The Nutrena® USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) serve as the annual championship competition organized by the United States Eventing Association (USEA), which bring together competitors of all ages and experience levels to compete in a single location. This year was the inaugural year that Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) has hosted the event.
Adequan® Advanced Gold Cup Finals
Ryan Wood and Powell, a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Pablito x Dinara) owned by Summit Sport Horses, set an early tone in the Adequan® Advanced Gold Cup Finals division at the 2016 Nutrena® USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Land Rover, sitting in second place following the dressage phase, only a tenth of a point behind leaders Allison Springer and Arthur.
The cross-country phase proved to be influential, as not a single combination who took to the Mark Phillips’ designed track finished within the optimum time. Wood and Powell made easy work of the newly minted course, coming home with 8.8. time faults to take over the lead on a 34.2.
“Starting with the dressage, I thought he did a fantastic test this week. He’s naturally very good at that phase and I was happy with how that went. Out on cross-country he handled all of the questions very well. He read everything and was just spot on there,” commented Wood. “He had a few time penalties but was strong enough to hold the lead into today.”
“Going into the show jumping I had the advantage of riding the course three times before Powell and I had a good feel of it. He just nicked one rail and my other horse jumped clear and ended up first and second,” he added, touching on his four mounts in the division: McLovin’, Powell, Woodstock Bennett and Fernhill Classic.
Wood has been focusing much of his spring campaign on strengthen his show jumping skills in hopes that the phase, which can make or break a top place finish, will become a strong suit for each of his horses competing at the upper levels. He tackled the Marc Donovan designed track with confidence, ultimately securing the top two places of the division.
“I’ve really been working on myself as a show jumping rider this season. My show jumping has improved a lot. We’ve been training with Richard Picken and he’s helped me a great deal. We’ve got a lot of thanks to him to get me to where I am right now.”
As for his journey to TIEC for his first AEC, Wood brought seven horses competing across several different divisions to support the efforts of the organizational staff, as well as the United States Eventing Association, as they bring the sport of eventing to a more mainstream audience.