Designed by Catalina (Catsy) Cruz of Mexico, the first FEI class of the Tryon Fall Series at TIEC saw 52 entries, with the venue’s biggest jump-off class of the year to date featuring 17 horse and rider pairs. Prudent was chasing Mandli’s slick opening performance, and said that “I knew I could be faster from the double back to the middle vertical, because it was a long gallop. We just dug in and went for it!”

Though not the first pair to claim three FEI wins in a week at TIEC – Pablo Barrios and Le Vio earned their own hat trick July of 2019 – Prudent is the first in TIEC’s history to do so on a Grand Prix win. Prudent was elated with his ride, whom he knows very well after their two years together. “This week was taken as a trial week to see if he could really go fast. I’ve always babied him over the bigger courses, but he handled today perfectly. Three for three!

“Today was definitely bigger than the other days,” Prudent recapped. “It was a nice course, very technical but well-built. The jump-off was a speedy one, for sure. My horse handled it very well.” From here, Prudent shared, Baloutinue is ready to take on upper level FEI competition throughout October at TIEC. “I’m very confident going into the CSI 3* and CSI 4* here with him this month. We’re here for three more weeks: we’ll show next week, then take a week off, and then do the CSI 4*.”