Sheila Buchanan wasn’t quite used to the pomp and circumstance of winning at the Great American/USDF Region 6 Championships. In fact, she missed out on a ribbon early in the week because she didn’t show up for the awards ceremony.

“The first day we rode, I placed in a second level class, and they took my ribbon away because I didn’t know there was an awards ceremony,” Buchanan said. “None of the girls there helping me knew either–we were the blind leading the blind! But I didn’t make that mistake again!”

By the end of the weekend, Sept. 22-24, Buchanan not only attended two more awards ceremonies, but she got to lead the victory gallop for the first level, adult amateur championships, at DevonWood Equestrian Center in Sherwood, Ore. She also earned the high-point adult amateur award. “It’s cool that a rookie can come in with a no-name horse and do well,” she said.

“I was all excited because I got to do a victory gallop. I’ve only ever seen that before on TV, so it was fun,” said Buchanan, who earned the accolades on Okarina. “I didn’t go there expecting to win. I had a goal–I was hoping to be in the top three or four.

“Some of the people you’re riding against have quite a lot of experience. I’m kind of a backyard girl, so I didn’t know how we’d do. I ride outside all year round–we don’t have mirrors or anything like that. We had a pretty good year, placing everywhere, but when you go to the region championships, it’s a different thing.”

Okarina and Buchanan won their first level title with a 74.02 percent and second level reserve with a 62.54 percent.

Buchanan, of Snohomish, Wash., only began riding in her mid-30s. “As a kid, I didn’t know they had horses in Washington State. I lived in the city and was active in other sports,” she said.

In 1994, Buchanan–who’s now “past 40, but not yet 50”–got interested in riding. An employee at her insurance firm rode and had an Arabian, and Buchanan half-leased the horse as her first riding experience. “I took a hiatus for two or three years, and then in 1999 I really started to go back to it,” she said.

After competing an off-the-track Thoroughbred at training and first levels and picking up a few rescue horses along the way, Buchanan decided to look for a dressage horse.

In the fall of 2003, she found Okarina. The bay mare, then 13, had lived as a broodmare for quite a while and hadn’t shown in years. The breeder who owned her had tried to inseminate her, but the ultrasound had come back negative, so Buchanan bought her as her next dressage mount.

But a few months into the relationship, Buchanan noticed that Okarina seemed to be growing. “She kept getting fatter and fatter. I wasn’t too knowledgeable about horses because I hadn’t been riding for long,” she said.

“I couldn’t believe she was eating only a flake of hay and she was just getting bigger. I called the vet at the end of June [2004], and he just told me to stay with the program. At the end of August, I took her to a clinic, and the clinician asked when she was due.” A week later, Okarina delivered a beautiful colt, by Ambiante.

The foal was a pleasant surprise but put a wrinkle in Buchanan’s training plan for Okarina. “She was off until March of ’05, and then I started working her. Then, my husband got recalled to active duty and sent away. I have four kids, so she had off again from September 2005 to March 2006. So, it’s been on-again, off-again with us,” she said.

But this year, Buchanan has been able to concentrate on Okarina, and it’s paid off. “I don’t have a lot to draw from, but because she’d been not doing much for so long, I didn’t have a lot of bad habits to try and train out of her. It was relatively easy. She naturally has nice gaits,” she said.

Buchanan takes lessons from Roxanne Christenson when she can and has plans to move up. “Next year I’d love to do third and fourth level with her–if I can learn a flying change on her. She’s just really happy to have a job,” she said.

And for Buchanan, her achievements at the regional championships were all the more remarkable because she did it all with a torn hip flexor. “The doctor did an MRI on it in August, and he said I couldn’t ride, which I laughed at,” she said. “I had to change my training schedule a little bit and take a break, but it turned out OK.”

He Knows His Stuff
Last year, Jeremy Stein-berg was thrilled that Parocco earned the Region 6 Grand Prix Championship in just his first year at the level. Repeating the win this year was icing on the cake and has made Steinberg hungry for more. He and Parocco earned the Grand Prix (62.50%) and Grand Prix freestyle (66.25%) championships.

“I think he’s improved a lot since last year. I did the whole California circuit in the winter and spring, and ever since he came home in May, he’s been on down time, pretty much waiting for next winter to come around,” said Steinberg.

“He wasn’t as fit as he was last year and not quite as sharp and tuned as he was in the spring. But that was by design. The quality of the tests weren’t as good as he can do, and I think that showed up in the scores. But there were no major mistakes, and he was very cooperative. He’s just such a good, kind horse and tries so hard. He puts it all out there, even if he’s not totally ready to go.”

But at the beginning of their year, Steinberg’s plans were thrown into jeopardy. They were all ready to travel to Burbank, Calif., for the CDI there. “Right before I was about to leave, he had an out-of-the-blue laminitis episode and foundered very mildly,” Steinberg said.

“We threw all the plans out of the window and were ready to bag the year. But then, three weeks later, he started coming around, and my vet was amazed how well he recovered. They said it was fine to go for it.”

Parocco recovered, and at the Golden State CDI (Calif.) in early April, they were second in the Grand Prix and won the Grand Prix freestyle. Then, Parocco won the Grand Prix at the Del Mar CDI (Calif.) in late April. In May, they won the high performance Grand Prix at Dressage at DG Bar Ranch CDI (Calif.), and were second in the high performance Grand Prix Special.

Steinberg was hoping to qualify to compete at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Championship (N.J.), but a rules loophole kept them at home. Even though the scores they earned at the CDIs were high enough to qualify, they didn’t come from different international judges, as specified in the qualifications. “So, we placed high enough [in the national standings] to have gone, but we didn’t get a certificate of capability because of that detail,” he said.

Not bad for an elder statesman of dressage. “He’s 17 this year, but you’d never know it, other than the gray hairs on his face,” Steinberg said of Parocco.

Steinberg took over the ride on Parocco three years ago, when owner Jennifer Smith took a break from riding. Smith has owned Parocco since he was 3, and campaigned him up to the Intermediaire I level. “She called and asked if I wanted to ride him. I went down there with my trailer, picked him up, and I haven’t given him back yet,” Steinberg joked.

“He’s really taught me everything. That horse is the kindest animal on the planet. His owner and I argue all the time about what to do when we retire him, because I just don’t think I could live without having him around at this point. He’s such a generous horse,” he continued.

“If you give him a good ride, he gives you a good test in return. If I screw something up, it’s always my fault. I’ve never had a ride on him when he did something wrong. He does exactly what you tell him to, and he does it exactly as well as you set him up for it.

It’s been a really good confidence-building process for me having him.”

Steinberg and Smith have big hopes for Parocco for 2007. “Right now, we’re sitting in a good position to do the U.S. League Final in March, and I’d really like to give that a try. If he can place well in the League Final, there’s a possibility he could do the Invitational part of the FEI World Cup Finals [Nev.]. If that becomes within the realm of possibility, it would be a nice retiring point for him. It depends on how he feels in the spring, and the scores,” Steinberg said.

Sister Act
Caitlyn and Madison Cushman made winning at the regional championships a real family affair. Caitlyn topped first level, junior/young rider and won the dressage seat medal semi-final, 14-18, on her Unforgetable, while Madison won second level, junior/young rider with Caruso.

“It was a fantastic weekend,” said Caitlyn, 18. “Through the whole year, we’ve been getting better and better. Unforgetable and I seemed to hit our stride this weekend. The stars lined up for us.” They earned their title with a 72.50 percent.

A few months ago, Caitlyn wasn’t even sure she’d be able to ride. “I broke my hand in the middle of the summer, so for a while I didn’t know if I’d be able to compete in the championships,” she said. “But my mom rode my horse for me, and my hand healed well, so I was able to ride. I needed one more qualifying score, and I had to take my cast off and ride with a splint on to get that one last score.”

Showing dressage is a true family activity for the Cushmans. Mother, Lynda, shows as well, and their father rides and used to show. They have a six-stall barn in Kirkland, Wash. “We have the horses at home and take care of our own. We all split the duties every morning and night, so we keep busy,” Caitlyn said.

In July last year, however, Caitlyn was contemplating taking a break from riding. She had sold her horse and just happened to travel to California with her mother to look at horses. There, Unforgetable, or “Luke,” caught her eye and reignited her passion.

“I totally fell in love with him and bonded with him, and there was no way I could leave without him,” she said. “He’s a dream to ride. He gets better and better every day. Usually, they take a few steps forward and then a few steps back, but he doesn’t ever take any steps back. We just keep trucking along.”

Now 5, Luke is by Roman Nature, a Rhodiamont son. Caitlyn’s mother, Lynda, also has a Roman Nature offspring. “He had training on him, but he was at the beginning. He had a lot of things started on him, but we’ve confirmed it now, and we’ve made the building blocks a little stronger,” Caitlyn said of Luke.

But now, Lynda will be taking over the reins on Luke as well. On Oct. 13, Caitlyn headed to the Netherlands, to work for the Reesink sales barn there. “I’ve taken a couple of college courses, but I think I’m going to take a break from school because this opportunity was something I just couldn’t pass up. I’m at the perfect time in my life–I can just pick up and leave,” she said.

Madison, 15, will miss her sister, but will carry on the winning Cushman tradition. She’s had Caruso, now 7, for three years, and has trained him with the help of her sister, mother and trainer Roxanne Christenson. Their score of 68.92 percent topped the second level, junior/young rider class.

“It really clicked [the weekend of the regional championships],” Madison said. “His throughness sometimes takes a while, but when we were warming up, I was able to get that really quickly, and we could concentrate on the movements.

“When he was younger, he was really behind the leg, so I had to work hard to get him forward. But he’s seemed to grow out of it. I’ve gotten stronger, and he’s gotten more cooperative.”

Madison appreciates the team effort her family puts into the sport. “It’s very fun because we all enjoy it so much and help each other. My mom coaches me at home, and because she has a green horse, too, it helps a lot. We make some neat connections that way,” she said.

Molly Sorge