Unbridled Lad 2/12/2000 - 8/30/2018

Dear Lad, 

I am writing to you in Heaven to thank you for a lifetime of love that will be hard to match. 

Fourteen years and 20 days ago we met at Leonard Dunne's barn. It was love at first sight and he'd asked me to help him find a sport horse home for you. I'd said I would share you around to a few friends. I'd lied... I never did (Sorry Leonard. LOL) I worked hard to sell the horses I had at the time and bought you the first chance I got after you ran in November of 2004. This album is framed by the first picture being the first picture of the two of us ever taken. And the last picture is the last picture of the two of us ever taken. In between is a snapshot of a long and memorable life together.

Initially I was going to make you an eventer but that plan got waylaid after Rob Bailes sent me to Belmont Park. You had to come too, so instead we turned you into a steeplechaser. At Belmont you were my pony, who just happened to gallop 2 miles 6 days a week, and when the point to points started I sent you to Virginia to run and be trained down there. Simon Hobson trained you the second year and Gregg Ryan always rode you. Linden Ryan likely still has memories of your hooves being at eye level as she also went over hurdles next to you. You were a fabulous horse, just not a fabulous racehorse and we moved onto eventing after you'd had enough.

You got to live with a donkey at Sue Griefer's barn and then goats at Maura O Ruffing's. You evented well, but I was a bucket of nerves and my life was getting busy at my farm job. It's hard to believe that when you were 9-10 that I got burnt out enough at my job that I couldn't find the desire to ride you. Thankfully my friend Holly stepped in and brought you down to ride with her for a while. Then you went to Kristin Rene Gratz's barn and after that we let Amy Phillips at Oldfields School borrow you for a bit too. But miraculously I changed jobs and found the desire to ride again.

So we moved you to Great Scott Farm with Lindsay Langan and Connor Langan. We all loved living there and got back into showing, specifically jumpers, which I have always loved. And at this we were competitive. More so in the Thoroughbred Shows. We would go on road trips and take on Karen Benson, Terry West, Sasha Moran Reinhold, Olivia Stanley, Bethany Kilby and so many more fun Tb folks. You kicked ass and laid the ground work for the success that I'm having now. And you tried to jump me off a time or two!!!

Eventually you started to slow down and we let Petey and the young guys go to the shows and you gave John Salvaggio a few rides and helped me to teach lessons to Tyra Wiegers, Shannon Bristow and gave some fun rides to Jeanne Wood and others. You did a great job at everything. Including bringing home a few hunter ribbons. At some point we wondered if you wanted an easier job and we leased you to Becky Turner who did Pony Club stuff. That was great until you went lame out of nowhere. Liz Arbittier worked hard to find answers but nothing easy was found and so you came home, but now home was 10 mins away turned out with Rose Nolen-Walston. And as a result you FINALLY got to live with mares. Something you'd always wanted.

After a while we thought you might be able to do something and through Yvonne Lucas we connected with Alison Teetor and you went to Virginia to help her and her hubby to trail ride.

Last fall you came home (to Rose's) for good. We gave you a really nice warmblood mare to live with and a TON of grass.

Today you told us it was time to call it a life. I won't lie I didn't want to agree. But in your usual loving way you licked my hand and told me I would be ok, after eating the 2lbs of mints I brought you. I told you to find a foal's body (with good breeding that I'd like) and become it's soul. Make sure you live for peppermints again and I promise, I'll find you.

I can tell stories about you forever and I probably will. Just to keep you alive in my heart and in my mind. Outside of my family you were the longest and most consistent thing in my life ever. No dog of mine has lived this long, I have never lived in one place this long, I have never held a job, or loved 1 man (yet ;) ) this long. You were such a huge part of my world and me that I know only that I won't let your memory fade. I need it to guide my future with all the challenges to come.

Thank you for choosing me. Thanks for biting me on our first day together and for knocking me in the head today. Go find your mom and dad and one day maybe we will meet again. Until then, be well my love.

Em

A recap of the USHJA Zone 2 Jumper Team Championships

This was a long show and I am still a bit tired, but overall extremely "Chuffed" (I think that's the English word) with Cudo as a whole.

To summarize this was our competition schedule and events each day:

Thursday: Had to be at grounds by 11 for check in for the Team competition. Did a 1.10m open round just to get him in the ring. You won’t believe this, but I was thrilled with him. It was a good round, though intentionally slow, so I had 9 time faults and then I thought I we were jumping off for a medal of some kind and tried to slice fence 9 that just really was way too extreme of a line, so we had a silly runout. But I stayed on and re-jumped it so all was fine. Honestly the round gave me a ton of confidence in the weekend as a whole.

Video is here: https://youtu.be/I7R6HU2Cj7k

Friday: We had the jog at 12pm (on a ring surface instead of packed anything) and that went fine.

Video here: https://youtu.be/bhOhqoV0NWI

Friday afternoon we had our first class for the Team champs and it was a Table Section 1 class which is a speed class. No faults converted though, so if you pull a rail you have 4 faults and your time. The goal being to go clean and fast as the time for this first class would decide any ties after the last round on Sunday. And boy did Cudo take that seriously. I have watched the video and I see points where we could have gone faster but we did a solid round, solid enough to sit in 2^nd out of 17 riders.

Video here: https://youtu.be/ZfFejuQv_IY

Saturday: We had “team day.” This consisted of 2 rounds over the same course with no speed component in the 2 rounds. Just Table 2 courses, which means go in do the course inside the time with no faults. (Basically Eventing Show jumping style) The kicker was coming back and doing it a second time once they had seen the track and doing it clean again. I had a fantastic team of 3 other lovely ladies. 3 of us had been in the top 6 of the first round so there was some hope that we might be able to be competitive.  We went in and amazingly produced clear rounds with all but 1 of our horses so we were standing on a score of 0 with our drop score. Cudo and I had jumped last and so the Chef asked if I was comfortable being the jump off rider to jump for the gold and silver. 1 rider from each team tied for a medal placing had to jump off for the medal. I went first and I honestly was just a tick slow. Not really intentionally, but I can see on video where I was not ‘going’ as much as normal. We did our jump off in 37 seconds and the other rider managed to beat me and get a 35 second round. But still we earned the silver medal out of a total of 4 teams.  And 3 rounds and 1 jump off in, Cudo and I were still holding second with a score of 0. It was a good day!!!

Video of round 1 here: https://youtu.be/doZPxeGg0q0

Video of round 2 here: https://youtu.be/_bJs1pIkpU4

Sunday:  We had our last individual round. 1 round just clear and inside the time. The times from Friday’s speed rounds were going to determine the individual placings if we all were still on a 0 score. Reverse order of standings meant that I went second to last. I was nervous but not in an “I can’t do this” way but more in that the law of averages and being able to jump another clear was wearing on me. I typically make mistakes… I mean we all do in subtle ways, and I am still figuring him out. But I did walk the course when the ring was set for their Grand Prix so when it was actually put down to 1.15 and I walked it again I was laughing. 1.40-1.45 actually didn’t look bad. I kind of want to head that way and I think Cudo could do it too. 😊 I tried to use what I knew from jumping stadium at the old long format 3 days. I knew he was tired and I didn’t do a lot. I did a bit of stretching while off his back and worked long and low before jumping only 5 warm up jumps. The girls in 4^th and 3^rd had gone clear. I had to go clear to stay in second and I doubted seriously that the horse in first would touch anything. So I went in and set off. 1 and 2 were good 3 was nice, and he sailed over 4 but was sucking back as he gave a big look at 5 and added a stride. He did an ugly bunny hop and left 5 up so I got after him and pushed him forward through the rollback turn to the triple at 6abc. He went through that fine even with the forward distances but then my most common problem emerged again, I didn’t get my reins back quite enough and didn’t half halt as much as was needed on the way to the style fence at 7 and I knew it had a feather touch top rail and sadly we took it down with a good clunk. I groaned internally but then tried to fight out the rest of the course to keep it to just 4 faults. Cudo, per usual, hates hitting fences and was careful the rest of the way. The in and out at 10ab wasn’t pretty but we got it done and by 11 and 12 he was back to sailing the jumps in his typical style. And then like all shows, it was done. I couldn’t get the rail back, all that was left was to thank my horse for helping me along and to learn from these moments so that in the future we will make it on the podium instead of being relegated to 5^th place. We had a fun time in the victory gallop and I got off his back and promised him even more treats.

Video here: https://youtu.be/hHTP3Hi6mFM

We cooled out and bathed him and indeed stuffed him full of stud muffins and apple flavored treats. Then we had to pack up and go home. And then we were home, he was out in the field and I was a rider staring at a pink ribbon kicking myself for what might have been. It’s not a big deal, this isn’t our true goal but you all know… you get to thinking of how cool it would be to win or be placed high and when it doesn’t come to fruition, well there’s that moment of being bummed.

Today I am better and so appreciative of my big boy. He is getting a pulsing treatment this am to help with those undoubtedly sore muscles and we have a show (only 1 or 2 classes) a week from today on Labor day. It’s a local unrecognized mini prix set at 1.25. I’ve always watched but never had the horse to ride it. So this time we’re in and then the next show isn’t until Sept 27^th, so Cudo will get a week’s break and then fire up again. He’s getting 3 days off this week, well timed with a heat spell, and then we’ll go into the Monday show gently.

Emily