OCT 2012
at the American Eventing Championships September 6-9, 2012 • Chattahoochee Hills (Fairburn, GA)
Although 135 horse and riders from Mary- land qualifi ed for the 2012 Nutrena/U.S Eventing Association American Eventing Championships, presented by Bit of Britain, only 30 riders and 34 horses made the trip to Georgia to compete. Out of those 34 entries, seven placed in the ribbons. Barbara Werther and Logan Elliott earned championship titles while Molly Sherman was reserve champion in her division. T ese three riders took the time to write about their AEC experiences.
Molly Sherman & Bento Box
T e American Eventing Championships was an amazing event that I was fortunate enough to go to with my trainer,
McGaughan.
Packy It
took a lot of time and work, but my pony and I stayed on a program, no matter what the weather or what else we had to do, so we were ready to compete! Chattahoochee Hills is an unbelievable venue. Everything ex- ceeded my ideas of how extraordinary it would be. I got to watch some of the top riders in the country compete and perform. I also got a chance to walk my cross-country course with Becky Holder. Becky won the Advanced divi- sion on her horse Courageous Comet. One of her husband’s inspirational quotes she shared with us on the course walk was, “What is the most important fence? T e next one.” Getting second out of 81 talented riders was a huge accomplishment for me and my pony considering we have only competed in fi ve recognized shows. My pony and reliable team- mate, Bento Box, has been with me for four years now. Over that period of time we have grown as competitors and friends. When I got him, he was a skittish pony with an unknown history and personality. Along the way we have had much help and support, sculpting him into the fabulous pony he is today. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work with Benny if it weren’t for our family friend, trainer and international eventing competitor, Terri Imp- son, who found Bento for us. His name was originally “As Good as it Gets” but we thought
96 | THE EQUIERY | OCTOBER 2012
his name did not give justice to his ma- ture personality. He had many qualities wrapped together in a cute and unique color (liver chestnut rabicano with bird catcher spots) so we went with the name Terri thought of, Bento Box—a compact Japanese lunch box. T is unique pony came in a unique way. My mom (Cheryl Sherman) told me my father (Scott Sherman) was going to Vir- ginia to help a friend move furniture out of his house and that he was bringing the trailer because he was picking up a couch his friend had no need for. When he got home I was asked to come help unload the couch. When I opened the door, out popped the adorable head of Bento Box. We have had so
much support from trainers,
friends,
family and Pony Club. T ank you, Tony Eyler, for helping us when we fi rst started out. T ank you, Terri Impson, for too many things to list! T ank you,
Packy, for bringing us along to where we are now—we could not have accomplished this without you. A special thank you to my biggest fans and supporters, my Mom and Dad.
Logan Elliott & Cady O’Daly Michael
As we were riding down to the American
Eventing Championships, I was just hoping to go clear show jumping and cross-country. Once we pulled in, I can re- member saying, “Wow, we’re really here again.” Last year, my Con- nemara “Mikey” and I competed at Beginner Novice and were the 2011 AEC champions for the junior division. After dressage, I was
so happy to have re- ceived such an incred- ible score, a 21.5. After that, though, the pres- sure was on to go clean
Marylanders Earning Ribbons
Logan Elliott/Cady O’Daly Michael Champion Novice Amateur
Barbara Werther/ Stafford Place Champion Training Amateur
Molly Sherman/Bento Box Reserve Champion Beginner Novice Junior
Pamela Blumberg/Kodak 4th Novice Amateur
Kate Chadderton/Fine Art 4th Novice Horse
Tayler Stewart/Strictly Business 5th Novice Junior
Sheri Thornley/Toga 9th Intermediate
Alyssa Ford/Bold Discovery 11th Training Amateur
cross-country. I walked the course and was a little nervous about a couple of the jumps, in- cluding the ditch. Mikey has refused a ditch this year, so I had it in my back of my mind. But Mikey cleared everything without any hesita- tion. So after a clear round cross-country I had the pressure now have a clear round in show jumping.
All the pressure on and my nerves were get- ting to me. Mikey and I have dropped a rail at several horse trials this year (my fault, of course) but I was lucky enough to know that I had a rail in hand going into this round. As we started to warm up, Mikey tripped twice, which made me a little concerned about him, but when we went in to do the course, he was perfect. He knew this was something special and he gave it everything he had. I am so proud of him. I would like to say a spe- cial thank you to Dona Ruth out of Ships Quarters Farm, Katherine Rizzo, and Serra Valley Farms for all you have done to help me get to where I am!
Barbara Werther & Stafford Place
About a year ago, my
riding coach, Packy Mc- Gaughan, mentioned that I was qualifi ed for the Ameri-
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