Heidi White-Carty Gears Up for Rolex with a CIC3*W Win

Brannigan Adds to Pristine Record at The Fork Horse Trials - the Last Spring Adequan USEA Gold Cup Event

Figuring out who won the Intermediate Gold Cup trophy and prizes was a bit more complex, since there were three separate Intermediate divisions and all of the competitors would be pooled together for final Gold Cup standings at the end of the weekend. When all was said and done, Jennie Brannigan and her spectacular grey gelding Cooper were the unequivocal winners, finishing their weekend with a 33.5, the lowest score out of all of the Intermediate divisions. The seven-year-old Dutch Warmblood (imported from Holland) was originally campaigned by Kelli Temple, but 21-year-old Brannigan has had remarkable success with him in the past year and a half, literally winning nearly every event they've entered from Novice to Intermediate. 

Brannigan was thrilled with the weekend, and especially her win in the Gold Cup division. "I thought the course was lovely and rode very well, with lots of very inviting jumps. Cooper felt super and this was a great confidence builder before the Ocala CCI2* next weekend," she said. Brannigan originally hails from San Diego, California, but has been training with Canadian Mike Winter in Georgia since last summer. Look forward to more exciting wins from this promising pair in the very near future!

The second best score out of all three Intermediate divisions was held by Pippa Moon, 26, of Southern Pines, North Carolina and her 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Ribbo. Moon and Ribbo were tied for seventh after dressage with a 36.6 and were fault-free for the rest of the weekend. 

Third place finisher in the Intermediate Gold Cup division was Sharon White, sporting her customary orange colors on cross-country, aboard Peter Barry's Irish Thoroughbred gelding Ashwood Lad. Based out of Summit Point, West Virginia at Last Frontier Farm, White had a fabulous weekend with a win in her Intermediate division and two top five finishes in the other Intermediate divisions as well. 

For her win in the Advanced division, Heidi-White received $500 in cash, Mountain Horse SCS3 boots, a box of Adequan, two tubes of UlcerGard, two pairs of Nunn Finer American Style boots, a three-month supply of Wellpride, two bags of Nutrena feed, Back on Track pillow wraps and polo wraps. Second place finishers win Nunn Finer brushing boots and a Back on Track saddle pad, and third place also takes home Nunn Finer brushing boots and a Back on Track saddle pad. Not to be left empty-handed, fourth place finishers get a Back on Track saddle pad for their efforts. The Intermediate division gets the exact same prizes, but instead of the Mountain Horse boots, they receive a Mountain Horse Cirrus jacket.

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors:  Title: Adequan; Legacy:  Nunn Finer, Nutrena, and World Equestrian Brands; Contributing:  Cover-All, UlcerGard, and Wellpride; and Patron:  Back on Track, Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, Mountain Horse, and Succeed.

This year, the Gold Cup Series is proud to offer a bonus incentive: the SUCCEED® Challenge Series, a specially created competition, will be run in conjunction with all 2008 Gold Cup Series events and will award more than $5,000 in cash and prizes at the 2008 USEA Annual Convention, December 11-14 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Click here to find out how you can be part of this exciting series.

For more information on the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, including the final leaderboard and coverage from each event, click on the Gold Cup link on the USEA website homepage at www.useventing.com.

Photo Credit: Emily Daily/USEA, Inc.