the three-star show jumping on Sunday.
Six riders contested this event, including Phillip Dutton, who brought Jacob Two Two, who his step-daughter Lee Lee Jones has been competing at the Preliminary level, for the occasion. The wall started at 4' and was well over 5' at the end of the competition (Dutton didn't want to push the 20-year-old horse too much so retired before the final round).
In addition to a well-attended trade fair, "show jumping" competition for children, as well as a petting zoo and bouncy castle in the trade fair, made the event a family-friendly day in the country.
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