Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Finish 12th at Breda CIC
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Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Finish 12th at Breda CIC3*
But Blackie’s 3* Dressage PB goes unrewarded in Holland
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley (HHS Cooley) made an excellent return to international competition on the continent on September 4-6 by finishing 12th at the Breda CIC3* event in Holland.
Save for warming up at Somerford Park the pair hadn’t competed together since Cooley was withdrawn prior to April’s Rolex Kentucky CCI4* event. However, there were no signs of rustiness during a composed Dressage test that saw the USEF High Performance Training Listed duo finish with the sixth-best score.
Appalling weather conditions – later described by Liz as the worst she’d ever competed in – would check their progress during Show Jumping, though. Indeed, the sodden ground and driving rain proved especially tough for those, like Cooley, starting towards the tail of the field. Having only two fences down was therefore a very good effort, and Liz felt he jumped extremely well for the conditions he experienced.
A trouble-free Cross Country run duly secured the pair 12th on their CIC3* return, which Halliday-Sharp hopes will lay the foundations for a solid end to the season.
“We can be very proud of finishing 12th given the strength of the field and conditions in Breda,” she said. “Dressage set us up nicely for what could have been an even better result, but ultimately the Show Jumping conditions really cost us. I’ve never competed in anything like it; the ground was basically a bog by the time we got to jump and we were both completely drowned. I felt so sorry for Cooley; he really gave it his all and by the second half of the course he had figured out how to jump in the slop and just didn’t stop trying! He is a great jumper and I’ve no doubt he’ll be back in the groove at Ballindenisk later this month with hopefully better conditions.”
The British-based Californian also came within a whisker of securing an impressive top-six result aboard Blackie (Fernhill By Night), but a small mistake at the end of the course cost them the finish they’d hoped for.
A sensational personal best 3* Dressage score of 36 helped the pair occupy second ahead of Show Jumping where a slip in the wet ground and resulting rail down saw them drop just two places. A flying Cross Country round subsequently promised much before Blackie left a leg into the final water just three fences from home.
“Yeah, that was a great result that annoyingly got away from us,” recounted Liz. “It's very unlike Blackie to leave a leg and he’s normally super into water but he was pretty cocky, feeling great and maybe I just didn’t get him organized enough before the fence, or maybe he just made a mistake. I guess that’s part of our sport sometimes! I was thrilled with his Dressage and jumping, though, and the rest of the Cross Country round was fantastic, so I’m trying to take the positives and anything else that I can learn from which will make us better in the future. It still feels very frustrating to have missed out, but at least we were right there in the mix. And it’s important to keep that in mind with Blenheim CCI3* on the horizon.”
Elsewhere, the previous weekend’s outing at Firle Place offered an opportunity to put some less experienced horses through their paces.
Top performer was Cally (Castana Bay) who comfortably won her BE100 section by five points thanks to a super Dressage score of 23 and double clear Show Jumping and Cross Country rounds. It was a great reward for mother and daughter owners Sarah and Kelly Cradduck, especially with the latter currently recovering from a broken collarbone.
“Cally was an absolute joy to ride and completely owned her section!” exclaimed Liz. “I haven't ridden her much but it’s a pleasure to have done so while Kelly is recovering from her injury. She has a lot of potential and Kelly has done a great job with her. The plan is to move her up to Novice in a couple of event’s time.”
There was also good news for Bo (Gorsehill Cooley) who, fresh from winning his BE100 section at Somerford Park, finished second in Firle’s Five Year Old competition after ending the day on his Dressage score of 24.8. It’s a result that also guarantees him a place at the British Five Year Old Championships next month.
This past weekend saw Liz and the Chailey Stud Team travel to West Wilts where she competed three of her younger horses – Bo, Ozzy (Oskar) and Niro (Deniro Z) – in the Novice, while Cally contested BE100.
Keep up with Liz by following her on Twitter – @lizhalliday – or on either her personal or Chailey Stud Facebook pages.
But Blackie’s 3* Dressage PB goes unrewarded in Holland
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley (HHS Cooley) made an excellent return to international competition on the continent on September 4-6 by finishing 12th at the Breda CIC3* event in Holland.
Save for warming up at Somerford Park the pair hadn’t competed together since Cooley was withdrawn prior to April’s Rolex Kentucky CCI4* event. However, there were no signs of rustiness during a composed Dressage test that saw the USEF High Performance Training Listed duo finish with the sixth-best score.
Appalling weather conditions – later described by Liz as the worst she’d ever competed in – would check their progress during Show Jumping, though. Indeed, the sodden ground and driving rain proved especially tough for those, like Cooley, starting towards the tail of the field. Having only two fences down was therefore a very good effort, and Liz felt he jumped extremely well for the conditions he experienced.
A trouble-free Cross Country run duly secured the pair 12th on their CIC3* return, which Halliday-Sharp hopes will lay the foundations for a solid end to the season.
“We can be very proud of finishing 12th given the strength of the field and conditions in Breda,” she said. “Dressage set us up nicely for what could have been an even better result, but ultimately the Show Jumping conditions really cost us. I’ve never competed in anything like it; the ground was basically a bog by the time we got to jump and we were both completely drowned. I felt so sorry for Cooley; he really gave it his all and by the second half of the course he had figured out how to jump in the slop and just didn’t stop trying! He is a great jumper and I’ve no doubt he’ll be back in the groove at Ballindenisk later this month with hopefully better conditions.”
The British-based Californian also came within a whisker of securing an impressive top-six result aboard Blackie (Fernhill By Night), but a small mistake at the end of the course cost them the finish they’d hoped for.
A sensational personal best 3* Dressage score of 36 helped the pair occupy second ahead of Show Jumping where a slip in the wet ground and resulting rail down saw them drop just two places. A flying Cross Country round subsequently promised much before Blackie left a leg into the final water just three fences from home.
“Yeah, that was a great result that annoyingly got away from us,” recounted Liz. “It's very unlike Blackie to leave a leg and he’s normally super into water but he was pretty cocky, feeling great and maybe I just didn’t get him organized enough before the fence, or maybe he just made a mistake. I guess that’s part of our sport sometimes! I was thrilled with his Dressage and jumping, though, and the rest of the Cross Country round was fantastic, so I’m trying to take the positives and anything else that I can learn from which will make us better in the future. It still feels very frustrating to have missed out, but at least we were right there in the mix. And it’s important to keep that in mind with Blenheim CCI3* on the horizon.”
Elsewhere, the previous weekend’s outing at Firle Place offered an opportunity to put some less experienced horses through their paces.
Top performer was Cally (Castana Bay) who comfortably won her BE100 section by five points thanks to a super Dressage score of 23 and double clear Show Jumping and Cross Country rounds. It was a great reward for mother and daughter owners Sarah and Kelly Cradduck, especially with the latter currently recovering from a broken collarbone.
“Cally was an absolute joy to ride and completely owned her section!” exclaimed Liz. “I haven't ridden her much but it’s a pleasure to have done so while Kelly is recovering from her injury. She has a lot of potential and Kelly has done a great job with her. The plan is to move her up to Novice in a couple of event’s time.”
There was also good news for Bo (Gorsehill Cooley) who, fresh from winning his BE100 section at Somerford Park, finished second in Firle’s Five Year Old competition after ending the day on his Dressage score of 24.8. It’s a result that also guarantees him a place at the British Five Year Old Championships next month.
This past weekend saw Liz and the Chailey Stud Team travel to West Wilts where she competed three of her younger horses – Bo, Ozzy (Oskar) and Niro (Deniro Z) – in the Novice, while Cally contested BE100.
Keep up with Liz by following her on Twitter – @lizhalliday – or on either her personal or Chailey Stud Facebook pages.
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