MARS Great Meadow International enjoyed an eventful (sorry, couldn't resist being punny) long weekend, June 20-23, at Great Meadow – a first-class event at a first-class facility off Route 66 in The Plains. The entire five days were run with everyone's best interests in mind and at heart. There were no spectators per se, but 223 entries require a lot of ground support, and there were more than 200 volunteers. Even if you weren't there, you could enjoy plenty of online coverage. David O'Connor and Darrin Mollett co-chaired the organizing team that included Steve Symansky, Max Corcoran, Donna Devadas, Karen O'Connor, and Punkin Lee. They added to the safety protocols in place for equestrian competition by making the wearing of masks mandatory at all times unless mounted on a horse, and by encouraging safe distancing.

Middleburg's own Lynn Symansky and The Donner Syndicate LLC's RF Cool Play won the CCI3*-S. Out of the 44 starters, 36 completed. They placed second in the dressage, on 24.5 penalty points, clocked a double-clear show jumping round, and sat in first place when they ran cross-country to finish with no jumping faults and six time penalties for a final tally of 30.5 penalty points.

Just last year, RF Cool Play, aka Coolio, was part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru. Lynn and Coolio also earned individual silver. The Pan Ams are a good indicator of who might make the Olympic 3-day team, but the Summer Olympics ended up being postponed until 2021 because of Covid-19. Under the best of circumstances, life with horses is full of ups and downs, literally and figuratively. Still, Lynn had experienced the wild ride to the top of the eventing hierarchy with Donner, who, for many years, was the equine darling of the Donner Syndicate LLC whose members have been enjoying bragging rights with Coolio.

"I think it is pretty special to have another horse in the syndicate to carry on in Donner's steps," Lynn said. "Donner is actually really well right now. I have had many questions about him, but he is in full work and jumping at home. It is just a bizarre year and there is no reason to campaign the horse when you really don't know what you are getting ready for, and he really doesn't have anything to prove."

MARS GMI was Lynn and Coolio's fourth competition so far this year, and their partnership began only a couple years ago. Coolio's star was bright at the Pan Am Games last year, and it blazed again at Great Meadow International by giving the Donner Syndicate an exciting win in their hometown.

"Coolio's biggest improvement would have been his show jumping round," Lynn said. "His nerves really show through in that phase the most—you can see the tension in his body. He put in three really good phases honestly. His dressage is very fancy, but sometimes he tries too hard. I thought it was a good combination of having enough relaxation, but still showing off his flashiness. In the show jumping I thought he jumped a really smart round and really used himself well and kept breathing especially since no one has really done much this year and it was a big atmosphere ring."

That double clear in show jumping set them up to tackle the course designed by David O'Connor, individual gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"The cross-country felt very easy for Coolio," Lynn recalled. "There was a lot of trouble out there though, and because of yesterday's rain the ground was a bit more taxing on the horses than I normally would expect. He handled it well. I was feeling lucky to go into that phase on a more seasoned horse."

In terms of eventing in times of COVID, Lynn said, "I know that all owners and riders out there have been a little frustrated with the way life is right now, but you can't be too frustrated because we are lucky enough to be riding horses every day still."

The MARS GMI winners: Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z, owned by Ocala Horse Properties, took home top honors in the CCI4*S (68 entries). You read about Lynn and The Donner Syndicate's Coolio in the CCI3*S (44 entries). Sharon White and her own Klaus 63 did a brilliant job leading from start to finish in the CCI3*L (12 entries). Kelly Prather and her Catch Me Cooley claimed the win in CCI2*S (51 entries). Sharon White and Cooley Kildaire, owned by Manon Davidson, bested 18 entries in Preliminary 1 with Allison Springer and Nancy Winter's No May Moon topping the results for Preliminary 2 out of 22 entries.

For more information, results, videos, live streams, photos, etc:
greatmeadowinternational.com
eventingnation.com
useventing.com
chronofhorse.com