A big night for the West Coast! Photo via EN’s Instagram.

Grant and award recipients were honored at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention’s Saturday night banquet this past weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, with Jimmy Wofford serving as Master of Ceremonies per tradition. Click here to view a full list of winners, and read on for a summary of the biggest awards of the night.

Caroline Martin was named the Point Two Young Rider of the Year, while Bonner Carpenter took the Stackhouse Saddles Adult Amateur of the Year title. Lauren Kieffer had a big night, winning the Devoucoux Lady Rider of the Year Award and also celebrating with Veronica being named CWD Mare of the Year. And the crowd adored Bento Box, the Pony of the Year.

No Boundaries, owned by Jill and Henry Tallman and Erin Sylvester, finished sixth at Les Etoiles de Pau CCI4* in France, cementing his title as USEA Horse of the Year. Erin and “Bucky” have worked hard in 2014 to improve their international performances, and they’ve certainly reaped the fruits of their labor with this well-deserved award.

Buck Davidson took top honors as World Equestrian Brands Rider of the Year, and he also accepted the USEA Historical High Point Horse Award with longtime owners Carl and Cassie Segal on behalf of Ballynoe Castle RM. “Reggie” just edged Winsome Adante’s 1,355 lifetime points with his total of 1,377. We know Reggie and Buck aren’t ready to hang up their spurs just yet, so what will come next from this talented pair? Their story is far from over.

A big weekend for Buck Davidson and Carl and Cassie Segal. Photo via EN’s Instagram.

Surely one of the loudest cheers of the night went up for local rider Janet Taylor of Fort Worth, who won the Vintage Cup, an award given to an eventer who continues to compete at 60 years of age or older. She has ridden in a Novice or Training Three-Day each year the past five years and remains a dedicated supporter of the long format in the U.S.

Another of our favorite awards is the Andrew H. Popiel Memorial Trophy, which is given to honor event organizers and their commitment to the sport. Kay and Bob Willmarth, two very deserving recipients, received the award this year in honor of their work with Richland Horse Trials in Michigan, which remains a top CIC3* on the U.S. calendar.

The Cornerstone Instructors Award honors longterm dedication to instruction at the lower levels and was given to two very special recipients this year. Beloved Area VIII trainer Nadeem Noon, who is battling a life-threatening condition called Amyloidosis, accepted his award in a very emotionally charged moment. Alice Sarno, who is adored by her students, also received the award in honor of her tireless dedication to teaching in Phoenix, Arizona.

In another tearjerker moment, Desiree Bruce received the Ironmaster Award for her contribution to the sport in the face of unbelievable obstacles. A two-time breast cancer survivor, she is working to raise awareness and funds through her campaign “Jump for the Cure” at Aspen Farm Horse Trials and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Matt Brown and crew celebrate. Photo via Matt Brown.

The 2014 Governors Cups were awarded to a group of people who have dedicated countless hours to the USEA and sport as a whole. Trish Gilbert is well known for her tireless work with the Dutta Corp Fair Hill Hill International. Jon Holling is wrapping up his service to the USEA Board of Governors this year, but his work with the organization is far from over. 

John Michael Durr accepted the Governors Cup on behalf of his mother, Candace Rice Durr, who lost her battle with cancer this fall and will be remembered as the quintessential horse show mom who took so many West Coast riders under her wing. Past USEA president Brian Sabo also received the Governors Cup, as did super volunteer and much-loved Kentucky trainer Cathy Wieschhoff.

The Wofford Cup, which is given by past recipients of the award to a deserving nominee who shows unbridled dedication to the sport, was awarded to Bobby Costello, chair of the USEF Eventing Selection Committee, and lynch pin of the U.S. High Performance program.

It proved to be a big night for the West Coast, with Hawley Bennett’s groom Sarah Braun receiving the USEA Groom of the Year Award in a moment that took her totally by surprise. Eventing 25 rider Alex Ahearn, who competed in the CCI2* at Fair Hill this year, received the $5,000 Beacon Charm Grant, named after Bruce Davidson’s famous mount.

Jen McFall received the $10,000 Rebecca Broussard Developing National Rider Grant, and Matt Brown brought the house down as the winner of the $30,000 Rebecca Broussard Developing International Rider Grant, which is also affectionately known as the “Big Becky” grant. Where would U.S. eventing be without the wonderful support of the Broussard family?

Libby Head wins the Essex Grant! Photo via EN’s Instagram.

Libby Head, who had a real breakthrough year aboard Sir Rockstar to finish her first CCI4* at Rolex Kentucky with no jumping penalties, won the $10,000 Essex Grant, which was created in 2012 to help a Young Rider successfully transition to the senior ranks.

Another big moment of the night came when Phillip Dutton announced the creation of the $25,000 R. Bruce Duchossois Grant, which will be given in partnership with his owner Caroline Moran in Bruce’s memory. The grant will award $25,000 to a one- or two-star horse that shows potential to represent the U.S. on an international level.

“Our hope is to incentivize owners and riders to keep talented horses of this caliber here in the U.S. so they can one day go on to compete for our country. And if the winner of this grant ever does go on to accomplish that, we’ll award a bonus to acknowledge such an incredible achievement,” Phillip wrote on his blog.

Bobby Costello, Joanie Morris, Bea di Grazia and Kevin Keane will act as talent spotters for the grant, along with Phillip and Evie Dutton, and the first grant will be awarded at next year’s USEA Convention in Washington, D.C.

Will Faudree and Jennifer Mosing celebrate. Photo via EN’s Instagram.

We also wanted to give a special shout out to the Professional Riders Organization award winners, who were honored at a reception Friday night. Jennifer Mosing, a longtime owner for Will Faudree, received the As You Like It Owners Award, which is given to an owner who has had a large influence on a rider’s career and made an exceptional contribution to the sport.

Buck Davidson and Lizzie Snow received the Leaderboard Awards for the 2014 season. Buck accumulated 107 points on the PRO Tour circuit this year, while Lizzie Snow came in with the highest amount of points scored by a rider under 25. Copper Beechreceived the Leaderboard Horse, after earning 67 points for owners Randy and Sherrie Martin and Cassie and Carl Segal.

Buck continued to clean up at the PRO awards, also taking home the Multi Radiance Medical Intermediate Challenge award with 37 points earned, receiving an MR4 ACTIVET Laser System for his efforts in the Intermediate Challenge.

PRO also announced the Triple Crown Junior/Young Rider Scholarships for both East and West coast recipients. Jamie Miess and Margo Goldfarb are the big winners on the East Coast, with Madison Langerak and Sydney Rice representing the West Coast.

This scholarship program is geared toward developing young riders in the U.S., and they will all receive one week of training with an upper-level rider; this year’s hosts are Jan Bynyy, Lynn Symansky, Matt Brown and Tamie Smith. They also receive a $7,500 tack package from our awesome sponsor World Equestrian Brands; talk about a great prize, right?

Congrats to Stacey Driscoll! Photo courtesy of Ryan Wood.

Stacey Driscoll, head groom for Ryan Wood, received the $5,000 Liz Cochran Memorial Groom’s Award. This award was started in 2011 and honors a groom, who is nominated by riders and peers, who has made a notable impact on a rider’s career and the wellbeing of the horses in his or her charge.

“The Liz Cochran Groom Award is my favorite award, as it acknowledges the ones behind the scenes making all that we do possible,” Ryan said. “Without Stacey, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and for her to receive this award makes me so proud. Thank you, PRO, for giving this special award.”

Head over to EN’s Instagram to see numerous awards photos from both the USEA’s banquet and the PRO awards reception. You can also click here to view photos from the USEA banquet and here to view photos from the PRO banquet, both courtesy of Stockimageservices.com.

Go Eventing.

Joanie Morris and David O'Connor at Rolex. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The USEF Eventing High Performance Committee approved Coach David O’Connor’s 2015 plan for the team in a meeting yesterday, and he outlined his goals for the season in today’s third and final session with the High Performance riders at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention in Fort Worth, Texas.

High Performance will be sending teams to three major competitions next year: one to the Pan American Games in Toronto, July 16-19, 2015; one to the Nations Cup at Aachen CICO3* in Germany, Aug. 13-16, 2015; and one to the Nations Cup at Boekelo CCIO3* in the Netherlands, Oct. 8-11, 2015.

Aachen is an invitation only competition, and it’s possible the team won’t get an invite based on the outcome at this year’s World Equestrian Games. If High Performance is able to send a team, the idea is to send the best four horses we have in the hopes of winning, David said.

‘Experience Will Count’ for Pan Ams

He spoke extensively about the Pan Ams in Thursday’s High Performance session, and he touched on it again today. “Obviously, we have to win it for a lot of different reasons,” David said, alluding to the fact that the U.S. must take gold in order to qualify a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“Experience will really count,” he said, and the selectors are looking for horses and riders with a proven track record of consistently clear cross country rounds as a combination, which they track in a database that shows average dressage scores, cross country penalties and show jumping penalties.

“We do look at that kind of stuff as we start to put the picture together,” David said. “It needs to be four people that are going to be clear and inside the time on cross country — period.”

If the Pan Ams are a must-win scenario for Team USA, Doug Payne asked why David wants to send our best horses this year to Aachen and not Toronto. “Because I don’t think that the best four-star horse is the horse that could be the best two-star competitor,” David said.

“All the selectors will take that into account. If you have a hot shot two-star horse that is at the top every time it goes out and is scoring in the 30s, why wouldn’t you send them? Who has the best ability to completely finish under 45? That might be a pure two-star horse.”

Individual Competitions in 2015

As for individual competitions on the schedule for 2015, the team will be targeting Bromont, June 3-7, 2015; Bramham, June 10-14, 2015; and Luhmühlen, June 17-21, 2015, which is the same weekend as the Pan American Games prep trials at Great Meadow.

Anyone who goes to Aachen could use that competition as a springboard to stay overseas and compete in England at Burghley CCI4* or Blenheim CCI3*, which is the same weekend as Plantation Field Horse Trials next year on Sept. 17-20, due to Blair Castle hosting the European Championships on Blenheim’s usual date.

As David said in Thursday’s session, the team won’t be targeting Saumur or Pau next year, as the riders have seen enough Pierre Michelet courses by now, he said, and he’s also not fond of the footing at Saumur and the course at Pau.

Badminton is once again on the same weekend as Jersey Fresh in May. As it looks like Badminton will stay on that weekend, David said Jersey Fresh will likely need to move its date in future years.

Other Things of Note

• Hiring the developing coach to lead the Eventing 25 and 18 programs will free up more of David’s time for private lessons with riders who aren’t listed. The two finalists for the developing coach position are Mike Huber and Leslie Law, who will be evaluated next Wednesday before the final decision is made.
• Silvio Mazzoni has been hired again for 2015 as the team’s show jumping coach. “Silvio excels working one of one, and he’s already have an effect,” which David said he thinks will ultimately be substantial as the team continues working with him.
• From an ownership standpoint, David said the owners came through the WEG with even more support for the program, and fans also showed a #westillbelieve attitude. “With that comes responsibility,” David said.

Thank you once again to David and Joanie Morris for allowing EN to sit in on the High Performance sessions. If you missed our first two reports on the sessions, click here for Thursday’s post and here for Friday’s post.

#USEAConvention: Website, Schedule, EN’s Coverage, @eventingnation, EN’s Instagram, USEA’s Facebook, @USEventing

Will Faudree, Pawlow and David O'Connor. Photo by Jenni Autry.

David O’Connor focused heavily on dressage in the second of his High Performance sessions at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention. With the FEI set to release new one-star, two-star and three-star tests for next year — and new four-star tests in the works — he also talked about some key exercises for riders to tackle with these new tests in mind.

Transitions

David used this transitions exercise in the High Performance training sessions this year, saying he saw huge improvements in entrances and halts because of it. In this exercise, riders go down the centerline and do a transition at L or I. It’s a great exercise for straightness, too, and one that Steffen Peters uses when working on halts and canter pirouettes.

David also likes the exercise of doing either 8 or 10 meter circles in each corner. And on the topic of corners, they should match the smallest turn in your test, he said. So, for example, if the smallest turn in your test is 8 meters, your turns should be four meters across the corner.

The Castle

David likes to use small orange cones as visual aids to mark things like corners and the centerline. For horses that get nervous on the centerline, David likes an exercise he calls The Castle, which still uses circles in each corner but brings you down the centerline when crossing from one side of the arena to the next.

Half Pirouettes vs. Turn on the Haunches

David also emphasized the difference between a half pirouette and turn on the haunches, both of which will feature in the new FEI tests. In a half pirouette, the hind end keeps moving, and the movement should be done in about six steps, with the horse accelerating on the final step coming out of the movement.

Half pirouettes can be practiced in three sections, moving over for one-third of the pirouette then walking forward, and completing that two more times until the movement is complete. “It’s a turning exercise, not a lateral exercise,” David said.

In turn on the haunches, David said he constantly sees riders look at the top of their horses’ heads, and it’s critical for them to place their eyes on a visual marker to force their eyes to stay up. And accomplishing that in the turn on the haunches, especially in the new two-star test, can pay off big time.

“For me in the two-star test, that’s the money move. If you nail the turn on the haunches looking straight at the judge and canter, it’s aggressive, it’s pushy, and it’s the money move. Every test has the money move. That’s how you win your division right there,” David said.

‘This is Showmanship’

While halts have improved immensely, they continue to be a weakness, David said. “I still see people, when they go to halt, they try to fix their horse’s squareness at the halt. Don’t do that. Take a step forward. It’s always solving the problem by going forward. If you try to solve it at the halt, all it does is ruin your halt and teach your horses not to stay still.”

And why is all this so critical? Because, ultimately, a dressage test is performing on a stage, where every little detail counts; it’s theater, David explained, and that theme is going to carry through much of the team’s training in dressage this year.

“This is showmanship; this is being on stage; this is theater for competing. You’re on a stage — it’s here — and you have to make sure that you have that theater attitude. This is what I want people to see. It is the difference between the 45 and the 39. … You have to make it theater. That’s what this year is about. Two years ago we were talking about how to go through a corner and how to slow your horse down without the reins. This year, we’re talking about theater.”

David also recommended the riders purchase The Guidelines for Judging, a book published by the FEI that shows how each dressage movement should be judged.

“It’s very clear about what is being judged and how something is getting judged. Like in the medium walk, the overstep has to be by a footprint. In the extended walk, the horse’s mouth shouldn’t get below the point of shoulder and (with) an overstep of three to four hoof prints.”

Cross Country Jumps For Your Arena

David also wants all the riders to put a corner and a triple brush in their arenas at home. The corner angles should be 60 degrees with a 12-foot face on all sides, at a height of 3’3”, with a barrel or flowers in the middle and cross country flags. Ten to 12 inches on the edges of the corner should be slanted or rounded (see diagram).

The triple brush should be two feet at the front of the wedge and 5’6” at the back. David likes to use fake boxwood brushes from Geranium Street Floral‘s website on his jumps.

Once the riders have these obstacles in their arenas, the idea is to “make whatever game you can,” always popping over the fences both straight on and off bending lines at the start of a jump school so it becomes no big deal.

If you missed our report on David’s session from yesterday, click here to check it out, and thank you once again to David and Joanie Morris for allowing EN to sit it on the High Performance sessions at the USEA Convention.

David O'Connor now passes along his knowledge as the Chef d'Equipe of the U.S. team. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Team USA’s Coach David O’Connor led the first of his sessions for High Performance riders at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention today, hailing it the “is what it is” meeting, mainly reviewing the teams performance in Europe this year, as well as a couple key changes that will be made to the program in 2015.

He also touched on focusing on cross country in the High Performance training sessions in an effort to raise our performance in that phase; continuing to emphasize competing overseas to get out of our comfort zone; the importance of winning the Pan American Games — not just because of Olympics qualification; and looking ahead to the next major championships in the coming decade.

Dressage on the Upswing

Sixteen riders were selected to go to Europe this year and given support via grants. More riders than that competed in Europe, but David focused on evaluating the performances on the riders who were specifically selected to go.

Those riders delivered an average four-star dressage of 48.4, which is trending closer to David’s goal of 45, or 70%. That’s down from last year’s average of around 50, so the dressage scores are trending in the right direction, David said.

“At the Worlds, we were in bronze medal position after dressage, and that’s the first time that’s happened in a long time. It’s moving in the right direction, but it’s still not consistently where it needs to be,” David said.

But David said he’s seen a shift in the way riders are handing the pressure in dressage, and he thinks that’s going to set us up for more consistently good performance next year. “From my viewpoint outside the ring, I do believe this next year will present the biggest change, as I saw for the first time this year that people were really getting comfortable in the ring. There was a shift where people were able to attack the test,” he said.

As David emphasized the last year, the issue in dressage continues to be on understanding technique. “You have to improve the level of riding from the technical side,” he said. Understand the theory; understand the technical side. Then that creates instinct, which leads to being competitive, so that when you’re in that competitive moment, it’s done in the way you asked so the horse will understand, which then produces the results.”

Accuracy continues to be hugely important, too, David said. Though he pointed out we only missed one change all year in Europe, other mistakes whittled away at scores. “What’s required is a clean test. It’s five steps in the reinback, not six, not four,” David said. “If it walks, it changes and it does what the test tells you to do, automatically right there you’re going to be sitting around or just below 50. If you finish there, that’s actually quite competitive.”

Though that’s not where David ultimately wants to end up, as the goal remains that elusive 45 mark. CCI4* dressage tests in Europe averaged 48.4 this year. CCI3* dressage tests in Europe averaged 45.3. However, only 18 percent of four-star scores were better than 70%, and only 40 percent of three-star were better than 70%.

The team also saw improvement in show jumping this year, which David attributed to the hiring of Silvio Mazzoni as show jumping coach. The riders sent to Europe averaged 5.1 penalties in show jumping at four-stars and just under a single rail at three-stars. “That’s a lot more clear rounds. In four-stars, 48 percent jumped with one rail or less, which was our goal. That’s a big move from last year.”

Cross Country as the Nemesis

And now for the not so good news. The team’s cross country results did not improve from last year, with only 50 percent completing courses in Europe of those sent overseas. “That number is not going anywhere near high enough, and we haven’t worked on cross country in any of the High Performance training sessions. We’ve done it though watching and commenting after rounds, and we’re changing that.”

Cross country schooling will now be a part of training sessions starting this winter, with David planning to focus on instinct exercises within combinations. “I think the bigger focus will have a huge effect,” he said. “I’ve said this from the beginning: I don’t think talent is the problem. We’re not showing what we need to show, and I think part of it is discipline, especially when it comes to cross country.”

Indeed, cross country is the team’s biggest nemesis right now, David said. “For years and years, it was talked about that our dressage was the problem, but the reason we haven’t won medals in the last 14 years is because of cross country. Yes, all the phases are tied together. You can’t separate cross country from dressage or show jumping from dressage. But make sure it’s put in our minds as to what’s the biggest hurdle right now. It’s a weakness we have inherently in our country.”

David emphasized the cross country results aren’t a reflection of whether or not the best cross country riders were sent overseas, as “these are the best we have, and what we’re showing at international championships is not what we’re showing at home. Remember, this doesn’t include Kentucky, Jersey Fresh, Fair Hill and Galway Downs. These are the numbers when we leave our own island.”

Leaving Our Own Island

The numbers would be much better if U.S. results were included, especially when looking at Rolex. “I don’t think there’s anyone who came out of Kentucky not rubbing their hands together based on what we saw that day,” David said. “There was really good cross country riding on that day, but it didn’t transfer when we got off the island. Everyone has to think about their ability for getting off the island. Can you produce what happened on the island?”

The U.S. is the third largest eventing nation in the world by number of competitions and competitors, David said, yet being isolated from the eventing hub of Europe means we have to keep going overseas. “We have to judge ourselves on what these numbers are even though one weekend might not be perfect,” David said.

And here’s what the numbers matter so much: funding. One-third of the team’s funding comes from the United States Olympic Committee, one-third from private donors and the United States Equestrian Team Foundation, and one-third from the United States Equestrian Federation.

“We still have great support from the foundation, fan base and public, but the USOC is the one going, ‘Hey!’ And the way they say ‘hey’ is by touching our budget,” David said. “It’s completely results based, and you can argue whether that’s right when someone is building a program, but at the end of the day, it’s based on results.”

If the USOC doesn’t see the results they want, then the team doesn’t get the funding it needs. The team has not yet received its funding allotment for 2015 from the USOC, but a total of $300,000 is slated to be cut from equestrian programs, David said. So there’s no way around it: Results really matter.

What Went Wrong at WEG?

As for WEG, everything seemed to be going along just fine … until it wasn’t “For WEG, we shipped over late. We tried to compete here in the States longer and shipped over a week before to Europe, and I think that was a good move,” David said. “The training site in France was good. The horses were comfortable. Morale was good that week. I’d have to say our prep was pretty good.”

Of course, it wasn’t meant to be, with the U.S. failing to finish a team. “WEG was a very unusual situation,” David said. “In my career, I don’t know that I ever rode in conditions quite like that, and I always liked riding in mud. It never bothered me. But this was mud that really held the horses. It was a perfect storm in timing because the rain stopped on Wednesday, and it dried enough that the horses had to pull out of it.”

Boyd Martin was ultimately the only rider on the team to jump clear around the course to finish 8th. “Out of the performances we had, one was very good, and it was not as aggressive because we’d already been beaten up. Boyd finished 8th, but he probably could’ve been higher. He did a good job with what he pulled off. If we were having a good day and Boyd could have cut loose, he might have been 4th or even higher.”

As for Trading Aces and Ballynoe Castle RM retiring on course, David said it came down to the conditions. “We took six horses, and two just couldn’t run in the mud — period. In my mind, it’s that simple,” he said. “There were some other performances that weren’t up to the level, people coming into their first time at a championships.”

Looking Ahead

So what does the performance at WEG mean for David’s program going forward? “We stay on the plan; we adjust the plan; we’re honest with ourselves about the plan, and then we go forward.”

Here’s a key point: “We have to keep in mind that we’re not going back to Europe for a major championships until 2022. When you start thinking about what happened at WEG, you have to keep in mind what we’re preparing for next,” David said.

The team will next face the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where the cross country course will be on top of the ground on prepared footing. “There’s one hill on the site; I don’t know if it will be at the beginning or end of the course,” David said. “It won’t get a lot of rain. … For cross country, it puts everyone on a more level playing field.”

Next up will be Bromont at the 2018 World Equestrian Games. “It’s a site we know, though it won’t look anything like it does now,” David said. Then the team will go to the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, before heading to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.

“In the end, we’re not going back to Europe for a major championships for a long time, which plays more to our favor because it puts people more on a level playing field,” David said. “We have to keep that in mind when we think about what happened and WEG and how we prepare for our next championship.”

The Importance of the Pan Ams

Winning the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto was always going to be a priority for Team USA, long before the team’s incompletion at WEG left us without a qualifying slot for the Olympics.

“There’s no question we have to win it. I don’t think WEG changed that attitude. You always have to win. And we haven’t won it before in past years, so don’t think it’s a walk in the park; you’re going to have to fight for this,” David said.

So which horses and riders will the selectors be looking at when it comes time to name the team? “Experience will count. Reliability will count. Showing that clear cross country rides will happen all the time. That doesn’t mean we’re taking four-star horses; that wouldn’t be appropriate. It will be a mix of two- and three-star horses.”

If Team USA does not win the Pan Ams, there’s still the option of qualifying for the Olympics through the FEI rankings. “We have quite a few riders at the top of the rankings, but those riders will only qualify a slot for the team; you don’t qualify yourself. A lot of people misunderstand that,” David said.

Improving Our Self Image

David concluded with more emphasis in the importance of getting off the island. “We’ve gotten very good with competitions here, but when the game changes with something we don’t know, we’ve proven we’re not as good as that. When it’s a site we don’t know, when the ground conditions aren’t what we usually see, we don’t handle that as well. I don’t care if it rains, if we draw the No. 1 slot, if it’s soft ground or heavy ground; we just have to be one of the groups that overcomes.”

Therein lies the goal behind David’s efforts to send 15 to 17 riders per year overseas to compete. “It’s to get out of our comfort zone. We’re comfortable in our place, at Kentucky, the courses we know. As soon as we get out of our comfort zone, we’re not as comfortable.

“If we go to Kentucky, there’s a lot of really good riding. If we go to Fair Hill, there’s a lot of really good riding. If we go to Galway Downs, there’s a lot of really good riding. How does that not transfer over with the same riders and the same horses? That’s a question we all have to ask ourselves. It comes down to riders knowing their horses and situations,” David said.

A lot of it also comes down to our mental game, too, David said. “There’s no question that I believe we also have a self-image problem,” David said. “There are very few people that I believe think they can walk on to any stage and win. That’s self-image. That self-image is part of winning; it’s what that last 5 percent is. It’s important to you and us as a country. We do have to get there.”

Other Things of Note