Thursday, October 13 - the First Day of Dressage

Announcer Brian O'Connor closed the Wednesday trot up with the comment, "If it's cold, it must be Fair Hill." Cold and rainy it is - and that's how it has been for days (see the Radnor report). Creeks are in flood, and even the all weather Dressage arena is damper than usual, although it handles the rain well.

The Ground Jury:

Ms. Judy Bradwell (GBR), President (at "C")
Mr. Ulrich Schmitz (USA), (at "H")
Ms. Lise Martin (CAN), (at "B")

Technical Delegate: Mr. Jonathan Clissold (GBR)

Thursday's Dressage started at 9:00 AM dark and rainy. The fourth combination to go, Corinne Ashton and 11 year old Dobbin, were the first to break into the 40's, on 47.4. Corinne is in the entry list as riding for Great Britain. She was born in England and carries both US and British passports; however, she has never completed the paper work to change her FEI nationality to British. Therefore, she actually rides for the USA.

(Corinne and Dobbin are pictured above center.)

Corinne receives help from Karen and David O'Connor. She said, "It is only times like this (at competitions) that I catch them, with me in Massachusetts . . .", (Corinne is on her own). "It's a long winter," she concluded.

Corinne and Dobbin won the A/I at Groton House, in June, as well as the CIC** at Stuart, in July.

Becky Holder also rode in the first rotation and had an excellent test with the eye catching 9 year old grey Courageous Comet. This pair's score of 48.3, is just .9 of a fault adrift of Dobbin. (Becky and Courageous Comet are pictured at the left.)

Becky spoke of her long trip from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, "I drove first to Chicago to Cathy Jones Forsberg for some Show Jumping. Then I picked up my groom, Aubrey Dunkerton, at O'Hare. She flew in from college. Then we drove the 14 hours to Beatrice Cassou's, (near Unionville, PA). Altogether it is about 1,300 miles." Quite a trip, eh?

Becky and Courageous Comet have won the O/I at Pine Top, in February; the Advanced at Pine Top, in March; and the Advanced at Poplar Place, in March. They also represented the US at the Luhmuhlen CCI****, in Germany, in June.

In the second rotation of the morning, Phillip Dutton (AUS), who resides in West Grove, PA, rode the 12 year old Irish bred gelding Connaught, who belongs to Bruce Duchessois, of Aiken, SC. Connaught, who placed first in the O/I at Pine Top, in March, and third in the CIC*** at Red Hills, also in March, scored 47.6 to slip into second place between Corinne and Dobbin and Becky and Courageous Comet, dropping the latter to third. (Phillip and Connaught are pictured at the right.)

The Top Three at the Lunch Break Were:

1. Corinne Ashton, Dobbin - 47.4
2. Phillip Dutton (AUS), Connaught - 47.6 (.2 0f a fault behind)
3. Becky Holder, Courageous Comet - 48.3 (.9 of a fault behind)

The second to last rider of the day, Robyn Fisher, of West Hills, California, rode Le Samurai, a 10 year old Holsteiner gelding to the top score of the day - 39.6 - the only score to break into the thirties. (Robyn is pictured at the left below, at the Thursday Press Conference.) Robyn's great ride dropped the morning's top three one place each.

Robyn and Le Samurai placed first at Twin Rivers, in March, and won theCIC*** at Rebecca Farms, in July. They went to the FEI World Cup Finals at Malmo, Sweden. When asked what she learned there, Robyn answered, "That I should pull up when my horse runs away with me."

Robyn spent two years riding with Jacques Dulcy, a French Eventer, at Avignon, in France. During her sojourn in Europe, Robyn competed at Dijon; at a * and a ** in Ravenna, Italy; and at Marbach, in Germany.

Robyn has been working with Phillip Dutton. Phillip rode Le Samurai in the Advanced at Morven two weeks ago.(See the Morven Report in these pages.) "He has given me more tools to help me get through this weekend. I like to be very much in control. Phillip says, 'Leave him alone.' I have been riding with Captain Phillips. I saw Phillip do what Mark wanted me to do."

The Dressage continues at 9:00 AM Friday. Ralph Holstein with Arctic Dancer, is the first competitor in the CCI*** Dressage tomorrow.

The Top Six After the First Day of Dressage Were:

1. Robyn Fisher, Le Samurai - 39.6
2. Corinne Ashton, Dobbin - 47.4 (7.8 faults behind)
3. Phillip Dutton (AUS), Connaught - 47.6 (8 faults behind)
4. Becky Holder, Courageous Comet - 48.3 (8.7 faults behind)
5. Mara Dean, Good Stuff - 48.9 (9.3 faults behind)
6. Buck Davidson, Hyperlite - 51.3 (11.7 faults behind)

* * * *

A Nearly Miraculous Recovery:

Donna Cooper, who lives in Oregon, came to the Press Tent to tell of David Acord, of Martinez, California, who is riding Doctor's Orders in the CCI***, here at Fair Hill. David acquired Doctor's Orders at a horse auction. The bidding action was between him and the killers. The horse has brought David up through the ranks.

David and Doctor's Orders competed successfully in the spring of 2004. On the way back to Martinez, pulling a trailer with four horses in it, David was in a accident.(David and Doctor's Orders are pictured at the right.)

The following description of the accident is from an article by Denise Baratta which appeared in the Ashland Daily Tidings, in August of this year.

"On June 15, 2003, Acord and his wife, Jennifer, were traveling on Interstate 5 near Los Banos, Calif., when the rear tire of their truck blew out and sent their four-horse, bumper-pull-trailer fishtailing out of control. Despite what Acord said were “his greatest efforts” to correct the truck and trailer, the horse trailer flipped on its side, leaving it perpendicular and entirely blocking traffic on the freeway.

"In spite of the severity of the wreck, they managed to pull open the doors of the trailer, and were relieved when the first horse to come out suffered only a few cuts.

" The horse suffered multiple injuries when a tire on Acord’s truck blew out while four horses were being pulled in a trailer.

“I went in for the second horse who was now laying on the third. I unclipped his halter and someone began to lead him out of the trailer,” Acord remembers in his biography of the accident. “My heart leapt with joy seeing that Doc was OK [but] panic immediately overtook me with the realization that that wasn’t Doc.”

"Looking behind him in the trailer for Doc, Acord found him lying on his back covered in blood and not moving. Acord began to pry the dividers and mats off of Doc, but the horse stayed still as death.

“At first I thought he was dead,” he said. “It was probably the most horrible moment in my life when I saw him lying there and I thought he was dead.”

When Acord finally got close enough to touch Doc, there was a knicker.

“When I heard him I wanted to smile and cry all at once,” he said and made a promise to Doc to somehow get him out. “When he got up I was so relieved.

“I felt I had got my horse back from the grave and it immediately made me appreciate him so much more.”

"The fourth horse was not so lucky. In the wreck, his body went through the tack room of the trailer, crushing his stifle and lacerating his flexor tendon. The injuries were too great to save him.

"Doc should have died that night from his injuries as well, suffering shock, a laceration down to his bone on his foreleg, both scapulas separated and rotated forward, and nine fractured vertebrae.

"The injuries appeared to be career-ending, and Acord went into a severe three-month depression, struggling to get out of bed as he faced the loss of his dreams.

“I had gone from finally getting close to the dream I was after,” he recalled while speaking by phone from his home in the Bay Area — “and in just two seconds, our life literally flipped upside down.”

David worked with Pony Clubbers for nearly a year until Doctor's Orders was recovered. Now he is at Fair Hill competing once more. He achieved a score of 70.2 in the Dressage today.