Dalliance 1990-2011

I got some sad news from Canada that my old four-star horse Dalliance passed away yesterday at the age of 21. He had been living up north since I sold him to Vanessa Fenwick in 2005.

We bought "Dally" in September of 2001 while I was in England competing Chevalier at Burghley. I had actually looked at him a year earlier but decided at the time it was better to buy a few young horses than to put all my eggs in one basket. Long story short, the timing was right the next year and he was purchased for me to ride by my long time business partner Leila Clay.

Dally was started by Lucinda Fredericks who competed him very successfully through the 3 star level. I believe she won the Windsor CCI** before placing 2nd or 3rd at Blenheim before being bought for Chris Bartle to ride. I don't think Chris hit it off with him, so he was soon after paired with New Zealander Caroline Powell who at the time was riding for Ian Stark up in Scotland. Caroline did a great job with him, ultimately finishing 11th at Badminton in 2000. His owners soon after decided they wanted him closer to their home in the south, so he was being ridden by another NZ rider Dan Jocelyn when I got the ride.

                            Yowza! Dally jumping into the Lower Trout Hatchery Burghley '02

The plan was for Dally to be a back up for Charlie and was hopefully going to get me to my second Olympics in 2004. That didn't quite happen as planned, but I did get a whole lot of great mileage over some very big courses on him. We finished well at Fair Hill just a few weeks after he arrived on U.S. soil in '01. He had a freak injury in the spring of '02 which meant our first 4 star together would be Burghley in the fall of '02. That was the year that Wolfgang Feld built to this day one of the biggest and scariest 4 star tracks anywhere, and somehow we were the only one of eight U.S. combinations to jump around clear that day.... despite his saddle slipping back...way back...  about 1/3 the way around making for a pretty hairy trip to say the least.

I then had one of the best  xc rounds of my life at Rolex in the spring of '03. We were one of just a few clear and inside the time that year. He had pulled a muscle in his back that day, though, making the show jumping a DISASTER.... but luckily the selectors gave us the benefit of the doubt and named us to the short list for the 2003 Pan American Championships that fall. He showed good show jumping form in the lead up, so we ended up on the team that won the gold that year.



That fall of '03 I had retired Charlie, so Dally was my big hope for Athens in '04. We had a fantastic lead up to Rolex that spring, and I was feeling very bullish about my chances: The dressage was competitive, he was foot perfect everywhere xc that spring, and I was keeping the rails to zero or one.... BUT! Just as I was galloping around the course in the selection trial at Kentucky thinking to myself,  "everything just seems so EASY!".... boom! I forgot to kick coming out of the sunken road, and Dally rightfully stopped instead of flipping over the final  vertical element, and I slid down his neck like some kid on a Thelwell pony. Just like that! there went my chances for the Olympics that year, but I always said I had never had such a great time trying as I did that spring.

The next year Vanessa bought the handsome grey, and he showed her the ropes at the 2 star level. He continued to compete with Vanessa's students until recently. He had a great life, and everyone loved his kind, classy personality. Rest well, Dally.