Jessica McTaggart, the Cayman Islands’ most accomplished dressage rider, is set to compete in her first international competition in over a decade this Saturday and Sunday.
McTaggart, 39, is most notably known for being the first Caymanian rider to bring the country’s flag to events like the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan American Games.
McTaggart will team up and ride Jamrock, a borrowed horse that she met in August.
The pair will compete on 26-27 Oct. at the FEI Dressage World Cup qualifier event at Rancho St. Vincent outside of Mexico City.
“I think we can make a good goal at it; make Cayman proud and get me back in the CDI ring in front of some big judges. I think it’s going to be a great weekend and I’m looking forward to it,” McTaggart told the Compass.
She has previously ridden at Caribbean Equestrian Association Dressage Challenges and FEI World Dressage Challenges. Now she will return to the CDI-W scene, part of World Cup qualifiers, for the first time in 12 years – an opportunity she doesn’t take for granted.
“It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” she said. “I would love a clean test, absolutely no errors and I am hoping for something at the mid-60s range, 65, 66, somewhere in there.
“I’d be thrilled to have that on a strange horse, in a different country in front of that panel of judges. That’s my goal.”
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Terrific article and well deserved and well earned accolades for an accomplished Caymanian athelete.