September 23, 2024—James Alliston and Cora’s four-star win in the mare’s first event at the level, along with Tamie Smith’s victories with her veteran mounts Mai Baum at Intermediate and Kynan in the three star, were highlights of the 2024 Twin Rivers Fall International in Paso Robles, California, this past weekend.

In the CCI4*-S, Alliston and Cora clinched their victory with clear jumping and adding 4.4 time penalties on cross country to finish on a score of 44.8. It’s been a quick rise for Alliston and the big 9-year-old bay Oldenburg mare (Commissario x La-Montana) since their first event together at Novice at the 2022 Twin Rivers Fall International.

They were reserve champions in the CCI3*-L at the 2024 Twin Rivers Spring International last April, as well as runner-up in the CCI3*-L at The Event at Rebecca Farm in Montana in July.

“It was awesome. I’m really thrilled with how it went,” Alliston said. “She’s a nice horse, obviously, but you never know the first time you move up a level how they’re going to handle the bigger jumps. Everything is harder, but she did really well. I was very impressed.”

Alliston Sails to Second Consecutive Victory at Twin Rivers

Alliston also won the CCI4*-S at this event in 2023 with 9-year-old bay Oldenburg mare Karma (Escudo II x Travita). Karma would go on to make her five-star debut at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2024 and most recently finished ninth as part of the Defender U.S. Eventing Team at the CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S in Germany.

“They’re similar in that they’re both very careful,” Alliston said about the two mares. “Obviously, Cora is a huge horse at 18 hands, and Karma is more normal-sized at around 16.2. Karma has a very fast tempo and high activity in the canter. Cora is so big that she has a huge stride but a slower tempo.”

Alliston noted that Cora is also fast to ride because she doesn’t pull at the jumps, but due to this he can’t waste any time setting her up for the fences.

“She’s so huge that you can easily take a stride out in some of the lines in the show jumping and cross country,” he said. “She and Karma are quite different to ride; they’re at opposite ends of the spectrum. But they’re both very careful, good jumpers.”

Alliston said he would point Cora to the Advanced level at Ram Tap in Fresno, California, in October, while Karma would wait to return to competition in 2025 with Kentucky as their five-star goal.

Smith Celebrates Multiple Victories and Comeback Event for Mai Baum

In the CCI3*-S, Smith finished one-two aboard Kynan (Envoy x Danieta) and Lillet 3 (S.I.E.C. Livello x Princess L), with both recording zero jump penalties and finishing within one point of each other. Kynan’s score was 30.0 in the 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding’s first event since May. Lillet 3 finished on a score of 30.9 in the first FEI event for the 8-year-old Holsteiner mare with Smith.

Lillet 3 previously won FEI events with two other riders—Andreas Dibowski at the 2024 CCI4*-S at Kristianstad in Sweden and Maj-Jonna Ziebell at the 2023 CCI2*-S at Baborowko in Poland. Smith also used the Fall International as a comeback event for her 2023 Kentucky five-star winner Mai Baum (Loredano x Ramira), winning the Intermediate level with clear jumping on a score 30.9, as a prep for the CCI5*-L at the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill next month.

“I had a super weekend with all of the horses,” Smith said. “The tracks were challenging, and the Twin Rivers team did a phenomenal job on the footing. The massive effort to get the footing right was evident, and I know I can speak for all of the competitors for how grateful we are for the huge improvement that was made.”

This press release was written by Jonathan Horowitz with Twin Rivers Ranch.

For More:

• For a full list of results from the 2024 Twin Rivers Fall International, click here.
• For more on the 2024 Maryland 5 Star at Fairhill taking place October 17 – 20, click here.
• For more on our coverage of the 2024 Maryland 5 Star, click here.

Thanks to Mane ‘n Tail for our coverage of the 2024 Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, including rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more!