A little rain on Thursday didn’t damper Woods Baughman’s dressage test at the MARS Maryland 5* in Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland.

Actually, it was a lot of rain, and Baughman was certainly bogged down by the weight of shadbelly’s soaked tails. Still, he said c’est la vie, strutting through the tempest and saluting on an impressive 27.2 score, which secured the lead for day one of dressage.

He remained ahead of the field on Friday, and will be going into Saturday’s cross country phase as the one to beat. Of course, it’s not only his philosophy that put him on top, but his horse, 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding C’est la Vie 135.

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“He’s a fantastic horse. He likes as much free time as possible, so we give him as much time as we can to just be himself,” said Baughman.

“He’s a big, strong horse that doesn’t like to be pushed around too much, and we’ve found that I’m better off stepping in last minute to tell him what we actually need to do.” 

Leaving fate in the hands of hooves is a nerve racking endeavor for the MARS Maryland 5*, one of only two CSI5*-L events in the United States every year and of just seven worldwide. Luckily, bending to C’est la Vie’s sufficient horse-time demands was the right move, because a happy horse scores better movements in the sand box.

So does a content rider, after all, stress never bodes well before the critical eye of a dressage judge.

“We’ve been laughing this week because I kind of feel normal. I feel like I do when I go to most of the other events, my horse is ready…I feel totally relaxed and have just stayed my normal self,” said Baughman.

If the pair can manage solid efforts over the Ian Stark designed cross-country and show jumping courses, it will be a vast improvement upon their previous CSI5*-L events. They placed 28th at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in April, and fell outside of the scoring at Burghley in August.

Though his competitors don’t have any plans to just move aside so Baughman can hop atop the podium. Following closely behind is reigning world number one Tim Price (NZL) with 10-year-old gelding Coup de Cœur Dudevin. They’ve switched on the pressure cooker with a score of 27.4. Alexandra Knowles (USA) currently sits in third with 14-year-old gelding Morswood in 28.8 points.