Holly Hepp Hudspeth and Waj Mirage doing their first 3* test together at Rolex.
Every horse that we ride has a lot to teach us. The longer we ride, the more we can pick out skills that specific horses have taught us along the way. However, there is always one horse that starts it all for us. The one that teaches about riding and makes us into the rider we are today. This new series is going to tell the stories of the horses that started it all. This week, I got to chat with Holly Hepp Hudspeth about her first 3 star horse, Waj Mirage. All photos are provided by Holly Hepp Hudspeth and used with her permission.
Holly graduated from high school in Minnesota in 1995 (don’t start doing the math to figure out her age!) and started her own barn in the great white North in 1996. Later that year, the Goulet’s, a client family of Holly’s, asked Holly to find a horse for the father, Dave. Holly did some searching and found an OTTB, Waj Mirage, that was owned by a TB breeder. They wanted $1,000 for him fresh off the track. The decision was made to purchase Waj and send him to Holly for some training. She worked hard with Waj, and he turned out to be a quick learner.
In 1996 and 1997, Waj and Holly won a lot of events in the Novice through Preliminary level. He was a talented horse that really seemed to trust Holly, which made for a winning combination. In 1998, Holly decided to take Waj and move to Ocala to work with Ralph Hill. They trained hard with Ralph, and that spring they did their first CCI* at CDCTA in Virginia. That fall, they took on the CCI** at Radnor, which was no small feat! The next spring, Holly decided to move Waj up to Advanced. Pine Top was their first outing, and unfortunately, they had a fall at the ditch and wall. Seemingly unfazed, Holly then took Waj to run the Advanced at Southern Pines and then North Georgia. After these two good runs, Holly decided she and Waj were off to the CCI*** at Rolex that April. Holly laughs and says:
In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best idea. We had two Advanced runs under our belt, and we were heading to Rolex. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the best direction at the time. Waj was only 7 years old, but he was probably the most phenomenal jumper that I’ve ever sat on. Not only because of his form but mostly because of his heart. He trusted me, and I trusted him.
Holly and Waj running around a clean and fast Rolex XC round.
Waj completed Rolex in 18th place with an average dressage test, clean and very fast XC, and 3 rails in SJ. Holly attributes the rails to Waj being tired from a lack of conditioning. Following Rolex, Holly talked with David and Karen O’Connor and decided to move to their farm to train. Her goal was to compete at a 4* with the O’Connors’ help. While in Middleburg, Holly was working two jobs, galloping racehorses for Doug Fout and waitressing at the Black Coffee Bistro, to afford to keep and compete Waj. She was paying all of his bills, even though he was owned by someone else.
Unfortunately, while Holly was in Middleburg with Waj, the owner, Dave, decided to send Waj to Ralph Hill to be sold. This was heartbreaking for Holly, as she had brought the horse along herself and was paying all of his bills. Waj went on to compete at one or two 4* events with Ralph, but he would never stay sound enough to be sold. On the bright side, during her waitressing job at the Black Coffee Bistro, Holly met Marie and Bernardo Piskorz who would end up being the owners of her first 4* horse, Lester Piggott.
Holly and Waj jumping their SJ round at Rolex.
Waj taught her a lot about bringing along her own horses. One has to put in the sweat and have the patience to bring a horse from nothing up to that level. There is an extreme bond that arises from that kind of relationship. When asked of her fondest memory of Waj, Holly says:
I remember driving up the driveway to the Kentucky Horse Park and seeing all of the white fencing. I got out of my truck with a deer in the headlights look. I couldn’t believe I was there. There is nothing like cantering up the centerline at an event of that size. Waj and I had no idea that we were galloping around the cross country way too fast and in the wrong balance. We probably didn’t belong there, but we had no idea. Waj put that first feather in my cap as a kid from Minnesota making it in the big time. That was tough to do.
Holly attributes her success with Last Monarch (Stewie) to everything that she learned from bringing Waj along. He taught her so many lessons, and she is thankful for that.
