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Yesterday felt like a momentous day in two very different ways, and as I sat with my morning coffee pondering them both, they began to make sense to me as something emblematic of the unique, often odd hamster wheel we all live within in this industry.
Before the announcement of the US Olympic team yesterday, I spent the latter half of the day in a sun-drenched field, raising a glass to the late, great Caroline March at a memorial service she’d helped to organise before choosing to call time on her stint on terra firma. It was a beautiful celebration of a spitfire of a woman: her favourite cider was plentiful, her favourite songs provided a poignant, but also often really funny, backdrop – there aren’t many memorials in which you’ll hear ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’, but nothing could have felt more right, really – and so many people who loved her gathered to toast, to laugh, to cry, to share stories of someone who left an indelible mark on everyone she encountered. I didn’t know Caroline particularly well; my attending of the memorial came more as a show of solidarity with her brother Tom and his wife, Piggy, who I do know well, and because, as someone who works in the media in the way that I do, you’re so intrinsically linked with the highs and the lows, and having been there at Burnham Market on the day Caroline had her career-ending fall, I wanted to show my respects. I left wishing I’d had more chances to cross paths with her, to laugh with her. It was yet another reminder to all of us, too, to chase what we love, to take joy in the little things, and never, ever, to take anything for granted.
And then the US team was announced – the first of the Paris eventing teams to be firmed up and put out into the world. And what an exciting team it is! I was personally thrilled to see my favourite of Boyd’s horses, the sweet and charismatic Fedarman B, named, not least because it allows Annie Goodwin – another rider we’ve lost before her time – to be represented at the very top of the sport, as she and her family deserve. No surprise, either, to see Will named with the stalwart Off The Record – “a kitchen table with a Ferrari engine”, as he once described him to me at Aachen.
It’s the two exceptional women on the list who caught me by surprise. I’ll admit I got this one wrong: I thought that Liz would be on the team, probably with Cooley Nutcracker but perhaps, instead, with Miks Master C, and I thought Caroline, on the form of her career, might still be relegated into the reserve slot with HSH Blake. Instead, it’s the other way around, and what an extraordinary thrill that is for Caroline and her team, who’ve really spent the last couple of years going back through every part of their system and seeing if it actually works. When Caroline, already a hugely successful rider in her own right, came to the UK a couple of seasons ago and ultimately ended up training with Pippa Funnell, she did something really difficult, and very admirable: she accepted that her way might not be the right way, and if Pippa wanted to change anything, she’d give it a go. That’s given her the edge and it’s a great reminder to all of us never to let our pride stop us from progressing. Caroline deserves this moment, and I can only begin to imagine how good the celebrations are going to be.
But poor Liz, too. I’m sure the last thing in the world she wants is anyone’s sympathy, and of course, being named as the reserve is still a huge honour – but it’s a tough position to be in. Liz will play a crucial role this summer, helping to keep the team calm, cool, and focused, but it’s got to be incredibly hard to keep yourself, too, ready to perform at your very best, while also reckoning with the fact that you may not need to at all. I hope that either which way, we see that ice in her veins drive her to something huge – a Maryland win, perhaps, or a victorious trip across the pond. That would be a great sweetener, a door opening to make up for another one not quite closing, but perhaps being pushed-to just a touch.
And then, in feeling for Liz, who’s done so much right and, in the old Olympic team format, would have been firmly on the roster, I circle back to square one again: to standing in a rare occurrence of golden hour sunshine, watching a video of Caroline March smiling broadly atop one of her beloved horses, popping fences as though she was born to do it. I circle back to Sunday at Bicton, just after lunchtime, when we were all still laughing and when I last spoke to Georgie Campbell, also smiling broadly as she so, so often did, as she cooled her first ride out from delivering one of the rare clears in that early section. Neither woman is here anymore; both women, though, lived in pursuit of what they loved. They weathered storms; they dealt with disappointments; they never, in any tangible way, would have seen what was around the corner for them. And so, suddenly, the crushing loss of a chance seems less like a cliff edge and more like a speed bump. A half-halt, if you like. A way to rebalance, to readjust, and to prepare to ride out of the corner into the best extended trot of your life. For all those riders who’ll get the call they’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of over the next couple of weeks: savour it. Celebrate it. You’ve done it. And for those who won’t? Rebalance and ride again, and never, ever lose sight of who you are, because that person is exceptional.
Events Opening Today: Silverwood Farm Summer H.T., Applewood Farm YEH & Mini Event, Horse Park of New Jersey Horse Trials II, Course Brook Farm Summer H.T., The Event at Rebecca Farm
Events Closing Today: Valinor Farm H.T., Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Summer H.T., Bucks County Horse Park H.T., Round Top H.T., Stable View Summer H.T., Midsouth Pony Club H.T., Fox River Valley Pony Club H.T.
Tuesday News & Notes from Around the World:
There’s a fair bit of furore over in the dressage world in the lead-up to Paris. That comes as the result of a bit of a qualifications snafu, which has seen Chile lose its individual slot after Brazil was downgraded from a team to an individual place. An objection is being lodged, and you can find out more about this fairly major oversight here.
You’ve no doubt seen Olivia Dutton’s name popping up more and more frequently on high-flying entry lists. And, of course, you probably watched her in action as the star of the Dutton show at Kentucky, where she contested the CCI4*-S in fine style in April. But who is this ultra-focused, softly-spoken young talent, really, and what is it that drives her? You can find out this, and much more, in this profile, originally published in Sidelines.
I love following blogs in the leadup to the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover. I think it’s because the folks writing them are so often people I can relate to: they’re usually juggling all sorts of ‘real life’ alongside their horses, which really speaks to me on a spiritual level. While COTH blogger Brit Vegas might be a pro, she’s also not immune to having life get in the way of horse-showing, as her latest entry shares. Get well soon, Seuss!
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Sponsor Corner: Do you know your horse’s normal resting heart rate? It’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with your horse’s baseline vitals. In an emergency situation, you’ll need to know your horse’s normal vitals, so you can compare their temperature, respiration, and pulse. Kentucky Performance Products has put together a great infographic to hang in your barn with all the pertinent information on vital signs for horses. Print it out and hang it in your barn aisle here.
Watch This:
Take a walk around Versailles’s hallowed grounds with this episode of FEI TV’s RIDE magazine show. Can you feel the butterflies yet? We certainly can.
