Tag Archives: Michael Pollard

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Kentucky Three-Day

Michael Pollard (USA) Leads the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event after Dressage Day One

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1st place – Michael Pollard (USA) riding Mensa G.

(USA, 24 April 2014) Michael Pollard (USA) riding Mensa G, Thursday 24 April 2014, is the current leader after Day One of the Dressage phase, with Will Faudree (USA) riding Pawlow in 2nd place, and Doug Payne (USA) riding Crown Talisman in 3rd place, at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington.

Results after Dressage Day 1:

1. Michael Pollard/Mensa G (USA) 49.5
2. Will Faudree/Pawlow (USA) 49.8
3. Doug Payne/Crown Talisman (USA) 51.2
4. Marilyn Little/RF Demeter (USA) 51.3
5. William Fox-Pitt/Seacookie TSF (GBR) 51.5
6. Sinead Halpin/Manoir De Carneville (USA) 51.7
7. Emily Beshear/Here’s To You (USA) 52.2
8. Phillip Dutton/Trading Aces (USA) 52.5
9. Sarah Bullimore/Reve Du Rouet (GBR) 52.7
10. Bruce (Buck) Davidson Jr/Petite Flower (USA) 54.2

Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing Current Contender

Andrew Nicholson (NZL) has travelled to the Kentucky Horse Park as the new Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing ‘live contender’ and the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event defending champion. This follows the news announced on 23 April 2014 that last year’s winner of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, Jonathan Paget (NZL), has officially been disqualified following a “partial decision” by the sport’s governing body Tribunal. As a result of Paget’s disqualification Andrew Nicholson and Avebury have now been promoted and are the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2013 winners.

All eyes are now on Nicholson to see if he can repeat the form he demonstrated in 2013, by winning the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, which will put him one competition away from the coveted USD$ 350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing Prize. Nicholson is competing in Kentucky on his grey gelding Avebury.

Quotes from Michael Pollard (USA) (link to audio of full post-event press conference below):

Q. Michael – tell us about today.

I just wanted to have a good start. I’m sure that tomorrow there will be some great combinations and I’m probably not likely to stay in the lead but at least it’s a competitive start.

Q. Michael – at this moment feeling good about Saturday?

It’s a four star, so it’s going to be hard for everybody but I’m riding a very good horse and I’m feeling good about my preparations and so it’s just about treating it like another event and doing my best.

2nd place - Will Faudree (USA) riding Pawlow
2nd place – Will Faudree (USA) riding Pawlow

Quote from Will Faudree (USA) (link to audio of full press conference below):

Q. Will – how was your test?

He is a very experienced horse and has been at this level or a while now. All in all he stayed very rideable throughout the test and overall I was happy with him.

Quote from Doug Payne (USA) (link to audio of full press conference below):

Q. Doug – so you won’t be back here on Saturday. Can you tell everyone why?

Unfortunately not; I hope and pray that ultimately I will be back here again in years to come. I have to first thank my owners and Land Rover for my grant as without them I would not be here. Being that I was entered here at Rolex I think it was especially for this horse who is a little bit more excitable and potentially could be affected by atmosphere there is no better place to go and compete than here to see how we measure up, and ultimately I know for sure that he [Crown Talisman] will be better off for today’s competition. A long story short: we are going to withdraw and go to Jersey fresh in the three star there and then Saumur for the three star there.

Copyright Free Audio

3rd place - Doug Payne (USA) riding Crown Talisman
3rd place – Doug Payne (USA) riding Crown Talisman

Click on the following link for copyright free audio of the post-event Press Conference after Dressage Day One with the top three placed riders:
http://po.st/E5RwLk

For more information on the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and full Results/Leaderboard, please visit www.rk3de.org.

Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing

In 2001, Rolex created the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. This trophy is awarded to the rider who manages to win the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials event in any consecutive order. Until now, only British rider Pippa Funnell has managed this staggering achievement, winning the title in 2003.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Kentucky Three-Day

Pollard Tops the Leaderboard Following Day One at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

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Michael Pollard and Mensa G (Shannon Brinkman)

Lexington, Ky. – Competition began Thursday at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover with the first day of dressage. Thirty-one horse-and-rider combinations performed their test in the Rolex Stadium in front of the Ground Jury of Sandy Phillips (GBR), Gillian Rolton (AUS), and Christina Klingspor (SWE). The U.S. riders took a commanding lead on Thursday holding the top positions on the leaderboard.

Michael Pollard (Dalton, Ga.) sits in first place with Mensa G after scoring 49.5 following day one of America’s only CCI4*. He performed a lovely test with his, Carl Bouckaert, and Nathalie Pollard’s 16-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, performing quality movements.

“I’m happy, not surprised, necessarily,” commented Pollard of his placing. “He’s a horse that can do a very good test. I was thinking more about trying to execute the best [test] that he could do and I thought his work is probably the best work I have gotten out of him. We left some points on the table with some bad changes but other than that I thought he was really good. Honestly I thought someone would sneak in front of me today but I’m not really surprised necessarily.”

Pollard had a good start to the competition, and while he knows it is only the first day, he hopes his success will continue throughout the weekend. When asked about cross country day on Saturday, Pollard said, “It’s a four-star so it’s going to be hard for everybody but I’m riding a very good horse. I feel good about our preparation so it’s just a matter of treating it like another event and doing my best.”

Sitting in second place only 3/10ths of a point behind Pollard and Mensa G are Will Faudree (Hoffman, N.C.) and Jennifer Mosing’s Pawlow with a score of 49.8. With the 15-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding, Faudree rode a smooth, obedient test with good trot work and clean changes.

“In my test today, I was happy with my trot work,” Faudree stated. “I was a little conservative in the first medium trots, but all and all I was happy with his trot work. I think where I threw away too many points today was in the very first counter canter loop. He sucked behind me and at home I would have smacked him with the stick and kicked him and kept going but I just wanted to keep the counter canter.”

Doug Payne (Aiken, S.C.) lies in third place with Crown Talisman on a score of 51.2. He and his and Amelia and Larry Ross’ 11-year-old Holsteiner/Thoroughbred gelding performed a polished test in the atmosphere of the Rolex Stadium. Despite the pair’s good placing, they will be withdrawing from the remainder of the competition to set their sights on the Saumur CCI3*, for which they received a Land Rover Competition Grant to gain valuable experience at the major European competition.

“I hope and pray that ultimately we will be back again in years to come,” said Payne of his plan to withdraw. “I was entered here at Rolex and especially for this horse, who is a bit more excitable and could potentially be affected by environment; there was no better place than this in this hemisphere to go and compete and see where we measure up so hopefully we will be better following today’s competition.”

Day two of dressage begins tomorrow at 10:00am ET with Lillian Heard and Share Option.

By Kathleen Landwehr

Watch the live stream on the USEF Network presented by SmartPak here: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2014Rolex/.

For more information about the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover, visit www.rk3de.org.

Follow the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team at http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/LandRoverUSEventingTeam/.

Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, Pan American Games, USEF

Land Rover Competition and Training Grants Send Pan American Games Athletes to Galway Downs CCI

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Lexington, KY – Two members of the Gold-medal winning 2011 Pan American Games Eventing Team, Buck Davidson and Michael Pollard, and the alternate, Kristin Schmolze, were awarded Land Rover Competition and Training Grants to travel to Temecula, CA and compete at the Galway Downs CCI, November 4-6.

Davidson and Pollard were each awarded $8,000 grant to contest the CCI3*, while Schmolze was awarded a $6,000 grant to compete in the CCI2*.

Because of logistical and timing conflicts due to being part of the Pan American Games squad, Davidson, Pollard were unable to compete at Fair Hill International CCI3* in early October – the only CCI3* on the East Coast.  The Pan Am horses flew to Guadalajara on the cross country day of Fair Hill.  The athletes couldn’t be in two places at once. Schmolze was part of the Pan American equation with Ballylaffin Bracken until the horses departed – she is also riding her CCI3* horse at Galway.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Pan American Games, USEF

US Eventing Team Leads 2011 Pan American Games after Dressage

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Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni Lead the U.S. Eventers (Photo: Shannon Brinkman)

Guadalajara, Mexico – The U.S. Eventing Team got their competition off to a strong start in the dressage phase at the 2011 Pan American Games, cruising to the lead by more than nine points. The top three riders’ scores from each team count, so the United States goes forward to Saturday’s cross country on a score of 138.6 penalties. Canada is second on a combined total of 147.4 and Brazil sits third on 162.7. Canadian Jessica Phoenix leads the pack individually with a score of 43.9 on Pavarotti – but the U.S. has four riders in the top five and all five riders in the top 10.

Best for the U.S. was Schoensgreen Hanni and Michael Pollard (Dalton, GA) who made a lovely impression in the ring at Club Hippica, and put forward a very credible effort to score 44.5. Owned by Pollard’s wife Nathalie, the 8-year-old German Sport Horse mare didn’t make any mistakes for Pollard and they cruised into second place.

“I was really pleased,” said Pollard. “She presented exactly what we’ve been working on with no major mistakes – maybe a couple of things I would like to do a little bit better, but I thought all in all she did a good test today. She’s a horse that can do the other phases as well, so it should be a good weekend.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, USEF

Sinead Halpin on Top for U.S. after Day Two at 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

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Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville. Photos: www. stockimageservices. com.

Lexington, KY – The dressage phase of the 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials concluded on Friday with incredibly close scores under sunny skies.  Only 10 points separate the top 21 places. The riders representing the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team are very much in the running heading into Saturday’s cross country. Eighty of the best eventing horses in the world are vying for top honors at one of the most prestigious CCI4* events in the world, and four of the five American horses are in the top 32.

Germany dominated the HSBC European Eventing Championships last week and it is the nation to beat again as Simone Deitermann and Free Easy NRW leads the way at Burghley with a score of 39.3. Deitermann is 4/10ths of a point clear of Thursday’s dressage leader William Fox-Pitt on Parklane Hawk. Fox-Pitt, who has won the event five times for the home team, rode Parklane Hawk to a second- place effort on a score of 39.7 – despite a two-point penalty for an error.

Sinead Halpin (Pottersville, NJ) leads the way for the U.S. with Carraig, LLC’S Manoir de Carneville, an 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding. The pair moved into 12th with an impeccable effort at their second CCI4* with a score of 46.0. Their effort was obedient and expressive, and they coped with the electric occasion of the main arena with class. Halpin’s trip to England, which also included the Hartpury CIC3* in August, was made possible by the Jacqueline Mars Training Grant awarded by USET Foundation. Halpin received the grant after placing third at the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Bridgestone, an effort which earned her and Manoir de Carneville the USEF National CCI4* Championship.

The combination has forged a remarkable partnership, and their effort provided a harmonious impression that was rewarded by the judges.

Continue reading Sinead Halpin on Top for U.S. after Day Two at 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials →