This year I’m taking both horses to Badminton. I really
want to come home to America to compete at Kentucky sometime but with Badminton ten minutes down the road it’s a whole lot less stressful for the horses. If everything goes well I do plan to bring one of the boys home for Kentucky next year, though. I really want to do that.
WBT: What type of therapies or special care do you do for mainte- nance to keep your horses sound for four star work? CM: Living in damp England has several benefits. One be- ing that the footing is a lot more forgiving here so I find I have to do quite a bit less to keep my big boys comfortable. Also there are so many events in such a close proximity that if I don’t like the footing on any given weekend, I always have a few options on the horizon the following week to still get the run in elsewhere. I do have a massage therapist come once a week to give them a good rub and a once over. I take it as an opportunity to communicate with her about how they are feel- ing during their work and she can let me know if she thinks there is anything subtle brewing that could be helped in another way. I try to make sure that every detail is considered in their nutrition and their physical and mental preparation—no detail is too small.
Clark and Universe, last year at the CHIO Aachen (Germany) during the final show jumping phase.
WBT: With the World Equestrian Games taking place this summer, how do you feel about your chances of making the team and what is your game plan for getting there? CM: It’s a difficult thing, especially at this stage—anything could go any way and soundness could be a factor right at the end—so you just never know. We’re doing our best to make sure the horses are fit and sound and happy. We’re just getting our season going—we had our first run two weeks ago—and we’ve got tons of schooling shows and horse trials on the calendar to get them going again. So we’ll see. My focus is on Alden, a little horse trials on Sunday, then an unaffiliated show, then Gatcombe the next Sunday, then Belton (CIC3*), so basically the WEG is barely on my mind. I’m trying to train the horses as best I possibly can and get this season under my belt. If we have a good Badminton and the team still wants to talk to me about it, then I’ll start thinking about the WEG.
22 May/June 2014
Shannon Brinkman
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68