For Melissa Taylor and Schumacker Victory in The Intermediaire I is a Sweet Surprise

Both Taylor and Schumacker were quite excited about their Intermediaire I victory. She could hardly contain him in the victory gallop and was herself bursting with excitement after the awards ceremony. “I’m super excited,” Taylor said of her win. “I didn’t expect to come out so well. I had a nice, early ride time but I didn’t expect this. I just wanted to do my best with him. I went into a little slump for a while and then I brought him back up and he was great today.”

Taylor said the slump was mostly because she had put too much pressure on herself and on Schumacker. But once she backed off, the horse surged, which taught her that Schumacker shines best when not put under too much pressure. Once she relaxed herself, he relaxed. Her hope is that they’ll be competing in Gladstone later this month, but she’s reminding herself that she mustn’t over push to get there. “I’d love to be able to go there again. That would be super,” she said of Gladstone. But her real focus these next months is to school Schumacker at home in the Grand Prix moves. She’s not yet sure if Schumacker will show Grand Prix this year because she expects to spend another six months working on preparing him.

Taylor has had Schumacker for more than three years after buying him from Lars Petersen who imported him from Denmark. She said his strongest feature is his amazing extended trot. But when pressed, she can find little about him that isn’t perfect in her mind. “He’s walk might be the weak point because he gets tense but everything else is great.”

The Intermediaire I win wasn’t the only good score for Taylor and Schumacker. They also took a red in Friday’s Prix St. Georges with a score of 69.250, coming in behind first-place finishers Harding and Come On III. Taylor and Schumacker Solyst also took second in Sunday’s FEI Intermediaire I Musical Freestyle with a score of 69.000. First-place freestyle finishers Susan Dutta and Pik L earned a score of 71.833. That pair had placed second behind Taylor and Schumacker Solyst in the huge FEI Intermediaire I class with a score of 68.250.