FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES JULY 2013 45
into work.”
An interview with Warmbloods Today connected Caitlin and
Hoku with Judith McSwain, who designs Fleeceworks pads. “Judy
read that story and was touched by it,” said Caitlin. “She contacted
me and now sponsors me. She outfts me with every pad I could
possibly need for Hoku. My partnership with Fleeceworks is very
good, and I’m lucky to have Judy’s sponsorship.”
Caitlin started riding Hoku in January 2012. They returned to
competition on March 17th, moving resolutely up through the
levels. After several outings they placed fourth in Advanced at
Fair Hill, ninth at Jersey Fresh in the CIC*** and ffth in the CCI***
at Bromont (Canada). On September 26, disaster struck again:
Caitlin fractured her skull.
“It was a freak accident – I had just ridden around a 3-star
(Hoku) and a 2-star (Remington XXV) the weekend before, so
who would have thought I would have such a fall a week later,
rising the trot,” recounted Caitlin, whose head hit the kickboard of
the dressage arena below her safety helmet. “It was scary. The
doctors didn’t really know what was going to happen and they all
said something different. The brain is an amazing thing.”
Caitlin’s brain swelled instantly from the fracture that damaged
her cerebellum. The doctors opted out of surgery, which would
have left her skull open. “For that I am thankful, because it would
have taken a lot longer to recover,” she said. “I lost all my motor
skills, especially the left side, which was much weaker. I wasn’t
able to walk in the beginning and had to go through quite a bit of
rehab and re-teach the area of my brain around where I had the
damage to do what that part of my brain did before, so it was quite
a recovery process.”
Caitlin returned to action at Pine Top Winter Horse Trials in
Georgia on February 8th, ready to rock and roll. She competed
two at Training level, winning the division and placing 10th, and
ran Preliminary with clear cross-country rounds on Hoku and
Remington. From there, Caitlin followed her game plan for the
spring: training and competing several young horses, aiming
Hoku for Rolex (April 24-28) and Remington, Boyd’s faithful
veteran four-star horse, for the highly competitive two-star in May
at Jersey Fresh, which they won.
As for Rolex, it was nothing short of miraculous to see Caitlin
and Hoku in action at their frst four-star. Tied for 17th after
dressage, they were doing great on the cross-country until a run-
out at The Hollow incurred 20 penalty points. Caitlin turned 23 on
Sunday and nothing dented her joy and how she felt about Hoku
and their frst four-star, not even the three rails that fell in the show
jumping fnale. They fnished 24th, but without the stop and rails
they would have been in the top 15.
“Hoku was so awesome – I totally let her down,” admitted Caitlin.
“You have to concentrate for every second around a big course
like that. I think that’s what separates 4-stars from the 3-stars,
apart from the heights. You can’t let up for a second. They’re so
big and wide and you have to concentrate all the way around. I
think it was a bit my inexperience. You have a long pull up the
biggest hill, a little bit over half-way. Your horse is starting to get a
little tired, and I think I turned her too quick. I was so excited that
she was going so well, and I think I surprised her. Next year I’m
going to make a nice wide turn to the Hollow.”
Next time, next year: for Caitlin Silliman and Hoku, the sky’s the
limit and it looks as if their eyes are full of stars.
Pretty as a picture for the frst jog at Rolex: Caitlin and Catch A
Star are approved to compete by the Ground Jury and Veterinary
Delegate during the mandatory vet inspection.
Photo by Elisabeth Harpham - equidigital.com
Caitlin and Catch A Star show their cross-country form as they
negotiate the second drop fence into the Head of the Lake at
Rolex.
Photo by Beth Grant - bethgrantphotography.com