Espoire’s ‘back in the groove’
Dane Rawlins scores a grand prix win ahead of a trip to Le Mans, while a youngster impresses on his affiliated debut
“I’M cautiously confident,” admitted Dane Rawlins after a grand prix win with Espoire, ahead of the pair’s trip to Le Mans CDI3* to represent Ireland. A
score of 73.9% reflected areas for improvement but greater consistency, added Dane.
“We needed this outing to get back in the groove,” he said.
“He gave me a nice ride and I’m delighted that the judges recognised that.”
Dane had planned to build on Espoire’s performance at Doha CDI5* in February, until lockdown intervened. A recent outing to Hagen CDI4* helped bring the 11-year-old Ehrenmann gelding back up to speed.
“He has been a handful,” he said. “He’s 18.2hh but sharp, and he can get quite nervous.
But we’ve done a lot with
Kyra Kyrklund and can now consolidate the work.”
Dane’s daughter Annie headed the inter I with Etoile II, another Rawlins family home-bred. By Ehrendorf and out of Shirley – the same dam as Espoire – the nineyear-old gelding made a confident debut at the level.
“He’s green for competition but so elastic and willing to give things a go,” said Annie. “I had struggled to keep him in a competition frame at shows, but this time I felt I could adjust him.”
Annie also won at elementary with Evanti, an 11-year-old
Rousseau gelding owned by Crystal Robinson-Long.
“Crystal will do children-onhorses with him next year,” said Annie. “The two of them are a pleasure to train.”
Trina Stewart’s five-yearold gelding Kovenor nailed his affiliated debut under Kerry Mackin, scoring a prelim double.
“‘Koko’ is developing a super attitude and is really starting to listen,” said Kerry, who sees the Governor son’s relaxed, floppy ears as a positive sign.
“He’s a big chunk of a horse with huge paces. It has taken time for him to strengthen and develop balance, but he always has a smile on his face.”
“He gave me a nice ride and I’m delighted that the judges recognised that”
DANE RAWLINS ON ESPOIRE