Riders start chase in World Cup qualifier

By DILLON TABISHThe Daily Inter Lake

Before competing in one of the biggest equestrian events in the country, Kalispell's Jil Walton received these unusual words of encouragement - "Fall off and drag."

But like an actor about to take the stage on Broadway, the superstitious rider was relieved to hear them.

"You have to say the worst thing that can happen out loud, like instead of 'Good luck,' you have to say 'Fall off and drag,'" Walton said.

"My reply is "It's possible."

The 43-year-old former Olympian went on to ride a solid show on her thoroughbred My Sedona on Friday in the CIC***-W Dressage on the second day of The Event at Rebecca Farm.

Walton earned a total score of 70.4 for 13th place after the first of three equestrian events that make up the lone HSBC FEI World Cup qualifier in the United States this year.

"I thought she (My Sedona) had such a good test," said Walton, who placed 17th in eventing at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

"The funny thing is, the things you get to be the most proud of are not always the highest level stuff. Like I did my Dressage test today, and I haven't seen the scoreboard, but I'm sure I'm in the bottom half. But for me I was all choked up because she kept trying. It was a big deal."

Kelly Prather of Bodega, Calif., took the early lead after totaling a 45.6, followed by Tiana Coudray of Ojai, Calif., who finished with a 47.0. The winner in the CIC***-W will earn $12,000 and a substantial place in the World Cup qualifying.

Nearly 500 riders in all competed in 23 separate divisions with crowds of spectators scattered across the plush grounds of Rebecca Farm. The Event continues today at 8 a.m. with Cross Country for all divisions and ends on Sunday with Show Jumping.

The main arena for Dressage began filling up in the early afternoon as Walton and the 14 other riders began showing in full eventing regalia.

She came into the Dressage knowing it was the toughest stage for My Sedona, an 11-year-old chestnut thoroughbred she started riding in January. Walton expects My Sedona to excel in the jumps today.

"She's ridiculously athletic," Walton said. "She gets up in the air and you feel like all four feet of her are coordinated and her brain is going. I mean, all I have to do is not make any big mistakes. She takes care of me. It gives me goosebumps just talking about it."

Another former Olympian, Amy Tryon of Wash., came in fifth in Dressage riding Leyland, one of the six horses she is competing on at The Event this year.

"So far it's been great," said Tryon, who competed in the last two Olympics. "My horse that I rode in the World Cup, he had a little abscess in his foot so he hasn't had the best preparation … He hadn't been ridden for four days, so I expected him to be a little silly, which he was. But he actually was as good as I could have expected him to be."

Tryon currently leads in four different divisions.

As far as the Olympics, Tryon said she still has her eye on it, even though there's a new generation of partners she has to train.

"I've got some young horses that are coming up and I retired Poggio, my older horse that had been to two Olympics, and so we'll see what the young guns can do," Tryon said. "We'll see if they can step into his shoes. They're big shoes to fill."

Tryon has been competing in Kalispell since the Herron Park days which preceded Rebecca Farm. Since that time, she's seen quite the growth in many aspects.

"I feel the quality of the field gets better and better every year," Tryon said. "This has definitely become a destination event for people to come to, it doesn't matter how far they have to drive."

The current leader, Kelly Prather, returned to Kalispell this year for the first time since The Event in 2007, which she won. This time around, Prather is riding Ballinakill Glory, a bay Irish breed. It's been strong in the Dressage in the past but never this strong, she said.

"It was a great ride. My horse was amazing today," Prather said. "She's been gradually getting better this year and today I finally felt like she was mature. She had a ton of energy and carried it throughout the whole test. So I was so excited."

On Friday, Prather earned her best Dressage score as a rider in the three-star, and treated her 10-year-old partner accordingly.

"She gets lots and lots of cookies," Prather said. "She's treated like a princess, pretty much all the time."

Whether Prather's early lead will hold up depends on her management of Capt. Mark Phillip's Cross Country course, which riders will attend to today. Phillips is a world renowned designer with a long history of eventing and his course is one of the reasons Rebecca Farm earns the world class reputation that it does.

Cross Country is considered the most difficult part of the Three-Day Event because of its mixture of advanced jumps strewn across a lengthy field course. The objective is to achieve the fastest time while showing pace and efficiency. If a horse fails to clear a jump or rejects the jump, a penalty is given.

Prather said the leaderboard won't be distracting her in the final two days because it comes down to her horse most importantly.

"I want her confidence to stay up and for her to go out ears perked and love it. That's what I'm going for," Prather said.

NOTES - Cathy Rasch of Whitefish came in second in the finals of the Young Event Horse 4 competition.

The Event at Rebecca Farm

Current Standings Through Friday

CIC***-W

1, Kelly Prather, Ballinakill Glory, 45.6; 2, Tiana Coudray, Ringwood Magister, 47.0; 3, Jennifer Wooten-Dafoe, The Good Witch, 51.4; 4, Kate Gillespie, Renegade Reno, 52.8; 5, Amy Tryon, Leyland, 54.0.

CCI**

1, Robyn Fisher, Lady Calido, 48.5; 2, Heather Morris, Slate River, 51.5; 3, Alexandra Slusher, Last Call, 53.9; 4, Glynis Schultz, Irish, 54.3; 5, David Koss, Look Sweet, 63.5.

CCI*

1, Amy Tryon, Jude's Law, 42.1; 2, Amber Shevin, Weltina, 44.6; 3, Arielle Eccher, Master Hill, 47.5; 4, April Gerlicher, Point and Shoot, 52.9; 5, Karen O'Neal, TC Royale, 54.6.

Advanced

1, Amy Tryon, Nicodemus, 40.4; 2, Kristi Nunnink, Corner Street, 42.5; 3, Anne Carr, Safari, 43.8; 4, Leigh Mesher, Mar De Amor, 47.5; 4, Heather Morris, First Mark, 47.5.

Open Intermediate

1, Tamra Smith, Bubbles at Bricky, 33.8; 1, Erin Kellerhouse, Parfait, 33.8; 3, Amy Tryon, Coal Creek, 35.0; 4, Mackenna Shea, Landioso, 35.9; 5, Stephanie Cooper, Calvin, 37.2.

Open Preliminary A

1, Karen O'Neal, True Avenue, 29.2; 1, Whitney Weston, Royal Heights, 29.2; 3, Allyson Green, Command N' Rule, 30.8; 3, Lynne Larsen, Frosch, 30.8; 5, Elaine Coller, Gid Up Winchester, 33.3.

Open Preliminary B

1, Amy Tryon, Victory Dance, 28.3; 2, Heather DuBois, Every Wish, 29.2; 2, Louise Leslie, Santarae, 29.2; 4, Aubyn Geser, Valeria, 29.6; 5, Ann Byron, Edelbrock, 30.4.

Jr. Open Preliminary

1, Alexa Orr, Osito, 29.6; 2, Brooke Bayley, Savoy Six, 35.4; 3, Alyssa Ryan, Free Joshua, 37.1; 4, Mackenzie Wolfe, Titus II, 37.5; 5, Katie Yozamp, Grace Kelley, 38.3.

Preliminary 3 Day

1, Jeanine Allred, Snap Decision II, 57.1; 2, Katherine Erickson, Dually, 60.4; 3, Anne Ladd, Quazar II, 67.5.

Sr. Open Training A

1, Jennifer Johnson, London Way, 29.5; 2, Natalia Gurmankin, Hail II, 33.2; 3, Kim Liddell, Houston, 33.2; 4, Whitney Weston, Tender Ack, 35.3; 5, Carol Irwin, On A Mission, 35.3.

Sr. Open Training B

1, Amy Tryon, Likit Good, 24.7; 2, Jessica Heidemann, Sylvan Farm's Chatarina, 26.3; 3, Leigh Mesher, Rafflasia Z, 27.4; 4, Robyn Fisher, Clair de Lune SE, 31.1; 5, Anna Logan, Slew's Fine Lady, 32.6.

Sr. Open Training C

1, John H. Camlin, Unycus, 28.4; 2, Karen O'Neal, Xena Warrior Princess III, 33.6; 3, Jordan Hanson, Trelawny, 34.2; 4, Mari Hebrook, Celsius, 35.3; 5, Wendy Lazier, It's All Him (Ryley), 36.8.

Sr. Open Training D

1, Therese Russell, Dante', 27.4; 2, Karen Laidley, Snow Globe Effect, 27.9; 3, Gina Miles, Patronus, 31.1; 4, Alexa Perkiel, Apres Ski, 31.1; 5, Weslee Wroe, Mercedes, 33.2.

Jr. Open Training A

1, Jenessa Olson, Indignant Rim Roc, 32.6; 2, Julianne Van Halst, Tristan, 34.2; 3, Alysha Kuykendall, Ileana, 35.8; 4, Lexy Funk, Notting Hill, 36.3; 5, Nicole Aden, With Gusto, 37.4.

Jr. Open Training B

1, Katherine Mellis, Castle View, 33.2; 2, Sasha Bolivar, Money Talks, 37.4; 3, Shelby Hoag, May Bee I Can Fly, 42.1; 4, Kylea Johnson, Truly Cruisen, 42.4; 5, Madeline Backus, P.S. Arianna, 42.6.

Jr. Open Novice B

1, Maria Schatz, Joe, 28.4; 2, Jillian Shay, What's Up, 29.5; 3, Charlotte Collier, Rockefeller IV, 33.3; 4, Laura Patterson, Jackie Brown, 34.7; 5, Markelle Linstedt, Sir Elvis, 35.3.

Sr. Open Novice A

1, Joshua Lacy, Walido, 23.2; 2, Sarah Haff, Defensive Player, 24.7; 3, Haley Thompson, Punk'd Out, 25.3; 4, Cindy Lippon, Kilpatrick, 28.4; 5, Chelsea Sevigny, Dirty Little Secret, 28.4.

Sr. Open Novice B

1, Susan Schafer, Hunters Harmony, 29.5; 2, Jennifer Card, Cavalry, 30.5; 3, Alisa Sprouffske, Tonga Coral, 31.6; 4, Meika Decher, Cobrador, 32.6; 5, Lauren Boriotti, Slingshot, 33.2.

Sr. Open Novice C

1, Sarah Lorenz, Southern Vintage, 25.3; 2, Lynda Bender, Rows McCue Norfleet, 34.2; 3, Leigh Taggart, Secret Agent S4B, 34.7; 4, Melissa McMaster, Artistic Epiphany, 35.8; 5, Robyn Fisher, Artesian, 36.3.

Sr. Open Novice D

1, Kathy Cain, Sidecar, 28.4; 2, Sandra Donnelly, Gelinas, 30.0; 3, Joshua Lacy, Wolkenzauber, 34.2; 4, Kelly Prather, Rubiginous, 35.8; 5, Stephanie Goodman, Yes We Can, 36.3.

Jr. Open Novice A

1, Brynn Hamel, Hettie, 25.3; 2, Michelle Eld, Moon Bay, 26.3; 3, Kate Ormiston, Seamus IV, 29.5; 4, Katherine Cole, Aidan III, 30.0; 5, Ellie Gilbertson, Idle Bells, 33.2.

Final Standings

Young Event Horse 4

1, Robyn Fisher, Artesian, 70.5; 2, Cathy Rasch, Idle Hour, 70.4; 3, Noel Clark, Gottevian, 68.7; 4, Becky Farrell, Walk on the Sun, 64.9; 5, Suzy Elliot, Fidalgo Bay, 56.0.

Young Event Horse 5

1, Robyn Fisher, Claire de Lune SE, 81.3; 2, Sandra Donnelly, Gelinas, 75.9; 3, Erin Spohr, Lady Laptop, 74.8; 4, Charlamagne Paasche, Bamboosero, 73.6; 5, Sarah Lorenz, Southern Vintage, 73.5; 5, Rebecca Lee, Jaunty Star, 73.5.