Lexington, KY – Good fortune in the dressage ring continued for the 2011 Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team at the 2011 Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials. The final two U.S. riders drew Friday times and both of them produced very competitive efforts.
Clark Montgomery led the day for the USA with a score of 45.4. He rode Holly Becker, Kathleen Kraft and Carole Montgomery’s Loughan Glen to a score of 45.4. The CCI3* winners at the Bromont International Horse Trials in June, Loughan Glen and Montgomery received a Land Rover Competition and Training Grant to test their form in the U.K.
Montgomery and the 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse had two mistakes, keeping them from an even better score, and there was more than a 20-point differential in the judges’ marks. They sit in seventh place heading into the cross-country.
“I was very happy with Glen today,” said Montgomery. “Overall, I felt the quality of work has improved from Bromont. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the extended trot and then forgot my halt so I am a couple of points higher than I should be. I am really looking forward to the cross-country tomorrow. The course is beautiful and the ground is perfect.”
They are less than a point and one place ahead of teammate Jules Stiller who rode a stellar test on Thursday on Headley Stud Eventing’s Enjoy Me. They head to the cross-country on a score of 46.2, just a few marks ahead of California Rider Tiana Coudray and Jaital, Inc.’s Ringwood Magister on a 49.4.