Devon, Pa.—Sept. 29

Meagan Davis has been on a small tour winning streak over the last month, taking home blue in five of her six CDI classes at the NEDA Fall Festival (New York) and Centerline Events at Hits-On-The-Hudson (New York).

She added another blue ribbon today when she topped the Intermediaire I CDI*** with Scott Durkin’s Royale, scoring a 71.27 percent.

The pair was third  in yesterday’s Prix St. Georges class.

“It was good,” she said of her I1 test. “[In the Prix St. Georges] I wasn’t as light as I was today. Today there was just an easiness in the connection and relaxation over the topline that was really nice today. I think that’s what the judges rewarded.”

Meagan Davis and Royale. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Davis has had the 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Routinier—Infinitive, Ironman) in her barn for six years. He was bred in the United States by Daniel Sullivan.

In August 2015 Royale came up lame, and it took six months to sort out why. Davis’ farrier Joe Santos was shoeing the gelding one day when he hit a pocket that turned out to be a keratoma.

The keratoma was surgically removed by Dr. Ryland Edwards and Dr. Rick Mitchell of  Fairfield Equine Associates (Connecticut). Santos was able to wire it together and create a clog.

Royale took to stall rest remarkably well, and although vets said he might not be able to come back to where he was, Davis never lost hope. She said he was eager to take on work as soon as they were given permission the following spring.

That feeling when you hear your winning score! Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Last year the pair competed on the small tour, and Davis is looking ahead possibly to the 2019 Pan American Games (Peru)

“He never went sour; he never had a bad attitude,” she said of his recovery. “He was always happy to see you even though he was on stall rest. Then I started slowly bringing him back, and we’ve progressed to here. To have a horse that was off for that long, it wasn’t like he’d hurt himself. His body just grew this tumor. To come back with such heart is really exciting for me.”

For full results, click here.

We’re on site at Dressage At Devon to bring you news and tons of photos. Check back all weekend at coth.com, and check out the Oct. 22 print edition of the Chronicle for much more.