FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES APRIL 2013 73
David and Chrevi’s Capital were the only Canadian combination
to advance to the Freestyle at the 2013 World Dressage Masters
Palm Beach.
The next stage was very important for me. Upon my return
home, after Capital had a short break, I began to concentrate
on Dressage at Devon at the end of September. I felt that
Devon would be an important step in Capital’s career. It is a big
show in one of the largest stadiums we have in North America
with a lot of atmosphere. I felt it would be important for him to
have a positive experience there, having had such a fright at
the Olympics.
With Devon as my goal, we began to work backwards. Building
his confdence was my focus. We went to the CDI-W NEDA Fall
Festival in Saugerties, New York, which I felt would be good
preparation for Devon. It was the frst time I had competed Capital
after the Olympics and I was nervous. I didn’t know what he would
do in there. I wanted to give him a positive experience. I felt I owed
him that after what happened in London and I didn’t know what his
reaction would be. I think it’s normal to feel that way after what we
had gone through.
When he went into the ring in Saugerties for the frst time after
London, he didn’t put a foot wrong. It was a huge relief to know
that he hadn’t lost his confdence. He went in there and listened to
me on his frst time back and I thought, “Okay, we have something
to work with here. All is not lost.”
Having worked on building his confdence back up, we got to
Devon and we won the Grand Prix test! I thought to myself, “We
are not only talking about moving forward, now we ARE moving
forward!”
As I write this, we have now done six shows since the London
Olympics. I believe in my horse and I believe that London really
was an unfortunate one-time situation. Having said that, I do
believe that Capital suffered from what we humans would refer
to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a result, we’ve carefully
picked the shows that Capital goes to and when. I don’t want to
avoid situations that might make him a little anxious. Instead, I
want to take him into situations like that so that I can train him and
build him up and let him know that he can handle those types of
situations in the future.
My Olympic experience took some thought and time to recover
from and there was great disappointment involved. But I think
anyone involved with horses at any level, be it an amateur, a
junior, a recreational rider or a professional, has to be able to go
through ups and downs in their riding career. It’s all part of the
journey.
About the writer: David Marcus made his grand prix debut in January of 2012
and, six short months later, had earned a place on the Canadian Dressage Team
for the 2012 London Olympic Games. He operates David Marcus Dressage, a full-
service training facility, just west of Toronto. In the winter, he is based in Wellington,
Florida. David, 32, currently campaigns Chrevi’s Capital and Don Kontes at the
grand prix level for owner Deborah Kinzinger.
“My Story” is a frst person account of life in the equestrian world. To have your
story considered, send a brief description of your story to editor@sidelinesnews.com.
David and Chrevi’s Capital won both the Grand Prix and the
Grand Prix Freestyle at the 2013 CDI-W Wellington Dressage in
Wellington, Florida.