Last week Eric Lamaze has brought Coco Bongo, Chacco Kid and Fine Lady 5 to his 'home-competition' at Spruce Meadows. Behind the local hero, is the support of his groom; "Kaytlyn Brown..." All three horses have very different personalities.
Coco Bongo is very easy going and nothing seems to really bother him. He’s very simple to take care of and has very low stress levels – I’d say he’s pretty cool. You can literally do anything with him – he’s so easy to have around all the time.
Chacco Kid is the sweetest thing I’ve ever met – I’ve never met a horse that understands humans like he does. He always wants someone’s attention and he always has something in his mouth – he will literally try to eat anything. When Eric is around his stress levels go up and he gets quite anxious because he always wants to please, and he knows that Eric expects a lot of him.
Fine Lady 5 is without doubt the most complicated out of the three. She’s the only mare that we have. She’s very sensitive and is bothered by everything, particularly music and anything loud – it drives her crazy. If it’s loud and she’s in the horse box, she’ll dig and roll around and generally cause a huge scene. She’s my absolute favourite, though and we’ll never have another one like her – she’s so willing to please all the time. When I look at her, I know I’ll never have another relationship with a horse quite like this one – she’s unbelievable.
Eric back in the ring...After the 2018 CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’, Eric had a long break, so things were a little slow. My absolute highlight was to see him back in the ring – it’s unbelievable what he can do. It wasn’t just a highlight for me, it was the highlight for all of the team. It was very difficult for all of us when he stopped showing. After everything that happened, to come here for the Summer Series and win two 5* classes back to back, we couldn’t have asked for any more than that.
As a groom, do you feel added pressure coming to a Rolex Grand Slam Major?Always. The week before the show starts, the stress levels at home are high. We’re doing absolutely everything we can to prepare to come here, as we know it’s a long hard week for Eric and the horses. The horses came from Europe, so they had to endure a long flight, and our aim is for them to be the best that they can be and on top form, as soon as they arrive here. For sure, it’s stressful – coming here for the ‘Masters’ isn’t the same as coming here for the Summer Series, as there’s a clear end goal at the end of this week.
Ph. Ashley Neuhof