Reed Kessler: Showing in Chantilly, Day One

Olympic show jumping team member Reed Kessler settles in to show at Chantilly and schools her Olympic mount Cylana.

July 19, 2012–We had a great first day here in Chantilly. I rode the horses first thing this morning before the jog. Mika was fresh and Goose was normal happy-go-lucky Goose. We jogged at 9:30 a.m. and then I headed over to Dalma’s farm to ride Cylana and Onisha. Unfortunately, our GPS Tomtom took us very far from our desired destination and it took Stacey and I about three times as long to get there! Once we finally found our way to the farm, I rode the two girls in the beautiful new indoor. Onisha and I were both very happy to have stirrups for our flat today (we had a recent tough lesson without stirrups). Cylana was great, but I could tell she wanted to work so I gave her a very long flat. She is the kind of girl that can only relax if she feels she has worked hard enough–what an overachiever.

Getting back to the show was much easier. There was a warm-up class for anyone in the five star, so I went and walked some of the lines. With Mika, I only jumped the first five jumps. He jumped beautifully and had some time to relax in the ring and flat around. Goose, being Goose, just wanted to eat as I flatted him around. Typical.

My mom and I hung around after to watch the afternoon two star class. Katie schooled her horse V and he jumped great. When I left, my friend Catherine Pasmore was winning on Pacific. She was blazing! I don’t think anyone would have beaten her! Mom and I headed home and I hit the gym. I ran into Katie Dinan down there. She was laughing at me because I have a bit of a cold and I was struggling to breathe through the congestion as I tried to run. It was very pathetic. Now I’m on my way to the Paillot family’s house for dinner. Tomorrow, Goose goes in the morning in the 1.45 and Mika in the 1.50 later.

For more about Reed Kessler’s Olympic show jumping experience, go to the show jumping coverage.

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