A New Endeavor for Crown Talisman and I

Tali at Chantilly about to head to Saumur CCI*** 2014

This is a post I never, in a million, years envisioned writing; however, here I am typing away.

A few weeks back Jess and I met with a good friend and supporter to get some advice about a lot of raw land available for sale just behind the farm which we currently rent. Without much in the way of financial resources the inexpensive acreage looked appealing on the surface. That evening, after checking out the land, we started looking into comparable property in the area to better evaluate our options and the prospects of development. While Jess and I had searched online before, we were shocked to find what appears to be perfect farm. The question then becomes how in the world could we afford it!

Two days later I received a call from Liz Millikin on behalf of Joanne Bridgman (both Agents) asking whether I'd ever consider parting with Tali. My initial thought, was not a chance. After discussing with Jess, Larry and Amelia and sleeping on it, I decided if it meant we could buy the farm I'd have to consider it. A week or so later Nick Gauntlett arrived at our place in Raleigh.

I'm as attached to him as much as I've ever been to a horse. He has been with me now for 6 years from his very first event to Saumur this spring. The thought of selling him has literally woke me up multiple times during the past few weeks. However, after speaking to a number of people I respect both in and out of the horse world, I'm confident this is the right decision. Certainly doesn't make it an easy one!

I'm comforted by the fact that after getting to know Nick, his riding style and care of his horses I know Tali will have a great future. I will always be his biggest fan and hope nothing but the best for the two of them. I'll be rooting for them at Rio! I would also like to again thank Larry and Amelia Ross for their continued support, I certainly wouldn't be here without them.

-Doug

**Updated 6:45 PM**

Larry and Amelia wanted me to include the following and I was more than happy to oblige. I want to reiterate that I can't thank them enough for their advice and support throughout the years.

“Our support of Doug and the team’s quest for Olympic gold is long term. If this helps Doug finance a permanent base, so he can concentrate on building a string of Olympic contenders, he made a very wise decision. Further, this is the second Olympic contender Doug trained. We are confident that owning his facility, rather than renting where conditions may change,  will enhance his ability to assemble and train enough top horses to take the worry out of relying on just one mount.”

Tali at the Fork CIC*** - Photo by Samantha Clark via Eventing Nation

The Saumur Photo's have arrived!

For those not familiar click on the gallery name below to view all 18 additional competition photos

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For more information about training, competition or sales please contact Jess or Doug. Conveniently located in the Raleigh, NC area in New Hill.

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

Tali's Saumur Helmet Cam is live...

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

Clear Cross Country at Saumur***!

Forgive the awkward angle, but this was taken in the vet box following Tali's great XC!

Tali was again exceptional on a very challenging course. Cross country for the 3* didn't start until 12:30 pm so it was a long day of waiting. There was a short delay on course which put my start time up to just around 4:30 pm. Tali warmed up great and headed out on course strong as ever. He improved as the course progressed and he finished up very strong. During the last few minutes on course he still had energy to spare, which was incredible considering the deep conditions in much of the course. I wore the helmet cam again today so a video should surface here as soon as I can find wifi that is fast enough.

I can't express how proud I am with Tali and how thankful I am to have the support of Larry & Amelia Ross, the entire Land Rover US Eventing Team and of course my family and wife Jessica. I wouldn't be here without all of their help.

Jogs are at 10 tomorrow morning with show jumping not until 4 in the afternoon.

-D

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

The day before Dressage at Saumur

We had a fairly light day today. I was very happy to report that the rain, for the most part, did stop today. We had a number of showers roll through, but luckily they would never last for more than 10 minutes then returned back to sunshine. The ground, being primarily sand for 95% of the course, adsorbed a massive amount of water. The footing is significantly better than it was yesterday. If the weather continues as it's predicted we should be in great shape come Saturday!

I rode twice again today just as in the previous days he was much better the second time out. I was struggling a bit initially not only with keeping his attention, but also figuring out how much support was needed through the deeper sections of mud. I felt much better in the afternoon's ride.

Uptown Eventing captured one of the brief showers perfectly!

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Tomorrow my dressage is at 2:05. Being that Tali's been so much better the second time out each day, I plan to ride in the morning again. Following the first ride of the day, I'll head out on the cross country course again in what will probably be my second to last walk. Not to forget that Liz also does her dressage test tomorrow. Scheduled for just after 10 am, I think the US is in great shape to make a mark on this competition!

We were able to carve out a few hours in the mid-morning to head over to see the show at the Cadre Noir de Saumur. The production is held at the French national riding school and instruction center just a few minutes from where the event is being held. They did a great job showing the full range of what horses and riders are capable. As David explained to us, it's amazing to think that our foundation and style of modern riding in the US is rooted in the teachings developed right here. Saumur was where Jack Le Goff was taught, and master for more than a decade.

Cadre Noir de Saumur

I'll try to get an update following dressage posted as soon as possible.

-D


PS Just in case you missed this on Eventing Nation earlier. Sally Spickard wrote a fabulous post about Tali's progression. Can't wait for tomorrow!

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Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

And the rain as Saumur gets worse!

I hate to report that the skies opened up today...and really never closed!

Rain pours off the roof at the stables...

We did our best to hunker down for the day an avoid the rain, we failed. I rode with DOC first thing with in the morning, Tali and I were completely soaked. He was a little less settled than yesterday so we decided to ride again this afternoon following the first horse inspection.

Next up for the day was the briefing. Difficult to say exactly what was said, but I think we got the general gist of things. My french certainly hasn't improved enough to determine what was said aside from the English translation given by the show manager extraordinaire Joelle Stafford.

During the briefing was the all important draw. Each nation, 20+ of them, was asked to come down an pick a bottle of sparkling wine with a number on the bottom. This indicated the order in which we would jog. We ended up with number 14, placing us just about an hour into the inspection.

Our view of the briefing and draw

 Following the briefing Michelle and I headed out on the cross country course. I've complied the course below in a collage with the size of the picture roughly indicating the importance/difficulty of each jump or combination. A quick run through with regards to striding etc.

Fence 5: There is basically has no good approach to the first element due to trees and an unjumpable fence. Once at it, the combination is a 2 stride line. The challenge is really getting the first element done, once over the A portion B shouldn't be too much trouble.

Fence 8: You just don't want to miss, it's not terribly tall but the ditch is massive.

Fence 9: This combination should ideally ride in a 3 stride to 3 stride line. Left side of the first, again your approach is restricted, bending then right to the second skinny and more or less straight to the last.

Fence 11: This is off quite a tight turn and again on 3 strides (although my memory might not serve me well, if not 3 then 4 strides, but a decent distance regardless).

Fence 12: Triple brush in the water....this should ride well as long as they see it early enough and you get there with enough energy. It's certainly not one you can just gallop on down to.

Fence 14: I don't remember the striding, but probably 4. The hill is steeper than it looks, it's a blind approach. Luckily for Tali he saw this identical combination 2 weeks ago at Jersey.

Fence 16: 4 strides on a bending line.

Fence 18: The direct line, which is my intention is the corner of the boat bending 4 strides to the corner of the second boat in the water. The A element is quite vertical, so make sure it gets done well! The option is the white to the second boat backwards.

Fence 21: This is a slightly long 3 stride, but should ride normal after a long gallop around the track.

Fences 23 and 24: The hill after 23 is significant again the photos don't do it justice. It's a bending line to 24 AB which is a bounce then 3 strides to the C element. I expect this should ride well, but will require you're still on your A game.

Fences 25-27: With all of the rain this was nearly a water to water, with a bounce in the middle. I'm glad I practiced some bounces last week!

Fence 29: Possibly the most important fence of all!

I'm very happy with the course. I think it suits Tali well, again not to minimize it's difficulty. If you're off your line at any of these combinations or fail to get their eye on the next element soon enough you'll absolutely have trouble! 

Click on the image below to enlarge, or right click to save and view on your desktop.

The day continued with the horse inspection. The rain continued to fall with some intermittent lightning. After our first time up and back on the strip I was asked to represent, but alas all was clear and we've officially begun!

My dressage test will be at roughly 2:30 on Friday, which is just about ideal for us. I can't wait! Tomorrow we plan to start with a lesson at 8:30. We're going to make a quick trip over to the Cadre Noir de Saumur at 10:30 then back to the show grounds to walk the cross country again!

More details tomorrow.

-D

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

A rainy first day at Saumur with some diplomatic rays of light

Well unfortunately I have to report the rain arrived today...

The rainy view from our tack stall towards the main ring

It had been spoken of for a few days now, but it arrived with vengeance. After feeding in the morning I took Tali out for our typical morning time ride. Funny enough I think he feels at home in the tent stabling. As I had mentioned yesterday, he just seems much more settled and comfortable. He was very good in the practice arena as well as on our leisurely walk around the property.

Tali checking out the main arena at Saumur

Tali hoping that he hears some good scores coming from these come dressage day.

Tali checking out his new neighbors

After getting Tali cooled and dried off, our American neighbors arrived! Liz Halliday-Sharp and 'Blackie' were a very welcome English speaking addition to our barn. After catching up for a few minutes Michelle and I again headed into town for lunch and a little tourism. We ventured up the the Château de Saumur which is the castle in direct view from our hotel. Again another beautiful example of architecture and history, and the view from the top of the hill was stunning! It's staggering to think all of this was constructed by hand....amazing. Due to renovations we were unable to go inside, but the trip was well worth it regardless.

The view from Château de Saumur

We headed back to the show grounds and met up with a jet-lag weary David O'Connor as well as our neighbors to the 'left'. I'm happy to report that we've resolved our international differences at least for the weekend. In all seriousness Alex Hua Tian finished out our barn. Coming from the UK Alex et al arrived just a few minutes after Liz. 

US - China...well played Saumur

Tomorrow I have a lesson planned for 8 with David. 9 am in the main stands will be the briefing and draw. Just following will be my much anticipated first cross country course walk. Pictures to follow, from what I can see from outside the roping it looks great. 

Until tomorrow....Feel free to post questions below that you might have, I'd be more than happy to answer whatever is on your mind.

-D

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

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Moving day...

We started the day off with another ride in Fursan's indoor. I wanted to make good use of the mirrors while they were available. Tali was quite good, I'm hopefully this trend will continue. At 10 am our transport arrived. It didn't take too long to get the truck packed, you're probably not surprised based on it's size! I think poor Tali was thinking the same; however, Roger was nice enough to set the truck up as a box stall for him. Reports from Roger and Michelle said he was much more comfortable as long as they were at highway speeds. Tali wasn't all that patient in the Paris traffic!

Tali loading up at Fursan in Chantilly

Spoiled much?! As Michelle picks some grass for an onlooking Tali at a rest stop.

I followed the truck from the farm in Chantilly to Saumur. The trip took us just over 4 hours. Not a bad drive. The only hitch came when I got stuck at the toll booth for 20 mins or so. Apparently the machine doesn't like US credit cards. I figured, no worries, just hit the help button. Not only is the launguage barrier an issue, but the drive through speaker system. I'm not exactly sure where I finished up, I have some sort of reciept that I'm nearly certain is to be handed over to the rental car company. I guess we'll see!

 

I arrived just a bit after the truck to the show grounds. The management couldn't have been nicer. It was great to finally arrive, and funny enough Tali hasn't been this settled since our departure. Something homey about tent stabling I guess! I took him for a walk around the grounds, below is the dressage arena which also serves as a portion of the cross country as well was being set up. The soil is comprised of a sandy base with pine tress everywhere, a very similar feel to our new home in New Hill. I could only scope out a few of the cross country jumps. I can't wait to get out to walk. Unfortunately, that won't happen until after the briefing on Wednesday.

 The Dressage Arena still being set up

We returned to the town of Saumur to find our hotel. That is always a challenge without a map or GPS. Luckily we found an Englishman on a bike who's phone data was working well and was able to point us in the right direction. After just one wrong turn down the wrong way of a one way street we arrived.

The first challenge entering the hotel room was figuring out how to turn on the lights. After killing 10 minutes hitting every switch in the place I called the front desk. If you find yourself in this predicament, your door key also functions as a means to power up the entire room by sticking it in the wall receptacle. Once the lights were on I found another great surprise. Direct from the UK was my new helmet from Charles Owen complete with red stripes and a yellow logo!

Brand new Charles Owen waiting my my hotel room!

In looking out the window I was again shocked at the beauty that abounds all around France. Roger actually told Michelle on the way to the event that they hold a dressage show up at the castle at some point during the year. Pretty incredible.

How about that for a view from your hotel window - Saumur

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Until tomorrow....Feel free to post questions below that you might have, I'd be more than happy to answer whatever is on your mind.

-D

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

Tali, Mansions and more - Day #2 in Chantilly

Tali enjoying the view from the barn

The weather for day two in France was again absolutely perfect, hardly a cloud in the sky and just around 80 degrees. Trying to get back to normal I rode around 8:30 am, this is such an incredible facility! I decided to take advantage of the indoor's mirrors. I've got to figure out a way to build them at our place in NC, it was incredibly helpful to say the least. Tali was wild...but that is completely normal for him. He's an odd horse, every time he's in a new location he is on edge and marginally unridable for the first 45 minutes, luckily he's near enough normal by the second day. With a little luck we can get even more accomplished during tomorrow morning's ride. I'm still trying to perfect the small tweaks made a few days ago at my mom's place. Following tomorrow's ride we're scheduled to load up and head to the show grounds at Saumur. I can't wait!

In the meantime, Michelle and I visited the Musee Conde in the neighboring town to Chantilly. Having not been to France, aside from a train ride some years back, I really didn't expect this magnitude of extravagance in such a small town. Naive am I to think that palatial estates didn't exist much beyond the major cities. I've posted a bunch of photos on my personal Facebook page, click here to view. On the same property was a beautiful race course as well as the Domaine de Chantilly which houses a massive stable which runs exhibitions, races as well as a CSI** which is held next month. Check back tomorrow for updates on the show grounds!

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Feel free to post questions below that you might have, I'd be more than happy to answer whatever is on your mind.

-D

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

Success Day #1 in France

Tali's accommodations heading on the Plane to Liege with Michelle

This has been a wild week. Following Tali's win at the Jersey Fresh CIC*** which wrapped up Saturday we've been going non stop...

This trip to Saumur had it's origins at Fair Hill CCI*** last fall. Both Kim Severson and David O'Connor independently pulled me aside and asked me to consider trying to attend an European 3* in the spring. To be honest I really hadn't considered it, I was too busy trying to get prepared enough for Fair Hill. Fast forward 6 months, Tali has had a great spring season. I decided to both enter Rolex as well as submit an application for a Land Rover/USEF Grant to Saumur. Following the Fork CIC*** I was notified that our grant application had been approved! (Click to read blog entry)

After Rolex's dressage, the final push to Saumur was on! Jersey Fresh's CIC*** was targeted as Tali's final run. The event went exceptionally well, we finished with the win by 8 points! Following the competition Dr. Susan Johns preformed the final detailed veterinary inspection. Tali looked fabulous and we got the green light to go, contingent on one last trot up the day before departure by Dr Brendon Furlong.

Saturday evening Tali and Michelle headed north to my parents place for the week, while I headed south to Raleigh to help Jess and Katie at the Cabin Branch Schooling Event at the Carolina Horse Park Sunday morning. I remained in NC to ride through Tuesday morning. My sister Holly was nice enough to take Tali for a long walk Monday.

I returned the 8 hours to NJ Tuesday afternoon to ride the dressage test for my Mom and long time mentor Irma Hotz. It was incredibly helpful, and with some luck I can put their advice into action here in France. Wednesday morning I headed out for our final Gallop, as soon as we finished up I hopped back in the car to return south to Raleigh.

A lot of driving you say...yeah no kidding! Better off me than Tali though, he's had enough traveling this spring for most of the barn. I figured it was best to minimize his travel, so that he could be in top shape come Saumur. 

Wednesday afternoon Michelle met Dr. Furlong to get the final ok to proceed. She and Tali headed out to JFK on the other side of NYC to prepare for their flight. I flew out from Raleigh on Friday mid-day. Following the first of many misunderstandings my rental car sans GPS managed to make our way north putting Michelle, Tali and I here in Chantilly just hours apart this morning. This afternoon, which still felt very much like morning, I took Tali for a long hack around the Fursam Equestrian Center.

All I can say is that this place is beautiful! It will serve as our home through Monday am as well as the staging facility for the US team prior to the World Equestrian Games this summer. Below you'll find a link to my Facebook album. I'll do my best to continue to update with photos through the week. The only catch is finding reliable WiFi in order to upload them in a timely manor.

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Click the link above for updates through the week, and of course check back on this blog for detailed accounts!

Feel free to post questions below that you might have, I'd be more than happy to answer whatever is on your mind.

-D

Don't forget to get your copy of 'The Riding Horse Repair Manual' by clicking the cover image below!

Tali's Rolex Dressage

I'm not sure I can put exactly into words how proud and excited I am following Tali's test yesterday at Rolex. He was a little tense as we entered the arena, which was exactly what we expected. Just as we had hoped he continued to improve throughout the test. Amazingly, he finished up the day sitting in 3rd place!

The USEF Network has posted the video online, click here to view.

In the best of all worlds I had hoped that we would have had a day like yesterday. I can't stop thinking about how great Tali's future will be, we're just scratching the surface of our potential. I have to again thank Larry and Amelia Ross for their support in our partnership with Tali. Without their help I certainly would not in this position!

So just as we had planned and mentioned in previous the previous blog, I will be withdrawing from Rolex here to reroute to Saumur CCI*** in France in a month's time. I have to thank both Land Rover as well as all of the private donors who have made the USEF travel grant possible. It's an incredible opportunity, and based on Tali's performance yesterday I can't wait!

If you are at Rolex this year, please join us for a course walk today, Friday at 4:30 meeting at the start box. Also I'll be at the following both signing my new book as well as autographs:

Ecogold 11:45
Pony Club Games 12:15
Bit of Britain 1:15
CWD Saddles 4:00

Tomorrows details still to come!