FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aspen Farms, Yelm, WA
Saturday, September 12, 2026

The weather provided perfect conditions for the upper level divisions to take on the cross-country track designed by Morgan Rowsell at Aspen Farms Horse Trials in Yelm, WA for day two of competition. Beginner Novice and Novice completed show jumping over courses designed by Chris Barnard.

In Open Intermediate, there were significant changes on the Leaderboard. No competitors were able to achieve the 5 minute 12 second optimum time. Sara Sellmer of Canada riding Sportsfield Supernatural (pictured above), a 7-year-old Irish Sporthorse gelding owned by Sam Quinn achieved the fastest round in the division, adding just 6.2 time penalties and no jumping penalties to their dressage score. They moved up from fifth to first.

“I was thrilled,” said Sellmer. “Griffin was honestly everything I imagined he would be. He was honest and bold and rideable, and he gave me a great feel over the jumps. The course itself road really well. When I walked it, I thought ‘this is a wonderful course to be moving a horse up.'”

Marc Grandia and GHS Calexico maintained the second place position in Open Intermediate, and Paige Dinnie and En Rouge moved up from sixth to third.


In Open Preliminary, Patience O’Neal and Viva Las Vegas, owned by Betsy Kunert, maintained their lead, adding just 0.8 time penalties to their score on cross-country. Stephanie Goodman and Cord Johnson, owned by Deanna Briggs, are second. In third, Jacob Sovio and Carpe Diem delivered the only double clear cross-country performance in the division, moving up a whopping 10 places.

Open Preliminary overnight leaders: Patience O’Neal and Viva Las Vegas. Photo by Elizabeth Knight Photography.

“It was amazing,” O’Neal said after her cross-country ride with Viva Las Vegas. “He was perfect! I’ve been showing him since he was 4 coming 5, and he’s 7 this year. It was kind of a slow start back then–we had to go back to basics. But ever since we started going Training level, he’s just gotten more and more into it. He’s locked in now. It’s so much fun to ride him cross-country. You can point him at almost anything and he will jump it.”

Patience O’Neal is also holding the overnight lead in Open Novice with Decadent Blue, a 5-year-old half brother to Viva Las Vegas also owned by Betsy Kunert.

“He started jumping in February of this year, and has slowly progressed and figured out it’s ok to listen to the rider,” O’Neal shared. “I really enjoyed the show jumping course today. Especially for a young horse like him it was perfect: You jumped a related distance and then you turned, and you turned again… It set us up so nicely to have a really smooth round. I really appreciated that from the course designer.”

Ava Good and Czarina, overnight leaders in Prelim Rider. Photo by Elizabeth Knight Photography.

In Preliminary Rider, Ava Good and Czarina moved up from third to first after cross-country. Macaulay Dukes and SRF Western Territory maintained their second place position, and Brynn Josey and Gentle Gallucci moved down to third.

See live scoring from all divisions online at ShowConnect, here. Find additional show coverage on Aspen Farms Horse Trials Facebook Page, or follow us on Instagram @AspenFarmsHorseTrials.

📷Photos by Show Photographer Elizabeth Knight Photography
🎥 Reels by Halite Creative