Fair Hill’s Fall Festival CCI** Competitors
Half the CCI** riders competed in the dres- sage phase on T ursday, October 18 while the rest competed on Friday, October 19 along with all of the CCI*** riders. Representing Maryland early in T ursday’s competition was Marilyn Little of RayLyn Farms riding RF Azarah. She scored a 55.3 and tied for 16th place but fell to 30th after all rides had been completed at the end of both days. After several of the early riders had a few prob- lems on Saturday’s cross-course, Marilyn and RF Azarah were the fi rst in the CCI** to jump around double clean. T e perfect round moved the pair up into 13th place. At the end of the competition, Marilyn and RF Azarah were the highest placing Maryland entry for the CCI** fi nishing in 15th place after dropping one rail in show jumping.
After placing 14th at the CIC** at Plan- tation Field (and second among the junior/ young riders), Alexandra MacLeod was the youngest rider from Maryland in the CCI** at Fair Hill. She rode Railroad Man Jim to a 58.9 and tied for 43rd place after dressage. Alexandra had a stop on cross-country and
moved into 48th place. Alexandra and Rail- road Man Jim ended the competition on a high note, jumpinh double clean to move up to 40th place. In the junior/young rider standings at Fair
Hill, Alexandra ended up with a top-10 fi n- ish, placing eighth.
Colleen Rutledge of Turnabout Farm has competed
over the Fair Hill courses on several occasions. T is year, she had a good dressage ride on Covert Rights in the CCI** on Friday. She scored a 46.4 and was ranked 11th after dressage. “I had a rider mistake in the medium trot, but he was just great. I’m so proud of him,” she said. T e pair came out of the start box strong on cross-country day and slipped through the fi rst turn between fences 1 and 2. Colleen feels this dropped her horse’s confi dence a bit and he had a glance-off at 5B (the second element in the Elk Road Crossing). T is moved them down to 35th place. Covert Rights recovered from cross-country day full of
energy, passing the fi nal horse inspection Sunday morning. In the show jump ring, they had two rails down, but still moved up a few places into the 33rd spot. T at evening, Colleen hopped on a plane for France were she competed her 4-star horse Shiraz at the Pau CCI****. Colleen and Shiraz have now completed four out of the six CCI**** events in the world.
52 | THE EQUIERY | DECEMBER 2012 Successes & Opportunities Missed
Fair Hill International this year had several hits and some misses in terms of spectator needs. Here is just a quick list of Equiery ob- servations from this year’s event.
Success
• Dog Agility Classes & Demos – Set up very well and well received from spectators. Some spectators came specifi cally to participate in the various classes and demonstrations of- fered. • Tailgates – New expanded area was packed with partygoers. All those who ordered spots are planning on coming back next year. • VIP Tent – Fabulously decorated and the addition of local artists’ works was a plus. • People Movers – Ran smoothly all day on Saturday with stops in key places for specta- tors to enjoy food, festivities and watch cross- country. • Food – Great food everywhere, as is typical for Fair Hill. • PRO Bareback Jumping Challenge – Very exciting to watch a few pro riders jump around a 3’3” course bareback as part of the PRO chal- lenge. Hope they will be back next year.
Opportunities Missed continued...
• Horse Play – T e living history of the horse- play has come and gone. Not many people watch this anymore. • Tailgates – Although sections A and C were very full, section B had a few open spots. We suggest that next year this section be moved back from the ropes a bit more or the gallop- ing lane expanded to allow competitors less of a distraction. • Mule Jumping – A great addition to Fair Hill, but the demonstration would be better suited to Saturday in one of the side arenas, giving the mule crew a better opportunity to explain the sport to a wider audience. • Kids Area – T e corn sandbox was perfect, but where was all the other kid fun stuff ? Pony rides? Face painting? Not easy to fi nd for par- ents. • Vendors – A great variety in terms of a selec- tion, but very few vendors in general.
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
by Katherine O. Rizzo
T e 2012 Dansko Fair Hill International Festival in the Country offi cially began with all nine Maryland horses passing the fi rst horse inspection on October 17. T e fi ve Maryland entries in the CCI** were Marilyn Little (Frederick), Col- leen Rutledge (Frederick), Mary Macklin (Damascus), Alexandra MacLeod (Chevy Chase) and Melissa Hunsberger (Dickerson). Marilyn Little represented Maryland in the CCI*** on two horses along with Daniel Clasing (White Hall) and Julia Wendell (Upperco). Except for one rain delay on Friday morning, the weather was picture-perfect for this year’s event, drawing in lots of spectators each day. Overall, the stats from Fair Hill reveal that about 11,000 people attended this year’s festival with the largest crowds on Saturday’s cross-country day. Read on to see how our Maryland event riders fared in the competition and highlights from the festival.
Ginny Nayden
121212-856001
Holly Erdely
Katherine O. Rizzo
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