Phillip Dutton and Mr. Medicott during their dressage phase at Rolex Kentucky in 2014.
Back in the Spotlight Phillip is appreciative of the members of the Mr. Medicott
Syndicate who have been supportive throughout the horse’s rehabilitation. “He has a great syndicate group; a few stayed on when Karen was riding and a few joined in. We stay in touch by e-mail; I think they all understand that there are no guarantees with an older horse, but everyone’s excited to see him going again. Karen is always encouraging and loves the horse and it was hard for her when she was injured, but she’d love to see him show the world how good he is.” In his quest to return to competition, Cave kicked off the season at the Carolina International three-day event in Southern Pines, North Carolina in March. Phillip reports that Cave had a conservative run to finish eighth in the CIC2*, and the tendon he aggravated last year in Kentucky looks great after the event. “His zest or enthusiasm for being ridden and for the sport
is still there,” remarks Phillip. “He’s a little quieter than when he was a young horse, but we’ve done some show jumping in Ocala and he still has plenty of life in him! He’ll let us know what he’s ready for and when.” Although making a run for Rolex 2015 was a strong possi- bility, he publicized his final decision online. “Cave owes us
16 May/June 2015
nothing at this point in his career, and, after careful consid- eration with our vet team, we’ve decided to err on the side of caution and skip the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event to give him all the time he needs to be ready for a course of that magnitude. We’ll aim to bring him back out in the fall instead.” That said, Phillip is already looking beyond Kentucky.
While he has not entered Cave for the Pan-Am Games, he’s not ruling out Rio in 2016—or a completely different future. “I don’t know if being in a team is in his future; we’ll take it one step at a time,” he says. “The sport has so many levels of competing now, you can choose the tougher events like Burghley and Badminton or on the other side the CICs or events like the Wellington Showcase. As a horse with so much training and education, he can accomplish a lot. But he’s not a horse you can run at too many events each year so we’ll pick and choose what we do with him.” “Thank you to everyone for all your kind words and
encouraging messages,” he continues. “Cave loved being back out in front of the big crowds at Carolina, with his ears pricked the whole way around on cross country. It’s a real privilege to ride this incredible horse every day.”
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