Day two of the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International brought some upheaval on the lower end of the leaderboard, however Liz Halliday floated above the chaos to maintain her lead with Ocala Horse Properties’ and Deborah Palmer’s Miks Master C (Mighty Magic – Qui Luma CBF, by Flying Quite Easy 958) in first place and The Monster Partnership’s Cooley Moonshine (Cobra – Kilpatrick Duchess, by King’s Master) in second place. An unfortunate rail with The Monster Partnership’s Cooley Quicksilver (Womanizer – Kylemore Crystal, by Creggan Diamond) allowed Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake (Tolan R – Doughiska Lass, by Kannan) to unseat Halliday’s hold on third place.
© Sally Spickard
Part of the unique challenge presented by the Carolina International CCI is the grass ring for the show jumping portion of the competition. Liz Halliday wasn’t worried. “My horses haven’t jumped on grass since they were here last year. It’s such good ground and honestly, I’m very used to jumping on grass for so many years in England that it doesn’t really bother me.”
It clearly didn’t worry Miks Master C, as he jumped a double clear round to add nothing to his dressage score. “He was gorgeous today. I was just totally thrilled with him. He was polite and really rideable. It was just good. He was a really good boy.”
Halliday has changed “Mikki’s” tack prior to Carolina International, a move which she felt has been hugely beneficial. “I swapped from the bit that I used at the Showcase. He just wasn’t happy in it. I rode him in a hackamore basically, until I got here to school. I think that we’re heading the right way with him, and he’s much happier. And now he’s starting to really use his body, which is super.”
Second placed Cooley Moonshine also had a double clear round and is just over two points ahead of Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake going into cross country day. “I was thrilled with Cooley Moonshine. He’s not done that much so far this season, so that was awesome,” Halliday said. Per Halliday’s plan, she is going to withdraw Cooley Moonshine after show jumping, with plans to run him in the CCI3*-S at Stable View.
© Sally Spickard
Unfortunately, Cooley Quicksilver’s rail dropped him to sixth place in a highly competitive division. “Monster just had the triple down. I don’t know if he looked down at it or something but otherwise he jumped very well.”
Overall, Halliday had a great day with her string of horses. “I felt like for the most part I was back in my groove again. I have jumped a few bigger classes this year, which Peter Wylde has helped kind of push me to do that, which is good. It’s been nice having him at the shows because he’s just such a great coach, and so is Erik. The two of them together, they just put me in my zen. They’re chill, they keep me chill, we’re just all chill together. No drama. It’s super nice,” Halliday said. “I just want to say a big thank you to my awesome team because we had like zero time between horses. Everybody was a rockstar, it was like a military operation. It has to be efficient. It was awesome.”
Third placed Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake, owned by the rider, Mollie Hoff, and Sherrie Martin, also added nothing to their dressage score. “I keep talking about him being stronger and a year older, but it really makes a big difference. Having eight-year-olds go around a four-star is a big ask. Just having one more year for him to get a little bit stronger, have a stronger canter and a stronger top line, it’s just easier. He can show himself off more because it’s easier for both of us,” Pamukcu said. “The biggest thing is just making sure I don’t rush the rhythm in the ring. He’s such a good jumper and he’s just a phenomenal athlete. So going in and having a steady round and not being so worried about making the time. We’ve just kind of fine tuned our warmup. We do maybe about six jumps before we go in. He felt good, I’m really pleased.”
© Sally Spickard
CCI4*-S competition at the 2024 Carolina International resumes Friday, March 16, at 11:46 a.m. EST with cross country.
For full results, click here.
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