Colleen Loach & Freespirit Win The Fork CIC2*

Source :  Equine Canada

Colleen Loach of Dunham, QC, took it all in the CIC 2* division of the Fork International Horse Trials held in Norwood NC, USA April  2–6th .

Partnered with Peter and Susan Barry's eight-year-old Canadian bred mare Freespirit, the pair started the competition in ninth place after earning a dressage score of 55.6 penalties.  They went on to have a clean show jumping round moving them up the leaderboard into sixth place. Loach finished strong with a foot perfect performance over the cross country course, designed by American Tremaine Cooper, with only 0.80 time faults for a final score of 56.4.  Also completing the CIC 2* was Momo Laframboise and Dejavu, her own 11-year-old Hanoverian mare.

“I had a great weekend at The Fork on Freespirit.  We are becoming very comfortable at the 2* level together and [Freespirit] handled all of the questions brilliantly!  The Fork is always a very nice event to compete in, and with the wonderful weather this year was no different,” said Loach.

Competing in the CIC 3* division, 2012 Olympian Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, ON finished top 10 on Patras VR, Kirk Hoppner's 13-year-old Trakenher gelding.  A dressage score of 48.9 placed them sixth after the first day and a double clear performance in show jumping moved the pair up the scoreboard into fourth place. After a challenging run over cross country, the pair finished tenth with a final score of 59.3 penalties. Phoenix did triple duty in the CIC3* division also competing Abbey GS, Charlotte Schickedanz's 13-year-old Trakener mare, and  A Little Romance,  Don and Anita Leschied’s nine-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred cross mare. 

“I would like to thank The Fork for hosting the event. The preparation for the event, including all the footing, was incredible. Also, thank you to the sponsors and owners. I am so happy with how well the horses performed over the weekend and I am looking forward to competing at Rolex in Kentucky,” said Phoenix.

Also completing the CIC 3* division was  Selena O’Hanlon of Elgin, ON with John Rumble's 11-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding  Foxwood High, Morag O'Hanlon’s 15-year-old Irish-bred gelding, Bellaney Rock and Cody Sturgess’, of Port Perry, ON, 13-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred mare, Imperial Melody.   

CIC 3* division of the Fork International Horse Trials is an important final preparation event for many riders and horses planning to compete in the CCI 4* Rolex Kentucky Tree Day Event, held at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington KY April 23-27.