Posted by Chelsea Kolman on Sunday, April 11, 2021
It’s been awhile since we last saw Kentucky-based Chelsea Kolman and her 13-year-old Percheron/Thoroughbred gelding, Dauntless Courage. You may recall our first meeting with Chelsea and “Dante”, where we learned about her tactic of laying him down when his nerves became too much to handle at shows.
While the pair was busy ticking off goals just a few short years ago, life threw some curveballs Chelsea’s way. A bout of EPM and some shoeing issues threw a wrench into Chelsea’s best-laid competition plans, and before she knew it, it had been nearly two years since the gelding last competed.
I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. 2 years since his last horse show and not only was he a class act all…
Posted by Chelsea Kolman on Sunday, April 11, 2021
Once Chelsea and her team were able to work through Dante’s health issues, he began to wonder why he wasn’t working more. “Once we (found solutions for his health ailments), he just started acting like his normal self, kicking the door when I’m tacking up other horses, acting nutty in the paddock,” Chelsea explained. “So I told him if he was sound up until I left for Florida, I would take him.S use enough, he was, so I took him.”
Chelsea worked with Sara and Brian Murphy in Ocala through the winter, not putting any pressure on her partner but allowing him to tell her what he was ready to do. Since returning to Kentucky, Dante has continued progressing, prompting Chelsea to enter him in the Open Preliminary at Spring Bay this past weekend.
“He felt better than ever and I could tell he was thrilled to be out!” Chelsea said. “So the plan moving forward is to just keep going with the flow and letting him tell me what he wants to do. As we all know, he owes me nothing and I tell him everyday that whenever he’s ready to retire to give me a sign and we’ll be on the first plane to Mexico!”
Enjoy this fun ride and watch Chelsea and Dante skip around the Prelim during a wet weekend in Kentucky. Go Eventing.
