United States Eventing Association

Paso Robles, CA—April 14— The top West Coast eventers produced show jumping rounds worthy of the big applause they received around the show jumping ring of the Twin Rivers Spring International in Paso Robles, California, on Friday evening.

“William Robertson is our designer here, and he’s starting to pull out all the tricks as he’s getting comfortable with this ring,” said Marc Grandia, who rode Campari FFF (Camiros x Tanner) to one of five double-clear show jumping rounds in the field of six for the CCI4*-S. “There’s a lot of jumps, a lot of turns, and a lot of related distances. It was really good to get to practice over all that. He’s trying to make it harder for us so that we’re prepared when we go somewhere else."

Tamie Smith and Elliot V (Zavall VDL x Vera-R) remained on their dressage score of 28.1 to maintain their lead heading into the final phase of cross-country on Saturday.

“He jumped out of his skin,” Smith said. “It was beautiful. He felt amazing.”

The 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by the Elliot V Partnership has recorded zero jumping faults in his last five show jumping rounds at either the four-star or Advanced levels.

“He is still a fairly green Advanced horse,” Smith said. “It’s just nice to feel it all coming together. I produced a show jumping round like that at Galway, so it’s been good to repeat it because you don’t just want to get lucky. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

James Alliston was double-clear on both of his mounts, with Nemesis (Novalis 46 x Maesy) remaining in second place on a score of 29.2 and Karma (Escudo II x Travita) moving up to fifth with a score of 39.2.

“I was very happy,” he said. “Two clear rounds, it was nice. They both jumped really well. Nemesis had a few little rubs, but I thought he jumped really well. Karma—she’s normally a really reliable show jumper. She’s very careful but quite courageous, too. So, it’s a nice mix, a lot of energy.”

Grandia and Campari FFF remained in third place as they continue a strong 2023 that has seen them win at Advanced at the Ram Tap National H.T. (Fresno, California) and finish third at the Galway Downs International H.T. (Temecula, California) in March.

“That’s why we’re here; we’re trying to improve,” he said. “The result at Galway was obviously something we want to keep building on.”

Just like how the four-star riders found the Robertson-designed show jumping course to be educational and confidence-boosting for their horses, the same was said for what awaits on Saturday on the cross-country course designed by Morgan Rowsell.

“It looks awesome,” Alliston said. “It has every different sort of fence you need to educate the horses and practice. It has left-hand corners, right-hand corners, lots of skinnies, a new coffin which we really appreciate, a bounce-up out of the water, a bounce-down into the water. It has just a ton of different questions, which I think is great so that the horses see a bit of everything. Hopefully, it goes well.”

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