The Fair Hill International guest blogging series presented by SmartPak gave riders who are entered to compete at FHI the opportunity to tell their tale and lay all their hard work on the table prior to the event. Lindsey Oaks-Solorzano and her mount Enchantez will compete in the CCI*** this year.
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From Lindsey:
It’s hard to believe that the biggest event of my career is just a week away. It seems just yesterday that I met the scrawny, barely broken, terrified horse that is now Enchantez or “Taylor” as his friends call him. That is not the horse that I hope to bring to Maryland for the Fair Hill International CCI*** next week. The horse that I’ll be bringing is sleek, strong, confident (except when his vet walks into the barn!), and a serious cross country machine.
I met Taylor six years ago when I came to Kentucky to work for Megan Moore of Team CEO Eventing. Poor Taylor was a walking heart attack at the time, having lived out in a field with no human interaction for the first five years of his life, adjusting to the civilized world was pretty tough on him. But I loved him from the moment we met. He was to go through a few riders before I got the ride (read: he unloaded enough riders that no one else was willing to touch him) and after a few months I was able to convince his soon to be owners enough of his talent that my dad (and first owner!) David Oaks, Robbie Faircloth, and Bill Edwards helped me bring him home for good.
Lindsey and Taylor at Richland Park this year. Photo Courtesy of Mike Goodwin.
Developing a partnership with Taylor has not been easy, we’ve had some, err let’s say baggage to work through. For the first few years simple things like putting a winter blanket on was a two person job. Trying to convince him that our world class vet Dr. Chris Newton was not there to kill him was, and still is, an interesting conversation especially when it’s time for spring shots. He’s always known that he didn’t really need me to get the job done, at his first training he dumped me in the cross country warm up and went out on course without me. At his first prelim I missed to a fence in show jumping warm up and he took us to the other side easily. Then he unloaded me and proceeded to jump the oxer twice by himself! To say that I’ve trained him would be a lie, he’s trained me to always be on my guard!
This year has been the most influential year of our career together. We moved up to the advanced level at Pine Top in February of this year with intentions of keeping the schedule for this year simple. No three day’s in our plans, just going for miles at the level. But after our second advanced at Poplar, it had become apparent to my most trusted advisors that he was definitely comfortable with the new height and technicality and the decision was made to enter Fair Hill International CIC*** that April. The weekend came and he was an absolute star, rocking around the hilly terrain like it was nothing and picking us up a sixth place ribbon at our first CIC***! Decision time dawned again, keep the schedule simple or take the already fit Taylor up to Bromont CCI*** that summer? The decision was made to go, entry sent, trailer packed.
Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, as some unforeseen events in my life prevented us from making it up to Canada that June. I gave Taylor thirty days off over the summer since we had been out and about since January and brought him back with a new goal in mind: Fair Hill International CCI***. I brought him back slowly, going for hacks daily in addition to slowly increasing ring work. After several weeks we started driving over to the local thoroughbred training center once a week to gallop. The break and slow fitness build up seemed to do his body good, and since coming back we’ve picked up two more ribbons at advanced the most recent a fourth place finish at Poplar Place Farm!
It’s been my dream to compete at the highest levels of eventing since I was very young. I always knew that it would take a lot of hard work, what I didn’t know was that I would learn to have a real relationship with my partner in that pursuit.
Thanks for letting me share a little bit of my partnership with Taylor with you Eventing Nation! If you’re out and about at Fair Hill next week, do come on over and meet my better half!
Lindsey and Taylor taking a break from their gallop sets at Victory Haven Traning Track.
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