Barn banter with Tessa Falanga and Karl Cook’s Caracole de la Roque
Caracole de la Roque might have recently landed one of the biggest purses in European showjumping – winning the €500,000 Rolex Grand Prix of Falsterbo CSIO 5* with Karl Cook – but at the end of the day, she likes the simple things in life.
“She loves to be turned out,” said her groom, Tessa Falanga. “She will stay outside in the pasture all day if she can.” This outdoor living was something the 13-year-old Selle Francais mare got used to when she was in France, competing with France’s Julien Epaillard until she joined Karl’s team in 2023.
“She was living outside in a field with her friends and eating grass and hay all the time – which I think is amazing,” said Tessa.
This summer in Europe, Cara – owned by Signe Ostby – and Karl added the CSIO5* Grand Prix of Rotterdam to their winning tally in June and before that, featured in the USA’s victory in the CSIO5* Nations Cup in Rome alongside McLain Ward and Laura Kraut – the first time in 16 years that the US had topped the podium in the event. These European triumphs came in the wake of Karl and Cara’s last minute call up for the Paris Olympics in 2024 – standing in for Kent Farrington and playing their part in the Silver Medal placing for the USA.
Cara knows when to bring it and when to chill out according to Tessa. “She’s almost like two different horses in the barn versus when she’s going to the ring to show,” she said. “She knows when she’s getting braided and she’s getting ready and she changes. When she gets to the ring she’s pretty electric. You don’t have to watch out because she’s dangerous. She just has so much energy. When she’s at the ring, she does not like to stand still. Her head is sky high in the air. She doesn’t want you touching her. She knows she’s there to work. And she’s basically saying, stop touching me and get out of my way. She tells you what she wants.”
In Karl’s barn, grooms are assigned and stay with specific horses. Tessa’s charges are Cara and her upcoming ‘understudy’ Candy, a mare who was also on tour in Europe with Karl this summer. Getting to know the horses inside out, gives Tessa a unique insight. “I can get a good feeling based off of her [Cara’s] energy level – to know where her head is at,” said Tessa. “It can be a bit tricky. At some venues she has a harder time to calm down than others. It’s really just getting her mind to a point where she can focus and listen to Karl and not be so fresh that she’s not paying attention. But yeah, I can get a feeling based off of how she’s acting. If it’s going to be a good day or not.”
Equally Tessa can tell that Cara knows if she has had a bad day. “There have been instances where things don’t go well or she has a couple of rails down – she has a sad face and she looks a little down in the barn,” said Tessa. “She looks sad. Oh, my gosh. It’s terrible. I feel so bad. But you can see it on her face. She just stands there with her head down a little bit – just kind of like I didn’t have a good day, mom.”
But then there are always treats to compensate. “She loves apples, carrots, bananas – actually she likes blueberries too,” said Tessa. “She can basically have whatever she wants.”
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