Will Faudree and Pfun. Photo by Sally Spickard.
As Will Faudree jumped the penultimate fence on cross country during the CCI4*-S at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International last month, he felt a wave of emotion rising up within him.
He was aboard his longtime upper-level horse, Pfun, a horse he’d had a relationship with for well over the past decade, who was en route to completing an astonishing nine times at this venue just down the road from Will’s Gavilan Farm home base. Across those nine completions, Pfun finished outside of the top 10 just once.
This run at Carolina seemed a fitting finale to Pfun’s lengthy career at the upper levels, and as Will neared the finish flags, the enormity of this decision began to hit home.
“It was just so fun,” Will said. “I jumped the second-to-last fence and reached down and started petting him, and I couldn’t believe we were galloping to the last jump of our career together. I’ll never forget that round. I didn’t have one ‘funny’ fence. It was really rather emotional.”
“Teddy” was a dark gray color when he was imported from Ireland as a coming four-year-old. Originally, he was sourced by Julie Richards and sent to former USEF chef d’equipe Bobby Costello, who was still actively competing but beginning to consider a step back, to produce. During a couple of summers, Will rode the horse while Bobby traveled. In time, Bobby wound up asking Will to take on the horse with the intention of selling him.
Will Faudree and Pfun. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Thanks to the support of Will’s longtime owner, Jennifer Mosing of Sterling Silver Stables, Pfun became a rooted part of his string. The thought, initially at least, was that if the horse didn’t work out as a top horse for Will, he’d be marketable as a resale or a perfect fit for Jennifer’s kids to eventually ride.
“I just really liked the horse,” Will recalled. “He didn’t have a very natural gallop at the time, but he was always an unbelievable jumper. No one was sure if he’d learn to gallop or make it to the top levels, but I believed in him because he was just so fun to ride and to jump.”
In 2015, Pfun stepped up to the Advanced level and was short-listed for the U.S. team heading to the Pan American Games that year. That fall, though, Will broke his neck in a fall from a different horse, which saw Pfun get an extended vacation until Will healed and was ready to get back out competing.
Christina Curiale and Pfun. Photo by Jenni Autry.
From 2016 on, Pfun was a stalwart campaigner for Will. He would go on to complete three CCI5* events and started a fourth at Kentucky in 2022 when Will opted to pull him up on cross country. At that point, Will made a decision based on the previous seasons of understanding what his horses needed.
“The level of fitness needed for that level was getting hard on his body,” Will reflected. “So we backed off. We prioritized Short events and things like the Showcase [at Bruce’s Field] with him, and I even did a Grand Prix in Ocala with him.”
Pfun was, of course, not quite ready to hang up his horseshoes in full even if 5* events weren’t on the docket anymore. “At the end of last year, I told Jennifer I’d really like to do Carolina on him one more time,” Will said. “It’s a venue he loves. He doesn’t owe me anything, as trite as that may sound. And at Carolina this year, he jumped around like a nine-year-old. I jogged him up after and he looked like a million bucks. I took him for a hack the next day.”
Will Faudree and Pfun. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
As a rider who takes much pride in the longevity of his horses’ careers at the upper levels, this finale was fitting for Will and Pfun. It’s a common adage amongst eventers that we always want to retire our horses at the right time – not too early, and certainly not too late to the point where an injury or accident occurs. Will feels he accomplished this ultimate goal with this incredibly special horse.
“I’m just so proud,” he said. “He’s had such a long career, and hopefully he has another twenty years left. He’s been the most consistent relationship in my life for the last fifteen years. I had to think outside the box to get him fit, but he always responded.”
While Pfun won’t fully retire from eventing altogether, he won’t contest anymore 4* or higher events. Will has it in mind that perhaps he’ll teach some of his students, but he will stay in work. “He’s been a competitive athlete his whole life, and I think that’s important to maintain to some degree,” he said. “Without the pressure of gallop sets and trot sets, I think he’ll enjoy himself even more. He’s just going to have fun now.”
Will Faudree and Pfun. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
As Will focuses his efforts on his other top horse, Mama’s Magic Way, as well as a strong string of younger horses, he’ll continue to take the lessons and the gratitude he’s learned from Pfun with him.
“I’m going to miss him so much,” he said. “He’s been such a friend – so consistent, so fun. Honestly, it’s been one of the greatest privileges and honors of my career to ride him. Everyone always believed in his jumping, but I believed in him. I’m so grateful for everything he gave me.”
To have a horse at the top for so long, and truly, actually, enjoying the job in the process, is a reward that, for Will, trumps any ribbon or trophy. “The dream of him doing what he did at Carolina, and me getting on and taking him for a hack the next day…that dream satisfies me more than any plaque.”
