For eventing fans who attend or watch the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian every year, there are always a few familiar combinations on the start list as pairs return to tackle the CCI5*-L with another year of experience under their belt.
This year, one of those familiar pairs is Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights, who made their Kentucky debut in 2015. Rutledge has had the now 17-year-old “CR” for his entire life. The first horse she ever broke was his dam, a Thoroughbred mare named Let’s Get It Right. Rutledge and CR’s lifelong partnership shows as they continue to compete at the highest level of the sport after many years together.
“Ninety-five percent of the time, he is totally laid back. He’s totally chill,” said Rutledge. “He’s the easiest horse we’ve ever broke. Because one of my kids was having medical issues at the time, I sent him to a friend of mine to break, and he called me in two weeks and said, ‘You can come pick him up. He’s walking, trotting, and cantering, leading trail rides around the property, and going through the creeks.’ And he’s been like that ever since.”
Rutledge wanted to pass on her mare’s athleticism and pair it with a good mind. She found the ideal stallion close to home.
“I had been riding my friend’s stallion, Black Fox Farm’s Incognito, at the time, and said, ‘You know what, this would be a really good cross with my mare,’” said Rutledge. Incognito was a Thoroughbred/Clydesdale cross, and CR’s mixture of three-quarters Thoroughbred and one-quarter draft made him something of a homemade Warmblood with the combination of movement, athleticism, and a good brain that made him a compelling prospect for the upper levels.
“He’s always had that air about him,” Rutledge said of CR’s earliest days. “It was always kind of a running joke [that he would become a five-star horse], but not really a joke.”
CR progressed quickly through the levels of eventing, but the journey wasn’t without its speed bumps.
“He was 100% sound all the way up. Never took a lame step through about year 10,” said Rutledge.
But after a suspensory ligament injury that came from a minor slip, he required some extra careful management to stay competition sound.
“That was the first time he’d ever been lame. And then we’d have some minor issues—this or that would go a little bit wrong, a couple of soft tissue injuries, just from the fact that he’s a huge dynamic-moving horse,” Rutledge said.
CR is not an especially stoic horse when it comes to minor physical ailments, according to Rutledge. But the fact that he raises a flag when something isn’t quite right might be part of what has kept him going strong at a high level for so many years.
“Our running joke is that he’s a millimeter horse,” said Rutledge. “If something’s off by a millimeter, he lets us know. He’s not super stoic about things. When he feels good, he feels amazing. When he doesn’t feel good, he tells you very clearly. He’s very quick to tell us, ‘I’m not happy.’ He doesn’t just go and do it and then leave us wondering why something doesn’t work.”
Rutledge has some other tools in her arsenal to keep her campaigner going sound and happy. She credits her veterinary team, Chad and Stephanie Davis, for being proactive in CR’s care and pointing her in the direction of using an underwater treadmill and keeping him on joint medication.
“We figured out a couple of years ago as he’s gotten older that, fitness-wise, it works a lot better to do a lot of AquaTred and minimize his gallops,” said Rutledge. “He’s been on Cosequin his entire life, which absolutely helped maintain his joint integrity. And he’s on Arthamid, which is an injection that helps resurface the synovium in the joints. The difference that has made in him is amazing. He feels like he’s 12 again, not 17.”
CR is a social creature who doesn’t like to be by himself. “If he goes anywhere, he has to either have a person or another horse go with him. He likes his people, and he likes attention.”
She describes him as “a peach” to work with 99% of the time. He saves that 1% for when it counts.
“I love it when he turns into his mother and starts to act a little feral, because then I know it’s cross-country day,” said Rutledge.
CR is a natural athlete and a natural optimist who generally maintains a positive attitude about whatever he’s asked to do, Rutledge said.
“He really is an absolutely genuine horse. He’s very sweet; he doesn’t have any vices besides, you know, mauling you for peppermints,” said Rutledge. “He’s the horse that you just simply love to ride, because as long as he feels good, he’s happy to do whatever we ask him to do. He shows up to work every day with a smile on his face.”
As for the future of CR’s career, that’s up to CR.
“At this point, he owes me nothing,” said Rutledge. “This week [at Kentucky], I just get to enjoy my week and have a good time because I do recognize that he is older. Things don’t last forever. Ideally, I’d love to be able to get my USDF Silver Medal on him in dressage. He’s not like my other big horse [Shiraz]. When I retired him, we show jumped because I told him he would never have to do dressage again in competition.”
At age 25, Shiraz is now teaching a Pony Clubber the ropes and still has the fiery spirit that made him a top-level contender. Will CR eventually follow his barnmate’s footsteps as a Pony Club star, or will he go on to dominate in dressage?
“I don’t ever tell my horses what they can’t do,” Rutledge said. “I ask them what they can do. So, it remains to be seen.”
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