Excerpt from article by Lisa Slade at Chronicle of the Horse
Tiana Coudray rode into show jumping at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** today, May 9, with four rails in hand over Colin Davidson and Draco. She only used one as Ringwood Magister, Coudray’s 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse, put in a four-fault jumping effort for first in the division on 45.6 penalties.
It was “Finian” and Coudray’s third attempt at a CCI***—they withdrew from the Bromont International (Que.) last spring and the Dansko Fair Hill International (Md.) last fall—and Coudray, 21, was ecstatic about finishing one with such good results.
“It’s very exciting,” she said. “I think it’s a little bit of everything we were working towards last year coming together. It’s a bit of reaffirming that taking my time last year and not running him at all those events was the right decision to make. Sometimes I wondered if I was being too protective of him. It was worth it. It did save the horse and gave him the education he needed.”
Coudray, who rides with Bea and Derek di Grazia, and Finian will begin the long journey back to Ojai, Calif., tonight or tomorrow morning. For Coudray, the trip was well worth it for the result.
“We don’t have a spring CCI*** on the West Coast,” Coudray said. “He was ready, and this was the one to do.”