By Amber Heintzberger
Big Attitude
At the 2016 Rolex Kentucky three-day event, a quirky little American-bred horse named Doesn’t Play Fair had the good fortune to be stabled in a barn where several entries didn’t show up. As a result, there were six empty stalls between him and the next horse on the aisle. He preferred it that way.
only CCI4*. And it wasn’t his first strong performance of the year. In the lead up to the big event, he won The Fork CIC3* in North Carolina, one of the premier three-day events of the spring season. Cody’s rider, Maya Black, has learned to deal with his many
W
quirks. In addition to his dislike of other horses nearby, he doesn’t like to be groomed and is often opinionated under saddle. And at 5’11”, Maya is tall for the 15.3-hand gelding. But she clearly is able to ride him to his full potential.
SECOND TIME A CHARM
This was the pair’s second time competing in Kentucky, and Maya knew that they had a good chance at finishing near the top of the pack. Last year, in their first attempt at the event, they finished 22nd. “You want to try the best you can, and competing last year I had high hopes that we’d do well, but at the same time I’d
TOP: Maya and “Cody” compete at Fair Hill International in 2015.
ith plenty of space to relax, “Cody” performed his best against some of the most talented event horses and riders in the world, finishing third in America’s
never ridden him at something like Rolex. This year I had that experience behind me and knew we could jump that big and go that long,” Maya explains. In their first attempt in 2015, she had no idea how he
would handle the electric atmosphere that comes with thou- sands of cheering spectators, or if his fitness program would be adequate for the grueling endurance test. Going into the 2016 event, Cody had been performing well at the Advanced and CIC3* levels and, with an extra year of training under his belt, he was just that much stronger and more rideable. “It shows how horses get better as you keep training them,”
Maya continues. “He was so much more rideable in the dres- sage and show jumping this year which made it fun. You hope you’re going in the right direction in your training program, and it’s nice to be rewarded for that.”
FITNESS COUNTS
Because the course at the four-star level is longer as well as bigger, even the fittest horses can become fatigued. The weather was wet this year so the footing was muddy, which is
Photos by Amber Heintzberger Warmbloods Today 19
Little
Horse…
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