The Devon Horse Show Arena Eventing

If you’ve stumbled onto my website, and somehow found your way to this blog; welcome. I’m glad you’re here, and hope I can make your visit worthwhile. The Dixon oval requires no introduction from me.

2025 was no exception to Devon greatness.

First, a bit about what I think we all can expect from events like this in the future.

It is my belief that the future of the sport of eventing lies in the short-form showcase, possibly the combined test; though I’m doubtful. Things in the sport horse world are trending towards show jumping; short form, high octane, intensely technical. This trend pushes against the generational vanguards of horse-sport. Traditionally (I’m referring to strictly eventing here) the competitive medium has favored a larger framed horse, with plenty of blood, (another descriptor for stamina, and sustained energy) optimized for forward thinking bold cross-country courses. One that could compete in a combined cross-country test taking place over 90+ min. As eventing has evolved the cross-country phase has consolidated into one, the track has gotten shorter, and the jumping efforts have, in an attempt to compensate, gotten extremely technical. With these changes the sport has seen a sharp increase in cross-country incidents. Why? Put simply, we are asking tired horses, already intoxicatingly high on adrenaline to move into the thinking side of their brains in a split second. This just isn’t fair.

In the face of all the training in the world, flight animals are, well, flight animals.

I think the competitive format in the interest of athlete welfare (both horse and rider) will soon change in the favor of shorter format tests. This will in turn fundamentally change the requirements of the horse. Shorter, more technical courses favor smaller, more nimble horses that are mentally and physically quick. Larger, warmblood horses likely won’t be as favored. Does this mean only small nimble horses will populate the ranks of eventing competitions in the future, absolutely not. As you likely know, ability over conformation.

So, how does this pertain to the Dixon Oval? I think this event, with exception of few others, stands as an example for the future of the sport.

From left; Shannon Lilley, Buck Davidson, and Natalia Neneman walk the course before the action kicks off.

The team at the Devon Horse Show do a wonderful job of putting together an engaging, action packed hour and a half of sport. Within two rounds of jumping $50,000 of prize money is awarded. This is rare in eventing.

Now, onto the action. It would be easy to say it was the Boyd and Caroline show, which by the numbers is true. I want to focus elsewhere for this article.

Shannon Lilley and Ideal HX flying through round one.

Shannon Lilley built on the momentum gained from her first Kentucky 5* completion, riding Ideal HX into second place. In a competitive field, she proved she is one to watch in 2025. Great year-end results are predicated on moves like these.

Australian Ema Klugman rode wonderfully on her trusty mount Chiraz. The 2025 season has proven to be a positive on for Chiraz, with he and Ema placing within the top 10 of each event they’ve started in 2025. Ema rides with a beautiful feel, an increasingly elusive quality found in riders these days. Always a breath of fresh air to see someone who rides practically.

Natalia Neneman rode Chesterland’s Brown Sugar to eighth. Their positive result at Devon comes on the backside of the pairs’ second CCI 3*L finish in Ocala, FL earlier this season. I work closely with Natalia, and have come to love Chesterland’s Brown Sugar over the past two seasons. I’m so proud of these two, they both work hard for each other, and it has really started to pay off for them this season!

My assignment at this event was with Good News Effect, writing about Shannon Lilley and Ideal HX. You can read that article here.

As always, stay creative, and ride forward!

HC

Mars Bromont CCI

How does one make time move slowly? This question kept finding its way into my mind during the week I spent at the Mars Bromont CCI. One week just didn’t seem like enough time to appreciate the venue, town, and culture of that area. I fell in love with Bromont, an outdoorsy town just outside Montreal with plenty of gastro-pubs, and a small army of tiny stop-signs with a crafty way of materialising out of thin mountain air. 

The Parc Concours de Bromont itself is built around a small lake at the western base of Mont Bernard. Surrounded by hills and mountains, the hilly-terrain proved to be the perfect test of horse and rider. 

I would be remiss to neglect thanking, and giving the venue, organizers and staff at Bromont their flowers! They all did such a great job at organizing a beautiful well-run event. I also want to take just a moment to thank Michelle Dunn, the oh so talented press officer at Bromont! She made such an effort to make it easy to cover this event, and it showed! I’ve had my share of media coverage difficulties in the past (as all media professionals have) and when an event goes out of their way to make your job possible, it’s the cherry on top!

Thank heavens for Michelle! 

The American contingent that made the trip up to Quebec did not leave empty handed. Four of the six classes on offer at the event were won by American riders. Canada made a strong showing as well on home soil, claiming the remaining wins. Names such as Boyd Martin, Lauren Nicholson, Jessica Phoenix, and Lyman Ordway found themselves in good fighting form after the dust settled on a nail-biting show jump phase.

Alongside the regular classes were the featured U25 (under 25 yrs. old riders) divisions. A mix of American and Canadian young riders took to Brody Robertson and Derek di Grazia’s challenging courses to fight for top honors. The U25 CCI3*L proved to be the most difficult of the classes on offer for 2025. Only one pair remained after cross-country; the talented pair of Ivie Cullen-Dean and Fernhill Cardevega. The pair proved that there’s nothing quite like a tough Irish Horse when it comes to true cross-country questions. The pair stormed their way around the tough track with ease, making the majority of the large fences look like something you might find at a one-day schooling show. Fernhill Cardevega has a strong will, and an even stronger desire to make it through the flags. In the U25 CCI2*L however the competition was much closer with only 1.9 points separating the top three after dressage. While cross-country proved to be more difficult than anticipated, most made it through in fighting form.

Competition coverage aside, here are some horses I thought did a wonderful job this weekend. I want to preface this with saying I’m not a professional rider, and I don’t have years of experience to draw on here. 

Now, if you’re not already a super-fan of Jim and Katherine O’brien’s Montpellier Scais, you might consider it. Roo (as he’s lovingly known around the barn) is quite proper on the flat, while staying scrappy (in a great way) over the fences. He can do no wrong. Watching Roo’s extended trot, which scored 9’s mind you, was really something else. He was absolutely dancing with Allie down the diagonal. 

Allie Knowles & Montpellier Scais on their way to scoring a 24.3 in the dressage phase, to lead the CCI2*L.

Next, Ryan Wood and the Bellines Quality Lady Syndicate’s Bellines Quality Lady. If you’re a fan of red-headed Irish mares, then this is one to follow for sure! She’s quite fancy, and really a fun one to watch go around, regardless of the phase. It just looks easy for this horse. 

Finally some anecdotes from the week. Firstly, watching Megan Abbott respond in Spanish to the French Canadian barista at Tim Hortons was definitely up there. Yes, that did happen, and we all had a good laugh about it. You’re a good sport Megan. 

Also, this image. I will offer no further explanation. Nat has the best Regu-mate dosing gloves of all time. You all wish you had half the energy this woman embodies. 

A bottle of regu-mate hates to see Nat coming…

Jokes aside, Nat’s endless commitment to having fun inspires me!

Another less fortunate funny moment was being fumigated by Buck Davidson while visiting for dinner. Apparently cayenne pepper, oil, and heat make for a good sinus cleanse, and some serious discomfort. 

The weekend was packed with all kinds of adventures, from bike repair mishaps, to freightliner thermostat gremlins, to menu items lost in translation. Bromont had just about all of it. I’m so glad I got to have this experience with some of my favorite people. Until next time…

As always, stay creative, and ride forward!

HC

Kentucky Three-day Event Presented by Defender

What a whirlwind weekend. I’m still trying to recover from the highs and lows of it all.

Kimmy Cecere & Vinnie

To start, I want to say, I doubt I’ll do Kentucky again next year the same way I did this year. I definitely over-extended myself. I am the sole creator for the Halite project, that won’t change anytime soon. I like it that way; no scaling to this business.

Now the not so good news… I came up against my first real pushback to my creative approach at this show. I must admit I was completely unprepared to deal with what came my way from one of my clients this week. It was tough to navigate without getting my feelings hurt. Going forward, I would like to make it abundantly clear to anyone who will hear it; I am the magic ingredient to Halite Creative. If you don’t like my creative approach book another media professional. I will not allow myself to be berated and put down by people who are hoping to wear me down and take advantage of my work for a huge discount. I’m not putting that on the table for discussion anymore. I hold the camera, I choose the shots I think will look the best. If you don’t like that, go elsewhere with your tightly held pocketbook and sour attitude.

While I’m at it, I feel it’s necessary to speak my mind here. If I chose to edit my true feelings too much, what would be the point of writing this blog anyhow? This past weekend demonstrated the importance of good PR and most importantly good horsemanship. Our sport is making big moves towards a welfare focused approach to high-performance sport horse competition. I feel this is far too late, and will likely cost us our sport, not just eventing. There are just too many bad players in a very complex industry, with a strange relationship to funding and messaging. A training approach built on feel is what has been missing in the upper-levels of our sport. We also have continually been applying pressure to bad actors and athletes who by any metric shouldn’t be riding and training. Again, I think as a sport, we are late in our adoption of this approach. There were two PR issues that I feel could have been very easily avoided this past weekend. I am not going to use this article to call these riders out. That does no good. If one of us acts poorly, it reflects on all of us who make up the sport horse industry. We desperately need unity and collaborative effort to effectively address the issues threatening our sport. I know this article will likely be taken the wrong way, but its my blog, not yours.

Now, after all that, what do I think we (the horse sport world, and eventing especially) need most? Firstly, we need good horse-people. We need good training and coaching that fosters a holistic approach to training and caring for horses. We also need dedicated business and media professionals, ones that have a wealth of experience with horses. We need to find these from within our ranks. People who understand how barns, programs, and horses live and compete are best suited to promote this great sport. We also need a stronger push to raise the standards. We need more practical rules and competition structures, supported by dedicated, knowledgable officials. Without a renewed focus and dedicated effort from all sides, our sport will not survive for much more than a decade longer. Okay, my tirade is over. I had to get that out of my system.

I also would like to make it abundantly clear that this is my opinion. I’m just the warm body behind the camera, not a 5-star rider.

Tom McEwen & Brookfield Quality

My main objective this week was to provide exclusive photo and video coverage for World Equestrian Brands and their sponsored riders in both the eventing and show jumping. Click here to view the eventing album, and here for the show jumping. Between the eventing and show jumping I had nine riders to cover, which is relatively calm in comparison to my usual show responsibility. Luckily, unless you’re an overachiever like James Alliston, you’ll likely go to Kentucky with one or two horses, and not half your stable! If you are crazy like that, I support you. What would I know about doing too much anyway?

Woah, this article is really going everywhere. I’m sorry to have taken you on so many tangents. Now, more about how Halite Creative navigated the weekend. Both days of dressage were a nice mix of wind, torrential rain, sunshine, and lightning. Everybody stayed safe and a few gave us a real show of true horsemanship. Michael Jung waltzed into the court and casually broke the longstanding dressage score record held at the Kentucky Horse Park. The German contingent truly operated at opposing ends of a spectrum this weekend, that is all I will say. Michael is one of the greatest horsemen of our time. He has found a way to maintain such a strong rotating string of horses for the past decade. From La Biosthetique Sam, to Fischer Rocana, and currently Fischer Chipmunk he has found a way stick right at the top of the sport with apparent ease. All things considered, K3DE 2025 was a net positive. I learned, laughed, and languished (mostly for the sake of this crummy wordplay).

As always, stay creative, and ride forward!

HC

Longines League of Nations Ocala

Giacomo Casadei & Corradiena van’t Klein Asdonkz flying over the infamous butterfly fence in the CSIO5× 1.50M Winning Round Class

Ever wondered how a struggling photographers first time working a Grand Prix would go?

As the designated “local idiot” of Halite Creative, I’m here to tell you exactly what it was like.

Stories usually work best when you start at the beginning, so I guess we’ll begin there. A few weeks before the Longines League of Nations (LLN) I was sandwiched in the back of a truck on the way to a horse show ( a common occurrence for me now. Also, the sandwiching of it all comes from my comically long legs) when what could only be interpreted as a download from the universe came tearing into my mind. I was reminiscing about my time at the LLN last March as a spectator, when suddenly I remembered these things happen annually. After some digging, I figured I might as well try to get in and cover it. A few poorly worded texts and a mildly frantic call later, the ball was rolling. My accreditation was in the works.

I then, under the influence of what I call “horse show fugue state” completely forgot about it. Media accreditation proved to be more difficult than anticipated, which will come as no shock to anyone who has gone through that process. I then got back into the work of turning HC into something from nothing, which understandably takes 150% of my time and concentration. I was so “lost in the sauce” as the kids say to realize the event was starting until the night before. So, long story long, I found my way into the first horse inspection and off to the races.

The races I did not know how to run that is.

Little did I know that shooting indoors under LED’s was almost impossible to nail your first time around. I ended up with my shutter speed just a bit too high, even though it deceptively looked correct in the viewfinder. This is something I would have known if I had shot under LED’s before, but no such luck; this is baptism by fire.

I found myself in the fortunate position of having time to practice shooting in the large stadium in a variety of different conditions during the week leading up to the large team event. The ring at World Equestrian Center Ocala is massive, with a very limited amount of space being shaded during the day. This makes for photos that are oftentimes too well lit, thanks to the bleached footing’s insane reflective properties. Aside from that, its a lovely ring with plenty of fill, making it perfect for “stacking” foreground and background elements into your shot. If you, like me, love a foreground busy photo, then WEC Ocala is your ring!

A very special thanks must go to Helen Cruden. I was lucky enough to meet her in person at the event, and get to know her a bit more. She is an absolute angel, and so willing to be helpful! She was truly the highlight of my weekend.

We as photographers understandably can get caught up in the competitive nature of the market; usually forgetting to be kind and helpful to our contemporaries. At the end of the day, this is an art-form, one that only works when your personal flair is added. Helen was so helpful and kind, and is truly the only reason my photos under the lights on the big night worked. If you have a chance to check out her work on Instagram, and/or meet her at an event I highly recommend you do!

As I patiently wait for the publication to post my coverage of the event, I can’t help but feel grateful for the opportunity I got here! I can’t wait to do this again many times in the future!

And so, to a weekend filled with too many Snickers bars from the media center, and a healthy bit of sun, I say thank you and see you soon!

Stay creative and ride forward!

HC