MCTA HORSE TRIALS AT SHAWAN DOWNS

May 2-4, 2008

Winner of the Advanced Division: Emily Beshear on Blue Devil.

MCTA Horse Trials at Shawan Downs in Cockeysville, Maryland hosted more than 360 competitors from 16 states and 3 countries throughout the 3-day event, including the reigning Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event champion. Twenty four divisions competed throughout the weekend at levels ranging from Novice to Advanced, with a 'Select' group performing 3-Star dressage tests, and young event horse competitions for 4- and 5-year-old sport horses.

Following a day of young event horse trials, advanced and intermediate dressage and show jumping, the traditional Friday evening party offered an opportunity for sponsors and volunteers to mingle, and to tour the new cross country course via tractor-pulled hayride with course designer Tremaine Cooper and course builder David Wisner.

Making thoughtful use of the rolling terrain, the course featured many naturally inspired jumps and some unusual but familiar manmade structures, with inviting gallops between. Several divisions made use of the centerpiece water complex, and others traversed the ponds near the miniature barns. This year all of the cross country courses remained on the lower acreage of the property, which included the racetrack infield, making the entire course easy to view from the hillside.

In 2005 the USEF/USEA approved the addition of Intermediate and Advanced to MCTA HT, feeling that Shawan Downs provides one of the best horse trials sites in the United States. With the success of the past seven years since the move to Shawan Downs from the famed Jackson Hole Farm site, we have continued to enjoy the support of the parent organization, Maryland Combined Training Association, and have joined with Shawan Downs and the Land Preservation Trust for a permanent home.

Hundreds of volunteers, spectators, and officials have thrilled to the sport as Olympians and amateurs challenge their equine athletes around the picturesque and inviting cross country courses.

Visit www.MDCTA.com (which includes 2008 results, more photos and other MCTA information); www.ShawanDowns.org  for more information about Shawan Downs and the Land Preservation Trust; and www.USEventing.com (official website for Eventing in the USA) and www.USDF.org, official website for the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the governing body for Equestrian sport in the U.S.A.