Ladies’ Day!

Tuesday Night: Open Jumping Begins, Walton and Ward Prevail
By Halie Greening

As the first $7,500 Open Jumper class commenced, the sun shone down brightly on the challenging course of towering jumps Tuesday evening set up in the Dixon Oval.

There was a sense of excitement in the large crowd knowing that this would be the first appearance of many of the riders vying for a spot in the Olympics. They were not disappointed with six on the long list competing, including former Olympians McLain Ward and Beezie Madden. Just after Ward finished his round, storm clouds that had been gathering erupted and interrupted the first Open Jumper class of the night. The excitement of the two clean rounds made by Madden and Ward held the audience’s attention well enough to keep them through the rain delay to watch the jump off.

With a winning time of 33.30 seconds, and a meticulously clean, flawless round, Michael Walton riding Wodca, owned by Mia Marano of Eagleville, PA, stole the spotlight and left the audience in awe. Walton was one of two with a completely clean jump-off round. Jessica Springsteen came close to his time, but she unfortunately took a fall on the third to last jump eliminating her from the jump off.

The rain continued to fall through the Single Horse Driving Classes, with a cancellation of the Coaching classes, the second $7,500 Open Jumper Class carried on with much cooler temps.

The riders proved to be as relentless as the rain itself.  With a new exhilarating course presenting the same level of difficulty as the first $7,500 Open Jumper Class, the riders gave it their all as they raced to beat the clock while keeping all rails up resulting in a clean round to advance them on to the jump off.  This time, three former Olympian’s were in mix; Beezie Madden, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward.  Only two riders made clean rounds while staying inside the allowed time of 77 seconds.  In the end, McLain Ward riding Apple of Sagamore Stables in Brewster, NY was named the winner of the $7,500 Open Jumper Class with a time of 69.78 seconds and zero faults.

The competitors seen in Tuesday night’s $7,500 Open Jumper Events will making several more appearances throughout the week at Devon in classes such as the $32,000 Open Jumper Wednesday evening at 5:00p.m. in the Dixon Oval, the $100,000 Wells Fargo Grand Prix at Devon Thursday night in the Dixon Oval, and Saturday in the Olympic observation event, the $50,000 Idle Dice Open Jumper Stake to be held at 4:00 p.m. in the Dixon Oval. 

 

A Conversation with Course Designer Michel Vaillancourt
By Nichole Osborne

Monday evening, while watching the AA Jumper Classic, I had the opportunity to talk to the man behind the course, Michel Vaillancourt. This is his first time designing at Devon and he praised the footing, the quality of the riding, and most importantly, the crowd.

“The crowd at Devon is truly spectacular, in regards to the knowledge of all things equine present, but also the fact that it is right against the ring, right there cheering on and engaging the horses and riders. Devon encourages riders to bring their game up, not only because it is the show of Champions, but also because of the presence of the public. These things are what will keep alive, and also further the sport; engaging the public and making their experience special brings people to cheer alongside the rings but also to aspire to one day ride in those rings themselves.”

Mr. Vaillancourt feels that Devon is not generic, in comparison to other shows, that the environment sells the sport to the spectator and makes it exciting. Simply put, Devon is not merely a horse show, but an event. Looking back towards what happens in the ring, he expressed the idea that the style his courses bring to the ring does not change depending on the show grounds, but he has had to ask riders and horses to bring their game to Devon, and to challenge themselves. With a simple gesture he reminded me of why we are all here, the sign at the end of the ring: “DEVON HORSE SHOW – WHERE CHAMPIONS MEET.”

This year is particularly special, for the sport, but also for Devon. As host to one of the US Show jumping Events for the London Olympics can be proud. The weight of this event will be the reason behind his courses for those classes, and they can be expected to test some of the best horse-rider combinations the U.S. can produce for the Selection committee. Mr. Vaillancourt is not striving to make those courses impossible, but instead to sift out those who might be stragglers and to bring out the best in the top riders. He reminds us though that this event is also a building block towards the Olympics for the combinations that will be going to London; not only must he provide a course that will make selection possible, but one that will prepare those about to cross the pond.