For some reason, a great deal of the success stories in Eventing seem to emerge from unlikely places. Today we have the story of a Grand Prix show jumper trying her hand at eventing here in Ocala. Although the story of Udonna is still in the early chapters, judging from all of the signs, it will continue on for many more. Even without prior knowledge of the mare’s accomplishments as a successful Grand Prix show jumper, it’s obvious Udonna is a special horse. Substantial in size, chestnut in color, and a striking white blaze are her physical attributes. Combined with a tremendous amount of scope, bravery, and most importantly a trainable demeanor, “Muffin”, as she’s known around the barn, may have what it takes to be successful in Eventing as well. Her rider is Marilyn Little-Meredith, a name that may not be immediately recognizable in the Eventing community, but certainly is in the show jumping one. Marilyn has a long list of accomplishments as a show jumper including multiple Grand Prix wins, representing the United States internationally on several occasions, and even induction to the East Coast Show Jumping Hall of Fame. Marilyn told me about the experience that started everything that was to come:
“Back in October during the WEG, my husband turned on FEI TV looking for coverage of the Games, and as it happened, the cross-country phase of Eventing was on. He called me in to watch it, hoping to illicit a “shock and awe” response. I remember his words to be,”These people are crazy! This looks terrifying!” I countered with, “No, it looks awesome! ” A week and a half later, I had decided that not only did it look awesome, but I had a feeling I could do it, and was going to enter the Maryland Horse Trials to test the waters. After literally three hours of thought, much endured laughter from the many eventing students I teach, and a brief consideration of the 40 horses on the property, there was no doubt in my mind that “Muffin” was the only horse with the scope, gallop, movement, bravery, and stamina necessary to advance to a serious level on the 3-Day field. Even more importantly, I know her well to be of a highly programmable mentality, which would be necessary for any sort of a fast-track crossover.”
And so it was that Udonna and Marilyn began their Eventing career, beginning at Training level and quickly upgrading to Preliminary. Marilyn has come along way in the scope of the adventure, from simply “testing the waters” to now aiming for the Fair Hill CCI*** next year, America’s toughest and most elite autumn Three-Day Event.” Marilyn and her family run their business, Raylyn Farms, Inc, out of Frederick, Maryland, but they spend their winters in Wellington, Florida at the Winter Equestrian Festival, training and showing jumpers, so Marilyn has been commuting to Ocala several times a month to receive instruction from Karen O’Connor. The dressage phase, as she’ll tell you, has proved to be their biggest challenge, so she has enlisted the Wellington-based Dr. Michael Kohl to manage progress between visits to the O’Connor farm. Learning the geometry of the dressage movements has been Marilyn’s biggest challenge, she said with a laugh, “On the dressage test from my first event, the judge drew two little diagrams, one of a correct 20 meter circle and the other of a square, as a demonstration of the figure I rode during my test!”
From an onlookers perspective, it would seem that any rider brave enough to tackle a Grand Prix show jumping track would certainly be brave enough to jump around an Advanced level cross country course, and vice versa. Marilyn feels that it isn’t necessarily true; to her, “bravery exists in many forms.” This is something she has come to realize recently, especially through conversations with peers in the show jumping industry, most of whom were stunned at hearing of Marilyn’s new challenge. But Marilyn considers one of the best parts of learning to event as just that, the learning. For someone that has done almost everything there is to be done in show jumping, and for the vast majority of her lifetime, “being able to wake up in the morning with the promise of doing something with horses I’ve never done before is both exciting and refreshing.” It’s still uncertain exactly how far this new pursuit will take Udonna and Marilyn, but judging from the talent and fierce demeanor contained in both horse and rider, it is sure to be someplace great.
For more information on Udonna, and the rest of Marilyn’s team, click here.
