The Open Weekly: Rebecca Farm, Sweetnam Strikes, and the Aachen Four

Eventing Rebecca Farm Turns 25

The Event at Rebecca Farm turns 25 this week, and the US Equestrian Open series heads to Kalispell for its next qualifier. The event runs from Wednesday to Sunday over one of the sport's great settings, 640 acres in Montana's Flathead Valley. Eight combinations are entered, and none have won this venues four-star before.

The clearest Series form line runs through Karen O'Neal & Clooney 14, winners at Twin Rivers in April, and Stephanie Goodman & Elwenda DP, who won Qualifier 13 at Aspen Farms a few weeks ago on the mare's four-star debut. We caught up with Goodman on the podcast after that win, worth a listen before the action: Stephanie Goodman on Elwenda DP.

A full preview will follow later this week.

Current Leaderboard of the US Equestrian Open of Eventing

#	Rider	Points
1	Tamie Smith	235
2	Will Coleman	215
3	Boyd Martin	190

View Full Leaderboard →

Tamie Smith holds the series lead on 235, twenty clear of Will Coleman and forty-five ahead of Boyd Martin. A strong performance from Karen or Stephanie, could see either rider enter the Series top 10 before the Series pauses for the summer and the run to Morven Park resumes in the autumn.

Jumping USA third at Falsterbo Horse Show

Shane Sweetnam & James Kann Cruz won the CSIO5* Rolex Grand Prix at Falsterbo, taking the 1.60m off a 12-horse jump-off by almost a full second over Richard Vogel & Cloudio. Seven combinations produced double clears. For a horse whose reputation is built on converting jump-offs to podiums, this was the piece that had been missing: their first win in twelve months, a 32nd career podium at this level, and a fifth podium of the year.

James Kann Cruz was a name that ran through the WEF season, the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse who kept turning clear jump-offs into podiums. The one thing outstanding from the last 12 months was a win at the top level. Falsterbo delivered it.

The USA finished third in the CSIO5* Agria Falsterbo Nations Cup, behind Switzerland and Belgium. Robert Ridland's team closed on eight faults across the two rounds. Kent Farrington & Descartes SR anchored, clear in the first round before a single rail in the second. Mimi Gochman & Iron Maiden counted the other score, with Natalie Dean & Fornett d'Emeraude and Charlotte Jacobs & Playboy Jt Z completing the four.

Falsterbo Nations Cup, CSIO5*

#	Nation	Penalties
1	Switzerland	0
2	Belgium	0
3	USA	8

Descartes SR is nine years old and already in five-star company. Sourced from Mexico on the recommendation of Francisco Pasquel, the horse won his first five-star Grand Prix at the Kentucky CSI5* in the spring, Farrington setting the pace from first in the jump-off and holding it. His clear opening round at Falsterbo underlined the trajectory. Farrington described a horse that covers ground like a racehorse and still finds a lofty jump at the last, a rare pairing of attributes. There is more to come from this one.

Falsterbo was Mimi Gochman's second senior Nations Cup, just a few weeks on from her debut at St Gallen at 21. She followed the same pattern under pressure, recovering from a first-round rail on Iron Maiden to turn in a clear second round when the team needed it. A name followed closely through the WEF season, now delivering on European soil, and one of the brightest prospects in the US pipeline.

Dressage Four to Aachen

The US has named its World Championships dressage team, and four combinations are booked for Aachen in August. Ashley Holzer & Hawtins San Floriana, Jordan LaPlaca & Gold Play, Christian Simonson & Fleau de Baian, and Geñay Vaughn & Gino make up the squad headed to Germany. Kasey Perry-Glass & Heartbeat W.P. are first reserve, with Meagan Davis & Toronto Lightfoot second.

Three of the four already sit inside the Series top 10. Ashley Holzer leads the standings outright on 51 points, Geñay Vaughn is fifth on 45, and Christian Simonson tenth on 40. Jordan LaPlaca sits 46th on nine, the product of a single Series freestyle so far this season rather than any drop in form.

Team competition runs across two days of Grand Prix, August 11 and 12, with medals settled on the second. Individual honors follow in the Grand Prix Special on the 14th, then the Freestyle closes things out under the lights in the main stadium.

Aachen is the season's biggest stage before Series resumes at Dressage at Devon in September. Full profiles on all four Aachen combinations follow later this week.