From The Horse.com
By Erica Larson
As you might remember, 19-year-old Dorado is recovering from an unexpected bout of laminitis. He’s improved so much in the past few weeks—more on this in an upcoming post—and he’s even been cleared for some limited turnout time (albeit under sedation to help ensure he doesn’t do anything too stupid and injure himself again!).
The first few days of turnout were a bit nerve-wracking (read: the sedative drugs did nothing to slow him down!), so I’ve been supervising his turnout and have, on several occasions, cut the time short when he turns from a Thoroughbred into a Lipizzaner. But this time is perfect for catching up on news from around the horse world and, this weekend, one story in particular caught my eye.
Flexible—a 19-year-old show jumping stallion—is in the news again after winning a major competition in Canada.
We first introduced you to Flexible when the stallion was 16 and preparing to compete at the 2012 Olympics, in London, England, with rider Rich Fellers, of Wilsonville, Oregon.
And last weekend, Flexible proved that age really is just a number by topping a field of 25 top-class horses and riders to win the Longines Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Cup Jumping North American League class at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, British Columbia.
“We’re probably the most experienced pair in the world, if you add our two ages together,” Fellers, 55, told the FEI as he and Flexible exited the arena after their first round. “He’s just a dream. He keeps getting smarter and better.”
The pair’s combined age, by the way, is 74!
“I have so much experience with that horse that there’s not too many things that I see anymore that we haven’t seen before,” Fellers said. “I really thought it was a difficult course when I walked it, but I rode just like I walked it, and he rode just like I wanted him to ride.”
After reaching the jump-off at this weekend’s competition, Fellers said knew he would have to push hard to beat fellow Americans Will Simpson and The Dude. Drawing on his experience and comfort level with his mount, Fellers entered the ring for the jump off after only jumping one, small vertical as a warm up—the first round had been an effort for Flexible, so Fellers allowed for Flexible’s breathing to return to normal before asking for one more round.
Fellers elected to ride tighter turns than his competitor, and Flexible even took out a stride in his approach to the double combination.
“It went great,” Fellers told the FEI. “It was one of those rounds that everything came up sweet, so there wasn’t a lot of stress on Flexible, which is one of my goals at this state in his career. He’s never been better. I know that doesn’t make any sense with his age—that he could be as good as he ever was—but he feels as good as ever.”
Despite the weekend’s victory, Fellers’ goals for Flexible aren’t set on the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Finals, taking place March 23-28, 2016, in Gothenburg, Sweden, just yet.
“He’s never sharp coming out of the winter, and I think it might have something to do with his testosterone and that he’s a stallion,” Fellers explained. “I know the finals are in March so that makes it a little more unlikely (in terms of timing).”
Fellers told the FEI that Flexible is scheduled to remain at Thunderbird for another week to compete in an upcoming three-star class before he returns home to Oregon for a couple weeks of vacation. Then, the stallion will travel to the Spruce Meadows Masters, in Canada, and then to the Sacramento International Horse Show.
“At this stage, he’s feeling great, super sound and loving the sport and craving competitions,” Fellers said. “As long as that’s the same, I’ll keep carefully picking and choosing where he competes. I’m into ‘simple.’ That’s how I evaluate everything (for Flexible).
“I think (the long-term partnership with Flexible) is similar to any long-term relationship in life—you just have more knowledge, more experience, more details and you can anticipate the outcome better.”