The Millbrook Horse Trials in New York is the only horse trials in the northeastern United States to offer the Advanced level. At the 2026 event, run from 23rd – 26th July, the top division was won by Arielle Aharoni and Cooley Baltic Sea, who moved up from eighth place after dressage with a fast and clear cross-country and clinched the win with a double clear show jumping round.
Also competing at the event were US based Australian riders, Ema Klugman and Hayley Frielick.
Ema, who is based in Maryland, finished second in the Advanced riding Chiraz, a syndicated grey Holsteiner gelding (Cayado x Asquetta) that is long listed for the FEI World Championships Aachen next month.
Emma said that she’s been working on Chiraz’ rideability around cross-country and said that he felt fantastic on the cross-country at Millbrook. “He was really foot perfect around the course, there’s not much I would have done differently.”
Her focus last weekend was more on training her horse than winning the event, and she was happy with the result.
“I think if you ride them well usually the results will just come instead of trying to go for it,” she said. Following their clear show jumping round on Sunday she said, “I’m really pleased with him, he felt very fit – he was very energetic today. I rode him for quite a while this morning because he was really wild! I was really happy with how he jumped today; we’ve been working a lot on his straightness - he has a huge amount of scope but he’s not always straight - and I thought he jumped super, he made it feel easy.”
As for being longlisted, Emma said, “You can get called at any moment, so we need to be prepared, but if we don’t do that, we might do another five-star or maybe Morven Park, I’m not quite sure where his next event will be.”
Emma also finished fifth riding her own FVF Wildflower, a nine-year-old Oldenburg mare who was competing at the Advanced level for the first time. RF Redfern, a 13-year-old Westphalian mare owned by Team Fern, finished 15th in the Open Intermediate.
Frielick's Focus on Young Horses
Hayley Frielick, who is based in Pennsylvania, brought a large group of young horses to Millbrook, where she was competing for the first time. “We were very busy, I was riding five and we had two other Dunedin horses competing as well. All of the horses were really good, and everyone jumped clear cross country,” she said.
Hayley and her own Dunedin LB Highlight finished third in the Open Training division.
“Everyone else is for sale, and some of them had only been in the country for a few weeks,” she said. Hayley’s business partner Martha Tomlinson, who owns LB Sport Horses, sends horses over to Hayley from Ireland to sell in the United States
Hayley said, “It makes a really big difference to have Martha on the ground in Ireland – it makes my job easier, knowing what we’re putting on the plane. They’re not just plucked out of a field, she gets to know them and whether they’re suitable for amateurs or pros. Testament to it, all of the five-year-olds handled the tents and the atmosphere and going across the road at Millbrook just fine. I haven’t had a chance to do a lot with them since landing here and it’s a testament to their brains and temperament.”
Find out more about Hayley and Martha’s co-operation in our video interview earlier this year here
Martha has been in the US for the past three weeks to attend the horse trials and Hayley added, “We had a fabulous time at Millbrook, it was our first time going to the event and everyone had spoken about it being a beautiful venue. It was gorgeous; the going was beautiful and the courses were lovely. We had a really good time.”
Hayley is based out of Boyd and Silva Martin’s Schoolhouse barn and use the facilities at Windurra. “We were initially based just down the road, about an hour away, so this summer we moved to Windurra to base and it’s been really helpful,” she said. “I take dressage lessons with Silva and that’s one of the big appeals, she helped me a lot with my four-star hose last year and it’s much easier to do when we’re living right there.”
Of her striking big bay, she said, “Highlight is by the same sire as my five-star horse and is basically his twin, it’s uncanny how similar they are. I saw him and was in love and it’s just like sitting on my big guy. They’re half-brothers and it feels like full circle; we’re on repeat I hope, my last two five-star horses were plain bays and half-brothers.”
At five years old Highlight is already qualified for the Young Event Horse Championships. “We’ll do that with him, but he’s only five years old, so he might do a one-star at the end of the year but next year I hope will be his big year of moving up”
“I have to pace myself with him. This was only his third event - he hadn’t even competed in Ireland. We do have syndicate opportunities in our team and I’ll be eating ramen noodles to keep him, for sure!”
Hayley said that she gives some of her FEI horses a break over the summer, so she’s aiming for The Event at TerraNova in Florida this Autumn as a final big run for the season.
Of her visit to Millbrook, Martha said, “It was really well set up, I think there were a lot of people there who not even into horses and I think that’s due to all the shops and social events. They had the Pony Club there volunteering and helping out – they’re really trying to bring people into the sport and show them what it’s all about. We had people coming up asking to pat the horses and feed the horses, and it was a really nice community feel. There was something for everyone.”
Article and photos by Amber Heintzberger
