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Finding Inspiration
A lot
has happened in my life and this sport since I last wrote.
I’ve not had the best year with horses, and between Task
Force breaking his leg at Southern Pines and Dario being
returned to his owner, I’d been feeling pretty deflated. To
top it all off, our sport has been in quite a bit of
turmoil.
With
all that has gone wrong for me in an eight-month period, I
took some time to re-examine my program. There are always
some positives: Syd Kent is mending from an injury that
became apparent last fall, Waterfront is looking better than
ever, Charlotte Merle-Smith’s horse, Cyrillic, is back in
work, and Winston, our lovely five-year-old, won his
Training division at Fairhill and is one of the best jumpers
I’ve ever sat on. I also realize that some things are going
to happen that I can’t control, still, it’s pretty hard to
lose a partner like Jedi and a promising rising star like
Dario.
So, I
had been looking for inspiration within eventing, my chosen
career path, and I finally found it at Badminton.
Going
to Badminton as a spectator refocused and redirected me,
confirming that I definitely want to compete there again,
and that I love the English attitude of just getting on with
it. In some ways, the sport is much more relaxed in England.
Riders compete at horse trials Monday, Tuesday and Thursday,
and then again on the weekend—all at one-days. When the
likes of William Fox-Pitt, Andrew Nicholson and most of the
other pros wake up on the Monday after Badminton and compete
their pre-novice and novice horses, Badminton becomes just
another event. It’s a great mentality.
Here
in this country, the one-, two- and three-star events, and
of course Rolex Kentucky, become all-consuming goals six
months out, the be-all and end-all. It’s hard to be
successful with that kind of pressure.
I
needed to be inspired because of where my own career was
going. I needed to regroup, refocus and redirect myself to
do competitions at the top of the sport. At Badminton, I saw
absolutely beautiful dressage, and great cross-country over
a tough course. Events like Badminton, Burghley, the
Olympics and the World Games are inspirational to watch and
remind me not to get caught up in the nitty-gritty, but to
keep my sights on the big picture. I’m very fortunate—I get
to wake up every day and ride horses, I’ve traveled all
around the U.S. and Europe to compete, and I’ve had great
partnerships with some incredible horses that have loved
what they do.
Eventing Safety
I know
that every time I go into the start box, something might
happen out on the course. The top level of the sport is not
for everyone. We’re all nervous going out, if we weren’t, we
wouldn’t have any sense. But I choose to compete at the
upper levels, just as athletes do in other risk sports like
downhill skiing and motocross. I believe safety comes
primarily from being as educated as possible to make the
right decisions. I learn as much as I can to ensure the
safety of myself, my horses and my students, including
seeking the help of other professionals, and then pass that
knowledge on to those I teach.
I sit
on the USEA’s Safety Task Force. I believe that safety in
the sport as a whole is improving all the time and in all
aspects, but we still need to do more work. The Safety Task
Force proposes ideas to the Eventing Technical Committee,
which is working to continuously implement safety measures
in the sport, such as frangible pins for any jump for which
they’re appropriate.
I was
at Red Hills, and I was at Kentucky. My heart goes out to
Laine for a speedy recovery, and I’m sad for the loss of
Frodo Baggins and for Sarah Hansel’s The Quiet Man. I can
certainly empathize with how they must be feeling. Eventers
compete with the same people week after week; we follow each
other’s careers and are a close-knit family. We are all very
affected by the accidents that happen. But we also accept
the risk that we face in choosing to participate.
We
also have to keep things in perspective. Jedi’s broken leg
at Southern Pines was a freak accident and could have
happened to anyone, anywhere. Tragedy happens. I’ve been on
a horse that shattered its leg. I’ve also had two horses die
in the pasture. I believe we all need to make things as safe
as possible—be better educated and better prepared. But
accidents happen, and they will. In lieu of recent problems,
it’s more important than ever to make any sport—and eventing
is my profession, too—as good as you can possible make it.
There’s a reason why we all love this sport—let’s make it
better. Negative thinking isn’t going to help anything. I
know a lot of people are turned off to the sport right now—eventing
certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea—but a lot of people
are still very supportive and are working hard to improve
things.
Task
Force
As you
probably all know, Task Force (Jedi) broke his leg jumping a
small coop in the warm-up at Southern Pines. It was very
quickly evident that I needed to put him down. He was as
stoic then as he was about everything else in his life.
I had
Jedi for eight years and was incredibly lucky to have had a
partnership with a horse like him. We did our first
three-star together in 2001 and he was 12th. I
swear he had nine lives. I traveled the world with him and
achieved a lot of personal goals along the way. At the 2005
Rolex Kentucky I had one of the best cross-country rides I’d
ever had. I wasn’t sure, after the 2004 Burghley, where he
fell and hurt himself quite badly, breaking four ribs,
puncturing a lung and breaking his hind fetlock, if I’d ever
compete him again. But then there I was, less than a year
later at Rolex, with the ride of my life.
Jedi
loved waking up every morning and getting all the girl’s
attention. Chips Chester, his owner, would bring him Mrs.
Pasture’s cookies. All of us doted on him—he was just the
kindest horse I’ve ever had.
Jedi
was an education, for me and most of those close to me, and
I hope to have that kind of relationship with another horse
in my career. I think all the horses in the barn miss him
and know they have big shoes to fill.
I’m
incredibly lucky that Mr. J.C. “Chips” Chester has been such
an amazing supporter who was honored to have owned Jedi and
is looking forward to seeing Syd Kent, his new horse, do
well. I’m very lucky to have an owner who gives me such
unconditional support.
Paradise Farm Horse trials and Pine Top III
Paradise Farm horse trials always seems to be the start of
my burn-out week in Aiken and I think my riding there
reflected that. I was mediocre in the dressage with Super
Mario, which was definitely due to my insufficient riding.
But, he jumped double clear in what I consider the Training
Olympics—the course was challenging! Winston was stellar in
the dressage only to be eliminated at the Trakhener on the
cross-country. I have to hold myself responsible because he
had jumped so well at Full Gallop, I hadn’t bothered to
school him cross-country myself before Paradise. He had also
had six days off before the event due to a skin infection,
so his preparation was pretty much non-existent. I schooled
him the day after Paradise and he was fine, but it was a
good reminder not to take things for granted, especially
with a young horse.
On a brighter note, everyone at Surefire is doing well.
Lillian Heard won her division of Training at Paradise with
Share Options and was second in the Preliminary with
Frederick’s Finest. As an added bonus, she won both her
dressage tests, which was especially nice as she had told me
she didn’t think she would ever win the dressage and we had
worked so hard on it!
There was one more Aiken winter training session with
Captain Phillips February 25 and 26, but I didn’t ride. Syd
is off the training list due to an injury, and there were
too many listed horses for Mark to have time to work Dario.
Pine Top III is the first Advanced horse trials of the
winter/spring season in Aiken. I had planned to take Syd
Kent, but unfortunately he’s out for the spring with an
injury. I did compete Task Force in a combined test. He was
very good in the dressage—a bit conservative but quite
correct. He show jumped clean—a bit wild, but obviously
happy to be out again!
Dario, in his second Intermediate, was second in the
dressage on a 27.2 and show jumped clean. While I had to
work pretty hard at Pine Top II for the first ten
cross-country jumps, this time he made it easy. He got a
little wiggly at a few fences, but then just said, okay, I
get it—it was really fun! I didn’t even run for time yet had
only four time faults, so we stayed in second for a red
ribbon.
USEA Winter Training Session II and Team Fundraiser
I didn’t get to jump Syd Kent in the second training
session—I removed him from the list due to an injury—but I
was lucky to be allowed to ride Dario with Laura Kraut on
Monday and Tuesday. The two days of jumping were quite
exciting, the second day finishing with a course that, after
a little adjustment with a running martingale, made me
realize what a nice horse I have and how lucky I am to ride
him. I feel like Dario grew up a lot between Pine Top II and
the training session and am really excited about his future.
I rode Syd on Wednesday on the flat with Captain Phillips
and asked Mark to get on him. I had forgotten what a
beautiful rider Mark is—very soft yet very effective. He
told me he was proud he didn’t get bucked off my horse! He
also said he’s decided he needs to get on our horses more
because we all develop habits with our own horses that we
could easily fix on someone else’s horse. Having a more
impartial ride can be quite revealing.
Evie and Phillip Dutton put on a cocktail party and
fundraiser for the three-day Olympic squad hopefuls at their
new farm in the Bridle Creek Equestrian Community. It was a
great evening for everyone. They did a beautiful job and I
think we raised about $17,000! It would be nice to do that
several times over in different parts of the country to
raise more funds for our sport.
Full Gallop II and Pinetop II
I had planned on doing three Novice horse trials with the
two young sale horses, Super Mario and Winston, before
moving them up, but sometimes the best laid plans... Both
had missed a couple events due to minor issues, did a Novice
at Sporting Days and then moved to Training at Full Gallop
II. They were quite good in the dressage and were second in
their divisions. Winston tried very hard and remained in
second with a double clear cross-country. Mario show jumped
beautifully, but jumped so big into the first water on the
cross-country that he scared himself and I had a stop at the
second water. That was quickly fixed with a circle, and he
continued on just fine after that.
Dario competed in his first Intermediate at Pine Top II. He
was super—won the dressage, I had one rail in the
show jumping, and jumped clear with just some time
cross-country. I had to work hard the first ten jumps, then
Dario clicked in and wwas fantastic for the rest. He’s
obviously green at this level, but tried very hard and was
genuine. We finished third.
Full Gallop I and Sporting Days
I’ve done two competitions so far—Full Gallop with Dario at
Preliminary, and Sporting Days with our two new sale horses,
which I found in England last fall, for their first time
out. Dario was the best he’s ever been cross-country, feels
ready to move up, and came home with a brown ribbon. Super
Mario and Winston were very good, first and fifth at Novice,
and I’m excited to find them new homes so someone can reap
the benefits of sitting on such quality horses.
That’s all for now—by the next update we will have had two
more competitions and a training session—that’s how much is
packed into a week here in Aiken!
USEA Winter Training Session I
I’ve participated in one team training session with Lauren
Hough. I was able to ride Dario and I found it to be very
useful—short, to the point and direct—and a great approach
for all involved. At this training session, the USOC were
involved because the equestrian disciplines are what are
called “high medal count” sports. Because of this, there’s
extra funding available and access to the USOC’s sportfolio
team, which aims to improve our sport for Hong Kong in 2008
and the London Olympics in 2012. The sportfolio team
consists of fitness, nutrition and technical specialists who
will advise us in our preparation and training. The group is
working with short-listed riders during training sessions in
order to familiarize themselves with our sport. It was great
to have them involved—wouldn’t it be nice if more people
were aware that U.S. Eventing is a competitive Olympic
sport? It certainly would help raise the sport’s profile,
and get more people involved and following our sport.
The next training session and USET fundraiser is February
18-20 with Laura Kraut.
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