Gene Rhinehart (SC) and BF Troubadour, the 2014 Friesian Sport Horse cross gelding, ended up on top in the Championship Preliminary Single Horse Class, accruing a total score of 136.86. Taking reserve, Bob Vance (TN) drove Buckeye to a score of 136.97.

“I was extremely happy going double-clear today, as that allowed me to hang on to the lead,” Rhinehart reported. “We did have a little trouble with the Marathon; it wasn’t one of our better runs. We were able to stay close enough that we were able to keep our lead, which is always good.”

Rhinehart and BF Troubadour have an exciting future ahead of them, having grabbed a Preliminary Championship in their first full year of competition at the level despite a significant interruption in competition. “He’s very young… he’s just six, so we’ve still got a lot of work to do. I did one Prelim competition last year, but with COVID-19 we hadn’t done much since then by the time we competed last month at the Windridge Farms Horse Driving Trials.”

A former volunteer for both the Driving Test Event and the World Games in 2018, Rhinehart was familiar with the venue already, but enjoyed competing on the White Oak Cross-Country Course, he shared. “I thought it was a nice course. Obviously, with all of the rain, it was a little soft in some places, but it still was a very nice course. I enjoyed doing some of the hazards that they used for the WEG. That was a fun thing to be able to do. I volunteered for both the WEG Driving Test Event and for the WEG itself, but those were the only times I’ve been here before now.”