Elkton, Md.—Oct. 18—After Saturday’s CCI3*-L cross-country at the MARS Maryland 5 Star, Sharon White and Jaguars Duende ascended from 9th place after dressage to take the lead with a score of 29.6. Sara Schulman held steady in second place on Cooley Chromatic, finishing their cross-country round with a score of 30.6. Alexandra Knowles and P.S. I Love You made an impressive jump from 14th place to third, finishing with a score of 31.4.
“I couldn’t have asked ‘Jag’ to be better today,” said White. “It was really a special day for her, she is a very good competitor, and her mind is excellent. It is really nice to sit on a horse you know wants to go and fight for you and will think of nothing else but doing her job. The biggest thing I learned about Jag is that she is really as good as I think she is, which is really satisfying. It was a big test to come here knowing that Ian Stark’s courses are always intense, so it is very satisfying when a horse does it so easily.”
According to Equiratings, today’s three-star competition presented its most demanding challenge since it began running alongside the five-star event. Only 15% of riders—just 8 out of 53—managed to finish the cross-country phase within the optimum time, marking a sharp decline from previous years. In addition, the cross-country jumping clear rate proved to be the toughest yet, with only 53% of riders achieving a faultless round. This is a notable shift from the rates of 37% in 2021, 61% in 2022, and 68% in 2023…