Woodside, Calif., Oct. 7, 2011 — James Alliston, of Castro Valley, Calif., rode Jumbo’s Jake to the an emphatic lead in dressage at The International Event At Woodside, with an excellent score of 41.7 penalties.
Two riders from the Pacific Northwest are closest behind. McKenna Shea, of Tacoma, Wash., scored 47.1 penalties on Landioso to grab second, while Kristi Walker, of Washougal, Wash., scored 48.0 penalties on Myelusivedream to claim third.
Alliston also rode Parker II to eighth place (52.2).
These riders, and their competitors, were expecting to also show jump this afternoon, but Mother Nature has forced the officials and organizers to dramatically revise the schedule. Roughly two inches of rain—the first of the winter season for Northern California—fell at the Horse Park of Woodside between Monday night and Thursday morning, drenching the rings and on the cross-country course.
While the rings and the course were drying out quickly in today’s bright sun and 70 degrees, technical delegate Roger Haller and ground jury president Marilyn Payne decided to postpone both the show jumping and the cross-country phases to give the grounds an additional day to dry out.
Consequently, the three international divisions will show jump tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. The CIC1* will start jumping at 1:50, the CIC2* will start jumping at 2:50, and the CIC3* will start jumping at 4:50.
All three divisions will then go cross-country on Sunday, starting with the CIC1* at 10:30. The CIC2* will go cross-country from 12:45 to 2:00, and the CIC3* will climax the event between 2:30 and 3:20.
The times for all of the national divisions, beginner novice to intermediate, have also been completely revised to accommodate the re-scheduling of the international divisions. Complete results of today’s dressage phase and new times for all divisions are available at the Woodside website (www.horsepark.org.)
The new competition schedule has also changed he party schedule. The ringside party that was scheduled for tonight, during the show jumping, will be held during show jumping tomorrow, shortly before the regularly scheduled Saturday evening party. That party, however, will not feature the awards presentation for the international divisions, as they won’t yet be completed.
Equine Insurance of California, Point Two Air Jackets and Professional’s Choice are the presenting sponsors of The International Event At Woodside.
Additional generous sponsors of The International Event At Woodside are: Auburn Laboratories Inc., CWD Saddlery, Equine Comfort Products, Finish Line Products, JRD Saddles, Smartpak Equine, Voltaire Design and Western Saddlery.
General admission to The International Event At Woodside is $10 per car, including a program.
Patron’s tickets are also available for the for both Saturday parties, at $35 each. Saturday will feature a full-course Cahoots barbecue with beer, wine and soft drinks.
To order patron’s tickets, go online to ww.horsepark.org and click on the Horse Trials/Eventing tab on the left side.