Last Monday evening the Eventing Nation crew was honored to close out the final hour of Horse Radio Network’s 2016 12-Hour Holiday Radiothon, accompanied by some very special eventer guests.
The theme question of the day was “Who is your fantasy ride?” If you could take a spin on any horse, past or present, whom would it be?
Co-host Jenni got the ball rolling with her pick, Irish eventer Camilla Speirs’ 2014 World Equestrian Games mount Portersize Just a Jiff. “He’s a little Connemara cross, barely 15 hands, 16 years old, and he just looks like he would be a blast to ride around cross country,” she explained.
Wylie went full-on fantasy, naming Starlight from the 1980s animated series Rainbow Brite: “I would like to spend just one day of my life on Starlight’s back, galloping on magical rainbows, showering the world with star sprinkles and fighting the powers of darkness and taking out baddies.”
Guests Heather Morris and Tamie Smith from Next Level Eventing were up next, and they both went with eventing legends.
Heather’s pick: Priceless, Ginny Leng’s 1980s wonderhorse who in addition to winning Burghley (twice) and Badminton, picked up four team and two individual golds at the European and World Championships, and a team silver and individual bronze at the 1984 Olympic Games. Heather summed up the horse, who maintained a spotless cross country record throughout his career: “He was amazing.”
Tamie’s pick: “My fantasy event horse is Murphy Himself. I kind of like the crazy, leave ’em out, hang on for dear life type.”
The inimitable Irish Sport Horse was first ridden by Ginny (with whom she again won Burghley) and later met his match in Ian Stark. The pair enjoyed terrific success together, completing Badminton several times, winning individual and team silver at the 1990 FEI World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, and contesting the Barcelona Olympics.
This vintage Thrills & Spills video features both Ginny (shown riding Master Craftsman, I believe) and Ian riding Murphy Himself, and captures the spirit of the era.
There was some talk of a fantasy showdown between Valegro and Totilas (“I wonder if we can teach them to jump?” Heather and Tamie mused), and then it was time for the final eventing hour guest Doug Payne.
Doug’s eventing pick was Opgun Louvo, Saundra Auffarth’s 2014 WEG champion …
… but if he could take a turn on ANY horse in the world?
“My dream horse at the moment is a horse called Good Luck, a show jumper ridden by the Irishman Cian O’Connor,” Doug said. “He is extraordinary.”
Indeed, upon further inspection this 10-year-old Belgian stallion does seem to be equipped with some sort of turbo booster.
And with that, Eventing Nation, we turn the mic over to you: Who is YOUR fantasy ride? Discuss in the comments!
Click the player below to listen to the Radiothon eventing hour (or click here to listen to the show in its entirety):
