We mentioned a few weeks ago that Stephen Bradley rode Leyland and Coal Creek at Southern Pines II because Amy had a minor medical procedure that would sideline her for a couple of weeks. This weekend, Amy rode both horses in the Advanced at The Fork, and had excellent rides all weekend. Coal Creek finished 6th, and Leyland 11th, and both had the right amount of XC time penalties to get a feel for the speed while saving them for Kentucky.
The only thing is that Amy's knee (which had a microscopic procedure) hadn't healed as quickly as the doctors anticipated. I won't get into the grizzly medical details, but suffice it to say that the knee was enough of an issue that Amy was bleeding though the knee of her britches during the show jumping.
Amy show jumping at The Fork with Leyland
Despite what can only have been a very painful experience riding two horses around advanced dressage, XC, and show jumping (not to mention all the coursewalks, etc.), I never once heard about Amy complaining or saw her wince.
Important: This isn't a story to start speculation about Amy's knee for Kentucky. Amy answered any possible questions about the knee being ready for Rolex by riding two horses around the advanced this weekend, just a few weeks after surgery.
Amy is known as one of the toughest people in eventing, and she lived up to and well beyond that reputation this weekend. This is Curt Schilling pitching in the World Series with a bloody ankle, Tiger winning the US Open on one knee type of toughness, and exactly the type of intestinal fortitude that the US Team needs this fall. Let's be ready to give Amy an extra loud cheer around Rolex.
Obviously the Easter Bunny isn't as tough as Amy.
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