A S P I R E  E V E N T I N G
N O V E M B E R  U P D A T E

 

As the Aspire Eventing Team starts to hunker down for the winter, I wanted to update you all on the amazing fall we’ve had so far!

After returning to Colorado from competing at the Event at Rebecca Farm in late July, we had a rare, quiet few weeks that I spent training with my dressage and show jump coaches, Sue Martin and Mariano Bedoya. It’s not always easy to find the time to have consistent training in-between competitions, so I took full advantage of this opportunity and am grateful for it! Under Sue and Mariano’s tutelage, Jos Bravio (Bravi), RR Simple (Rey), and I were able to hone in on our dressage and show jump skills and the three of us learned so much in this short time. We were able to dial in on what’s been holding us back during competitions, polish up our tests, and completely expand our skill-set. In addition to lessons, we did some schooling shows that allowed us to get the most out of our training and practice in the show ring while being able to make the necessary corrections.

In September, Bravi, Rey, my head FEI groom, Molly Wafle, and I traveled to Pennsylvania for six weeks. We stayed with Buck Davidson at his father’s Chesterland Farm in Unionville, PA where we had the pleasure of training with him and preparing for Plantation Field International Horse Trials and Morven Park International Horse Trials. At Plantation Field, both Bravi and Rey competed in the 3*S. Although the scores may not have reflected this, both horses felt incredible and it was a great outing, giving me a better idea of what we needed to work on with Buck before heading to Morven Park. At Morven Park, Bravi competed in the 4*L and Rey competed in the 3*S. Rey absolutely blew it out of the park in dressage, however, the cross country proved to be extremely technical early on in the course. Although he felt amazing and was jumping out of his skin, we sadly decided to retire after a couple of refusals in a very challenging combination. With that being said, I am still so proud of his efforts and I am more motivated than ever to get him back out this winter and have a stellar year competing at the 3* level with him. I have no doubt about his ability, scope, and heart and truly believe he has what it takes to make it to the top. Bravi and I had our best cross country ride to date over a very tough 4*L track and were able to complete the weekend with a top ten finish. This finish was incredibly important to me, as it qualified us to compete at the 5* level, which I am absolutely thrilled about! Keep the last weekend of April open to come to Lexington, Kentucky to cheer me and my mighty little horse, Bravi, on at out first 5*.  Stay tuned for more details!

Now that we are all back home in Colorado, Bravi and Rey will enjoy a well-earned vacation and I will be busy prepping for the 2025 season. I will be spending the next couple of months searching for more world class horses to join the Aspire Team! In addition to expanding my competition string, I have a few shares of the Aspire Eventing RR Simple Syndicate available to individuals that are looking for a fun way to be involved with this truly phenomenal stallion. If you are interested in being involved as an owner, syndicate member, or sponsor, please reach out to me at dani@aspirellc.org. There are numerous ways to get involved, including tax deductible donations. I am so grateful to all of those that have been a part of bringing my horses and I to the top of the sport, and would be elated to have you as an integral part of this journey.

In other exciting news, Rey has three babies on the way that we hope to welcome into the world next spring. He is an unbelievably well-mannered and talented stallion and I’m so excited that his exceptional talent will be passed along to future generations! If you are interested in breeding, you can visit his page on my website (https://aspireeventing.com/stallion) or contact me (dani@aspirellc.org) for more information.

After a few months at home in beautiful Colorado, my horses and I will head to Florida for the winter season in February. This year, we will be staying at Molly Wafle’s gorgeous new property, Obsidian Farm. She has worked so hard to build a truly state of the art facility and I am thrilled and honored that my horses and I get to stay there while we continue training with Buck Davidson and competing across the east coast.

As always, I owe an enormous THANK YOU to my incredible sponsors, owners, clients, coaches, teammates, friends, and family. Thank you for all of your support and commitment – I am so grateful for each and every one of you for making this such a successful and exciting year, and can’t wait for all that we will accomplish together in the future.

 

 

 

What a whirlwind these last few months have been! In late April, Bravio (Jos Bravio) and I took our second shot at the legendary Kentucky Three Day Event in the 4* Short division. Last year, Bravio came off of cross country not feeling 100%, so we withdrew before show jumping, but this year we came back determined to finish! We put in so much hard work this past year to prepare for this event and it was truly incredible how perfectly everything came together over the course of that week. Bravio had a beautiful dressage test, scoring a 33.5 in a large and competitive class, and he was utterly brilliant through the very tough cross country course. He truly had never felt better! We finished the event with a double clear show jumping round and tears of joy as we landed in the top 10 amongst all of the US Team members. It was truly one of the most rewarding and pivotal moments of my career. It was incredible having so many of my sponsors and supporters there to cheer me on ring-side and to feel the love pouring in from back home and all over the country. What an unbelievable experience – one that reminds me why I do what I do! After coming off of such a high from Kentucky, I felt prepped and ready to tackle the 4* Long at Tryon with Bravio. Sadly, he pulled his two front shoes on the cross country course and we just couldn’t safely finish the course without the traction. It was certainly a disappointment, but we left the East Coast feeling determined and grateful. After Tryon, we headed back home to regroup and fine-tune for the remainder of the season.

Rey (RR Simple) and Baral (Baral Triumph) finished their time on the East Coast competing in the 2* Long at the Ocala International Festival of Eventing in mid-April. Rey was phenomenal through and through. He had a stellar dressage test, scoring a 25.9, a double clear cross country round, and just one rail in show jumping. He finished 2nd, just behind the US Team Coach, out of a class of 42. He proved that this really is his sport and that he is truly a competitive eventing stallion. I am so excited for this talented horse’s future and I’m honored that I get to be his rider! If you’re interested in being a part of this world class stallion’s future, there are still a few shares of his syndicate left. Please contact me if you are interested! Baral was super at Ocala as well, putting in an excellent dressage test and cross country round, but show jumping proved to be his achilles heel once again and that being a proper upper-level event horse may not be in his best interest. Once I was back home in Colorado, I made the difficult decision that in order for him to thrive, Baral needed a job with a little less pressure. Thankfully, one of my clients fell in love with him and purchased him to be her lower level event horse. He is truly such a wonderful horse with a ton of talent, it makes my heart happy to see him loving his new life! The early summer months were jam-packed with amazing training opportunities for me, my horses, and my clients. We did several local jumper shows and events, did lots of cross country schooling, and have been nailing down our dressage skills at home. I’ve been able to lesson with my incredible dressage trainer, Sue Martin, and had the absolute pleasure of hosting Buck Davidson for a three day cross country clinic here in Colorado. The entire Aspire Team has been growing leaps and bounds this summer!
A couple weeks ago, Bravio, Rey, a couple of client horses, and I traveled to Montana for the Event at Rebecca Farm, one of my very favorite events of the year. Bravio competed in the 4* Long and I was sopleased with how he performed. He did, unfortunately, lose another front shoe at the 2 minute mark on the cross country course and had to run another 9 minutes without that shoe, but he dug in deep and we got it done despite one error at the coffin complex. He is such a stoic guy and tried his heart out for me! I am bummed about the issues on course, but the finish was important and he jumped like a champ the next day in show jumping. Rey competed in his first 3* Short and felt like an absolute beast on cross country and really proved he was ready for the new level! Sadly, I was not the best pilot that day and decided to call it a day and retire him out on course. I am disappointed with myself for not giving him a better ride but am so thrilled with how he felt. I was honored that my show jump coach, Mariano Bedoya, made the trek out to support and help me over the weekend. He reminisced about his past eventing glory days and enjoyed walking my courses with me. It was a pleasure having him there! In addition, I am grateful that Bravio’s other owner, Carol Mavrakis, and my farrier, Steven Ellitot, made the long drive up to be there as support and help! It was a huge effort and I am thankful everyone made the sacrifice. I am also tremendously grateful to the Broussard family for all of their support and funding and for opening up their world class venue each year for one of the best competitions in the country. I was so lucky and honored to receive the Rebecca Broussard Travel Grant to aid in the cost of travel to get there this year. It wasn’t the week I was hoping for, but a great experience nonetheless! Now that I have a short break before more competitions in the fall, my focus will continue to be getting myself, my horses, and my clients in tip top shape. I will be working hard to prepare Bravio and myself so that we can conquer a CLEAN 4* Long this fall at Morven Park in October.

In other exciting news, Rey is officially a breeding stallion! We hope to welcome a few of his progeny to the world next year and are so excited to have him become one of the country’s top eventing breeding stallions. If you are interested, you can visit his page on my website (https://aspireeventing.com/stallion/) or contact me for more information. THANK YOU to my incredible sponsors, owners, clients, coaches, teammates, friends, and family for your endless support throughout the year so far! I am so grateful for all that you do to help me pursue this dream and I am excited for what’s to come in the next few months!

– Dani Sussman