ement, Disappointment Olympians Weigh In
the experience of my teammates to answer my questions and mentally prepare me for things that were coming up. Of course, I have the incredible good fortune of having multiple-Olympian Debbie McDonald as my everyday trainer. She also did her best to tell me about every little detail I would encounter along the road. She did an amazing job of preparing me so that I never felt overwhelmed.” Santa Barbara, California native Tiana Coudray spent
the year prior to the Olympic Games living and working in England at Nick Gauntlett’s farm. A former international competitor in Irish dance, Tiana has felt the pressure of the world stage before, but she says that the team experience at the Olympics brought a whole new dimension to the experience. “I was on a team with people that I’ve looked up to for as long as I’ve know what eventing is, so it was kind of surreal having them as team members,” she says. “I think that there’s so much that you can learn and absorb just being in a situation like that, when they have so many years of experience.” Tiana and Ringwood Magister, the 11-year-old Irish Sport
Horse gelding by Master Imp that she bought as a baby in Ireland and brought up the levels herself, were selected for the team after finishing best of the Americans at the final mandatory outing at Barbury Castle International three- day event in England in July. Tiana admits that she was a bit overwhelmed. “It’s a
pretty difficult group to fit in with, especially having been in England for the past year,” she remarks. “I think there was a feeling that I hadn’t paid my dues and came in through the back door—but I feel like I did everything I needed to do to get myself on the team, and it was probably the harder way than staying home and [competing] in my comfort zone.” Reed Kessler and Cylana, a ten-year-old Belgian
Warmblood mare by Skippy II out of Verona Van De Ruitershoeve, dominated the 2012 Florida circuit and were named to the show jumping team after they won the final selection trials. Reed, who was 17 years old at the time, was the U.S. Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Month in March of 2012. She grew up in Armonk, New York and, after graduating from the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan this year, moved to Lexington, Kentucky. The Olympics was also Reed’s first major championship.
“Luckily I’ve always performed my best under pressure,” Reed explains. “Riding in championships is much different than regular shows. It takes a huge amount of strength, endurance and experience. I watched (individual gold medalist) Nick Skelton give an amazing interview in which he talked about his many Olympics. He said he didn’t ride any better or try any harder this time than his other six appearances, it just finally all came together. I thought that was really inspiring, that it took arguably the greatest rider in the world six times to win a gold medal.”
Left: Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister on Cross-Country. Right: Tiana and Ringwood Magister during the veterinarian inspection.
Warmbloods Today 17
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
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