Compliments on the course
<p>Joeseph Buckley and "Bubbles at Bricky" jump over the fifth jump of the cross country course during the second day of The Event at Rebecca Farm Friday morning.</p>
<p>Rachel Ambrose rides "Brumby" through one of two water features on the cross country section of The Event at Rebecca Farm during the second day of competition Friday morning.</p>
<p>Kiera Sullivan measures the distance between jumps to determine how fast to ride during her run in the cross country course on the second day of The Event at Rebecca Farm Friday morning.</p>
Novice, Training and Junior/Year Open Preliminary classes had the first chance to tackle the cross country portion of The Event at Rebecca Farm on Friday.
Cross country will dominate the action today starting at 7:30 a.m. Three-star riders are expected to compete at 1:05 p.m. Cross country is scheduled to end around 6:30 p.m.
Friday's main action involved the CIC 3-star level with 20-elite competitors in dressage. Allison Springer of Philomont, Va., scored 37.4 on Arthur to hold down the top spot. She leads by 11 points.
"I am really pleased," Springer said in a press release.
"What happened in the dressage ring was considerably better than warm up all day long. He (Arthur) was beside himself. The cool weather feels great and with all the tents flapping he was excited. But he is maturing well, being a good boy.
"What I have been working on is exactly this - he is not a relaxed horse. He is spooky, nervous; a superb athlete, but I need to work through how to be consistent. When he is that tense and nervous it's a challenge to put together a consistent test. Today I didn't give any points away. Everyone had excited horses. The question is how can you manage that? But that's the fun of riding - managing this partnership."
Heather Gillette on Our Questionnaire was second, 48.4, and Hawley Bennett-Awad, riding Gin N' Juice, was third, 48.6.
Buck Davidson, who finished second overall last year at The Event, is currently standing in fourth place. Davidson scored 49.2 on Ballyneocastle RM.
"The course looks really nice," Springer said for today's cross country.
"I love how great the footing feels. Beautiful design, beautiful construction, beautiful footing - you can't ask for more."
Friday's Results
Top 10 after Dressage
Allison Springer (Arthur) 37.4
Heather Gillette (Our Questionnaire) 48.4
Hawley Bennett-Awad (Gin N' Juice) 48.6
Buck Davidson (Ballyneocastle RM) 49.2
Jolie Wentworth (GoodKnight) 50.4
Carl Bouckaert (Cyrano Z) 50.4
Tamra Smith (Mar De Amor) 50.6
Joe Meyer (Snip) 51.8
Barbara Crabo (Eveready II) 51.8
Alexandra Slusher (Last Call) 51.8