In a video addressed to Roger, Lauren, and Beck, the speaker provides a detailed update on the performance of his horse Donald at the Virginia Horse Trials, contrasting it with a recent tumble at the Kentucky three‑star short. Donald delivered strong results across all three phases—placing second after dressage, showing bold and fast cross‑country with only six time penalties, and achieving near‑perfect show jumping—ultimately finishing second overall behind Olivia Dutton on Sea of Clouds. The speaker discusses Donald’s soundness, monitored by vet Kevin, and notes that after a two‑week break without show‑jumping training, Donald remains a “superstar in the making” despite his quirky nature. A short rest of two to three weeks is planned to rejuvenate him mentally and physically before resuming training. The long‑term competition strategy includes an intermediate event at Aiken early next year, followed by advanced and four‑star competitions, aiming for two four‑star long events and potential Olympic preparation. The update concludes with gratitude to the recipients and confidence that Donald is back in business.
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This is a video for Roger, Lauren and Beck. Well, guys, I'm glad to report we had a lot more of a successful weekend here at the Virginia Horse trials than we did at Kentucky a couple of weeks ago. Donald was magnificent in all three phases. Obviously it was very disappointing with my little tumble that we had in the three star short at Kentucky and got him home and I cross country schooled him a couple of times and training schooled there. We had trouble at a coffin last time and we schooled that coffin over and over and over again and yeah, Donald was raring to go when we got down to Virginia. We arrived on Thursday and he did a lovely, lovely test. I think we finished second after the dressage. He was the very first horse on. It was very early Friday morning at this dressage test and Donald's just sensational on the flat. He really put in a nice smooth test at this intermediate level. He's very, very seasoned and experienced. So I was very, very pleased with him. Obviously this weekend was more about making sure that mishap that happened at Kentucky definitely didn't happen again. And he was brilliant. We've got a little bit of the cross country and after our training at home he was roug running for the fences. So I was very, very pleased with him. It was a real surprise actually tumble at Kentucky. He'd been training so well and you know, looking back on it, I think I was a little bit complacent and taking it for granted a bit. So maybe it was a good kick in the pants for me. Obviously Donald's a very, very talented horse and he's a superstar in the making, but he's. He' bit quirky, he's a bit of a. He's a bit of an odd horse. So I can't ever forget that between the Kentucky event and Virginia we had two weeks and I didn't even show jumping once and didn't matter too much. He came out. He's such a good jumper. He show jumped just perfect. So our original plan was to go to the four star shorter Triumph which is next week. Sort of glad, you know, he's still sort of returning back to his peak after his sort of vacation that he had from the minor injury that he got last year. And I have to say soundness has been very, very good. Kevin vet's been monitoring his legs closely and I think we're in good shape health wise. So it's more a fact of just getting him strong and fit and back to where he was before he got last year. So what my plan is, I think is, I mean I didn't go crazy fast at this event but I sort of moved him along and pushed him along in the cross country and there was a, it was a longer course, it was a seven minute course and I had a long uphill. So I think I'll give him a short break, a short vacation now. I don't want to give him too much time off because I think he'll, he'll blow up in weight. And we finally got him trimmed up a bit, looking healthy. So I think I'll give him two or three rest just to let his, you know, let him rejuvenate and freshen up a bit. I've sort of been after him a bit in his training and pushing him and I think he needs, if nothing else just mentally a little bit of a rest. So we'll give him a couple of easy weeks and then bring him back in, bring him back in and get rearing to go for next season. I think he's absolutely ready for advance now and back to four star. So I think my plan would be to maybe do one intermediate early next year when we get down to Aiken and then back to advanced and four star. And I think next year is going to be a good year for Donald. My plan is to do a couple four star shorts and then hopefully get him to two four star longs next year which would be, you know, we're pretty much at the top of the sport. We're at the, the very, very top part of the sport. And yeah, you never know having him four star long ready next year in the Olympic Games, the following year. The timing could be perfect if all the stars align. So like I said before, we hadn't done any show jumping training in about two or three weeks and Donald is just a magnificent jumper and he, he came in and jumped a, just a beautif. Same is about 2 foot over the standards here. So I think after the show jumping we were, we moved up to the lead and unfortunately for me, Olivia Dutton, Phillip's daughter, had one of Philip's five star horses called Sea of Clouds in the class and she, she won the class. She went, she went flying around the cross country, went quite fast and actually overtook us in the standings but we finished second which is, you know, it's a good finish to the year. Most importantly, he just, he felt good in all the phases. He felt brilliant in the dressage. Obviously as you can see here, the show jumping was awesome and most importantly this cross country was brilliant. He was looking for his fences. He was bold and brave. The ground was good, so I sort of opened him up a little bit. I think we had six time penalties, but he's plenty fast enough. He's got a good gallop, and if I can keep his mind on the job, I mean, he's a top, top horse. Anyway, guys, I hope you guys are doing well over there in California. Thanks for being patient with Donald this year. I know it's been a little bit of a long wait to get him back in action, but I feel like we're. We're back in business now and raring to go. Really good, strong gallop. She heads up now to the plateau there. Nine attempts. Boyd across the top.
