orinne Ashton didn’t want to tell anyone she was heading to Lexington to compete in the Virginia CCI**, Nov. 2-5, with Dobbin. After a season where nothing could go right, she didn’t want to jinx herself before she arrived.

And her secrecy seemed to pay off as the pair emerged victorious in the two-star, capping off a disappointing year with a major win.

“It was a bad luck year,” said Ashton. “I was aiming for a four-star, and then I was aiming for a three-star and I ended up at a two-star.”

Ashton and Dobbin finished 16th at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in 2005, the pinnacle so far of a long partnership. She’s been riding the American-bred Thorough-bred (Lyphelius–Deal Debbie Deal) since he was 4.

But another go at Rolex Kentucky was not in store for Ashton in 2006 because Dobbin injured himself in the pasture. So she gave him time to heal and started planning for the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) in the fall.

“Then I had a disastrous run at [the Plantation Field Horse Trials (Pa.)] in September. I thought I’d ruined my horse,” said Ashton.

Dobbin was diagnosed with Lyme disease, the cause of their atypical performance. “Every part of his body was achy,” said Ashton. He spent two weeks on doxycycline and transformed from a sore, miserable horse to a frisky, fit one.

“I thought, ‘Oh, I’d better bring him in from the field before he hurts himself,’ ” recalled Ashton. But it was too late–he’d already kicked his heel playing and limped in from the field three-legged lame. “I took the shoe off and soaked him,” said Ashton. “But I didn’t want to end on such a bad note.”

Ashton said Dobbin is the fittest, toughest horse she’s ever known, so she wasn’t concerned about their lack of preparation for Virginia.

“After this year I thought maybe he was done, but we weren’t ready to be done yet,” she said. “It’s good to come back.”

The 12-year-old gelding led from start to finish in the two-star, scoring 42.2 points in dressage. They added 9.6 time penalties on cross-country and finished with no show jumping faults to win over Sarah Cousins on The Robber Baron (54.3) and Fanny Lee on Paddy The Pooh (55.3).

Although they’ve mastered more challenging courses, Ashton said she was impressed with the two-star track at Virginia. “I’ve never been here before,” said the Princeton, Mass., resident. “It was like an advanced course–long and with a good height to a lot of those fences.”

She credited Dobbin for much of their accomplishments. “He always wants to do the best job,” said Ashton. “He’s very sensitive and doesn’t want me to get in his way. I need to give him a good ride, but his body doesn’t want to touch anything. I’m privileged to have him.”

She didn’t worry that Dobbin might find the smaller jumps beneath his notice. “I told him, ‘It’s just a two-star, but you’ve got to go out and jump every jump I point you at or no more carrots!’ ” said Ashton.

It would be nice to attempt the Rolex Kentucky four-star again next spring, but the 44-year-old mother said she wasn’t sure it would happen.

“I have kids and a family,” she said. “I’m meant to be putting them on the school bus. I did [Kentucky] before on a wing and a prayer and the fact that I have a really good horse. But am I dreaming of it? Yes.”

And Ashton’s family was already calling her back before the weekend was over. Because she hadn’t told her husband about her last-minute trip to Virginia, he’d invited houseguests, and her 11-year-old planned a Halloween party.


Battling The Cold
Coming from New England, Ashton might’ve felt comfortable in the weekend’s frigid weather, but everybody else was shivering as the temperatures rose to a frosty 29 degrees on Saturday morning.

“I don’t think the cold was hard on the horses,” said Cousins, West Grove, Pa. “Just on the people! It did make the aftercare hard, though, when it was 25 degrees last night.”

Cousins rode three horses in the two-star, finishing second with The Robber Baron, 11th with Kestrel Key and retiring Be A Devil on cross-country.

“There was a lot to do on course, but David [O’Connor] got it just right,” said Cousins. “I liked all the options, although I didn’t take them.”

Cousins also praised O’Connor’s use of the terrain, winding around the hills a bit instead of forcing horses to gallop up and down the long inclines. Finding the right bit was part of the key to Cousins’ good ride aboard “Robbie.”

“He’s a very reliable jumper,” said Cousins. “But it’s taken me too long to get him back.”

Cousins bought the 10-year-old, off-the-track Thoroughbred (Robyn Dancer–Tournament) two years ago. She’s run him advanced, but took him all the way back to preliminary to try out a segunda bit at the Radnor Horse Trials (Pa.) in October.

“The port makes a huge difference,” said Cousins, who won her division at Radnor.

She was also thrilled with Robbie’s progress in the dressage. “He’s been getting better and stronger,” she said. “I’ve tried to focus on the dressage this year. I’m taking my time and everybody’s gotten better. But the standard keeps getting better.”

Cousins said she’d benefited from the late two-star. She’d done dressage in the two-star at Radnor, but withdrew Kestrel Key and Be A Devil before cross-country. This is the second year that Area II has held another, later two-star after Radnor, giving riders who weren’t quite ready a second chance. “I think it’s great,” said Cousins.

With 58 entries at Radnor and 50 entries in the Virginia CCI**, there appears to be enough horses and riders to keep both competitions filled.

Seven riders in the open division at Virginia retired on cross-country, one was eliminated, and one withdrew before cross-country. Twenty-four finished with no jumping penalties, but nobody made the time. Cousins came closest with The Robber Baron, finishing just 3 seconds over the time allowed, as did Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan.

Laine Ashker withdrew Anthony Patch after cross-country, and three more riders were eliminated in show jumping. Show jumping is always a bit different at Virginia because it’s held in the 300′ x 150′ indoor Waldron Arena in the Howard P. Anderson Coliseum.

“The show jumping was good,” said Cousins. “It was influential enough, and you had to ride forward to the jumps. You couldn’t be backwards and make the time.”


She’s Chomping At The Bit
Only seven young riders contested that division of the CCI**, and just four finished, but that didn’t make the victory any less important for Madeline Blackman and her new ride, Gordonstown.

Blackman, 16, started riding at intermediate this spring, as soon as she was old enough. She got comfortable quickly, showing one of her horses, Scarva, at the Jersey Fresh two-star (N.J.) in June.

But Scarva got injured there, and while he was on lay-up, Blackman’s coach, Buck Davidson, suggested she look at “Gordon.”

“I really liked him,” said Blackman. “He had the whole package. He’s an awesome jumper but really green when I got him. We all thought he could become something special.”

And the 8-year-old Irish Sporthorse (Cruise On–Drumnacross) has proved that he is talented, winning his last intermediate at Plantation Field in September and leading from start to finish in the Virginia two-star.

“I thought he was really good,” said Blackman, Ringoes, N.J. “He was amazing for his first two-star. I’ve only done three intermediates with him.”

Blackman enjoyed the challenges set by cross-country, stating that there were a lot of skinny fences. “I knew I had to be really consistent with my riding,” she said. “We’re both still green with each other.”

She hoped to avoid time penalties by staying up on her minute markers, and that was working until the very end of the course. “At the third-to-last fence I couldn’t stop him,” said Blackman. “I ran into the pine trees and had to twist back around.”

She rested on a comfortable cushion of a 14-point lead going into show jumping, but she wouldn’t have worried regardless. “He’s a really good show jumper,” she said.

Blackman leads a life many horse-crazed teens would envy. She’s transferred high schools so she can take her classes online to avoid missing school due to horse shows, and she travels to Florida in the winter. She began eventing at the age of 7 and started training with Davidson when she turned 12.

And she hopes to have three horses at the two-star level for next year. In addition to Gordonstown, she won a preliminary division with Scarva at the Virginia Horse Trials and is in the process of rehabbing Meadow Sparrow after an injury at the CN North American Junior and Young Riders Championships (Va.) this summer.


Sara Lieser