EN’s Got Talent is Eventing Nation’s newest series. We hear all the time about horses at the top of the sport, but what about the next generation of equine talent? This series introduces the future superstars of the sport, interviewing riders about how they’re tackling training with these youngsters. Have you spotted a spectacular young horse at an event you think should be highlighted in this column? Tip me at [email protected].
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Kelli and Rocco in the dressage at the YEH Championships. Photo credit to Shannon Brinkman.
While Kelli Temple never planned on aiming Scirocco, a 5-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Jules Stiller, at the YEH Championships, a solid start to his eventing career convinced her it might be a possibility. “It became apparent that maybe he was going to be able to catch up enough to do it,” Kelly said. “I want to the Waredaca qualifier in August so I could present him to the judges. It’s a little bit of a crapshoot, because everybody thinks their 5-year-old is nice. You have to see whether the judges will agree with you or not.” It turned out that the judges agreed with Kelli. “The judges wrote some very encouraging things to me,” Kelli said. “But at that point he was still very green. He didn’t jump cross country; he show jumped cross country. He was over jumping and not understanding how to jump out of a gallop, so we still needed to work on that.”
Kelli continued advancing Rocco’s education, especially his jumping, with incredible results. After the YEH qualifier at Waredaca, Rocco moved up to training level, winning his next two events at Maryland and Middleburg. His final outing before the YEH Championships was also at Maryland, where he placed second by just .9 faults. At Fair Hill, Rocco’s lovely gaits turned heads — including mine — showing he would be one of the 5-year-olds to beat. “He’s such a crowd pleaser,” Kelli said. “When people see him go in dressage, he has such a gorgeous trot and uphill canter that he catches people’s eyes. I could easily see doing straight dressage with him.”
Kelli and Rocco jumped in the pouring rain at the YEH Championships. Photo credit to Shannon Brinkman.
Bad weather at Fair Hill is just par for the course, but Kelli Temple saw the worst of it during the jumping. A gentle rain turned into a monsoon about midway through her round. I can say “monsoon” confidently, because I was there trying to take pictures. “He was the only horse that had to go in that torrential rain,” Kelli said. “He’s never had to compete under those circumstances before. He jumped the first jump so big and my tack was so wet that I just could not stay in the saddle. I went flying up and landed on his back. I was terrified to jump the next jump because I thought I was going to fall off.”
While Kelli thought Rocco jumped around brilliantly, some of the comments made by the judges perplexed her. “For the most part he got very good scores,” Kelli said. “The jumping was a little bit strange. They made some comments that maybe I couldn’t see, like that he doesn’t use his head and neck. It just didn’t make sense. But everyone has their opinions. You just have to go with it and surrender yourself to that. You know going in that it’s not based on penalties; it’s based on someone’s opinion. Everyone thinks their horse is the best, so you just have to let it go.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an1gH9iHHLc
Rocco’s dressage test at the YEH Championships
Rocco finished the 5-year-old YEH Championships in second place, just .69 points behind Kim and Jackie Severson’s Cooley Cross Border. After a fantastic finish to his season, Rocco is enjoying the off season before starting next year at training, with a move up to preliminary planned for the spring. Kelli has her sights set on the one-star at Bromont, but she plans to let Rocco make the decisions about his future. “I would love to be able to continue Rocco’s education up through the levels, but the bottom line is he is for sale and I fully expect someone else will get that pleasure.” Until then, Kelli fully intends to enjoy the ride.
Next week on EN’s Got Talent: We’ll show OTTBs some love when we meet VS McCuan Civil Liberty, a 7-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Patrick McCuan and campaigned by Australian native Kate Chadderton. He most recently placed seventh in intermediate at the Virginia Horse Trials last month; he also placed 17th at the Bromont CCI1* earlier this year. “He’s only small — just 15.2hh — and quite a quirky little bugger; he likes to bite,” Kate said. “To ride he’s like a little rubber ball. He’s the most athletic and nicest horse I’ve had the privilege of riding. OTTBs are my personal favorite. I grew up riding them and somehow keep on coming back to them.”
