Three days at Devon: Thoroughbreds DO do dressage

Many of you may have seen the infamous flower-eating horse at Devon this year--I blogged the moment and took the video. That incident temporarily eclipsed what I think is the more significant story -- an OTTB competing at Devon and putting in two lovely tests against big-moving, bred-for-the-job high dollar horses. I'm hoping the floral moment will be a hook that makes people read the whole Chronicle of the Horse article about the story of Embracing Picasso.

In a nutshell
Pablo and his amateur owner Patty Weston qualified for and competed at Devon with only about 10 months of preparation. Here is the very lovely footage from their second ride in the Dixon Oval. Note Pablo's composure while a helicopter flies overhead! I can't think of a better illustration of what thoroughbreds can do...