A Very DIY NAYC: Meet the Self-Made Area VII Young Rider Team

Schoolmasters are wonderful, but there’s no education like the experience of producing your own event horse. By that measure, the Area VII team contesting the 2019 North American Youth Championships (NAYC) at The Event at Rebecca Farm all deserve a degree in self-made event horse development.

Among the six horse/rider combinations, there are few fancy pedigrees — three out of the six are off-track Thoroughbreds, and another has nary an ounce of Thoroughbred or warmblood in him. They all came to their riders green and inexperienced, and in some cases the riders were advised to sell their mounts because they were “too much horse” or would be limited in their ability to progress up the levels. But the riders persisted, and this week we wish them luck as they tackle this week’s Championships.

NAYC 2019 is underway, with a total of 48 CCIJ2*-L and 13 CCIY3*-S competitors from the U.S. and Canada representing their respective regions. On Wednesday, teams and their supporters enjoyed an opening ceremony in the morning to kick things off, followed by the first horse inspection, with all horses presented moving forward to the competition. Watch the NAYC live stream here. Scroll down for a link to ride times, scores and EN’s coverage.

Best of luck to all! Let’s meet the Area VII riders and their mounts:

Callia Englund and Xyder. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Callia Englund – 17 – Enumclaw, WA

Callia is riding Xyder, a 9-year-old Cheval Canadien gelding (DDD-Cromwell Prince 2 x Cosyland Star Kandi, by Rainville Wilfred Star). This is their second NAYC start; in 2018 they finished 15th in the CCIJ1*.

“Xyder and I have been together for five years now. I got him when he was 4 and I was 12, and together we learned the ropes of eventing. We did both of our first events at Beginner Novice in May of 2015 and have been moving up together ever since. It definitely has been a challenge when we were both green but now it has created a very strong partnership. We both trust each other immensely and that is what makes us successful at the higher levels.

“It’s also been challenging because he is not your typical event horse. He is small with short legs and a stocky body. Because of that we had many people tell us he could not go any higher no matter what level we were at at the time. He is a pure bred Cheval Canadien, with no Thoroughbred or warmblood lineage. They are not known for jumping by any means, and they used to be war horses and are now currently endangered.

“Last year when we completed NAYC it was a dream come true of the thousands of hours we spent together making this partnership successful. I’m so happy to represent Area VII again with my other teammates who also have amazing partnerships with their horses.”

Kayla Dumler and Faramir. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Kayla Dumler – 16 – Enumclaw, WA

Kayla is riding Faramir, a 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Capital Improvement x Princess Malaga, by Zuppado’s Prince). This is their NAYC debut. 

“Faramir (‘Ferris’) came in to my life in April 2017, just before my 14th birthday. He had just turned seven years old. Ferris is an OTTB that was purchased in 2015 by our family friend, Alyssa Jordan. Almost immediately after purchasing him, sadly, Alyssa was diagnosed with stage four liver and colon cancer. After the diagnosis, her ability to work with him became limited as she began the fight of her life. Alyssa lost her battle in April 2017. Before she passed she had made arrangements for Ferris to come to us.

“Since he had not been ridden much in the last year we decided it would be best to let a trainer work with him to get him started up again and make sure that he was safe for me to ride. After 60 days with a cowboy I got on him and immediately fell in love with him. In the fall of 2017 we competed in one Novice and one Training event. In the spring of 2018 we moved up Prelim and completed our first CCI2*~S in March of this year. Our greatest accomplishment thus far came in June of this year when we won the CCI2*~S at Aspen.

“It is such a great feeling riding him because I know where every aid is, because I put it there. It’s almost like having a custom horse. We have such a great connection and trust with each other and that is the foundation to any partnership.”

Ashley Widmer and What Are The Odds. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Ashley Widmer – 17 – Moses Lake, WA

Ashley is riding What Are the Odds, a 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Cash Dash x Amanda Quick, by Hansel). This is their NAYC debut.

“Our journey began when we met for the first time during the summer of 2016. We had seen him once before and joked about him being my next horse. I knew he was the one. We brought him home and started working with him. Living in a small town meant not being able to be in a consistent lesson program. So we did a lot of traveling, studying of videos, and working student positions.

“Oddie went to his first recognized event later that fall at Beginner Novice. We could barely stay on 20-meter circles and had a ridiculous phobia of water. After a winter of schooling, we started in the spring of 2017 at Novice. Later that season we did our first Training together. Another winter went by with a lot of homework. Starting 2018 at Training, we worked our way to our first Prelim at Rebecca Farm. We continued to work through the season, aiming for the CCI* at Galway last fall. There we got qualified for NAYC.

“This spring, we had the opportunity to work with Terri Rocovich in preparation for this season. She helped us immensely. Anni Grandia, Deborah Rosen, Lindsay Uyesugi, Charlotte Roseburg, and our team coach John Camlin have all been an instrumental part of our development. I’m very excited to represent Area VII with the horse of my dreams, and a team that has worked just as hard to get here.”

Olivia Miller and Fritz Patrick for Area VII. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Olivia Miller – 18 – Lake Tapps, WA

Olivia is riding Fritz Patrick, a 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Regazzoni x Pandora, by Parabol). This is their first NAYC.

“Fritz and I became partners at the very end of 2014. The very first year I owned him, he then proved to be much more horse than I had the experience to handle. The first couple trainers I took him to kept telling me that I should sell him because he was not a ‘kid’s’ horse, and after I heard that over and over I started to believe them. After almost every ride I would hop off of him and hand him to my mom because it was just so irritating that I wasn’t making any progress with him. We tried just about every supplement and training tool in the book to try to make some headway but nothing really seemed to do the trick.

“It wasn’t until the latter half of the year that things started to align and make a little more sense. He became a little more rideable and I could start to take him places without it being quite an ordeal. I took him down to California during the spring of 2016 and we ran our very first Beginner Novice at Twin Riders. We then came back up to Washington to win our very first show in Area VII at Beginner Novice, being the only pair in our division to go double-clear on cross country. We then moved up to Novice shortly after that and finished the season at Novice.

“Fritz and I then made our international debut at the 2* level at the end of 2018 at Galway Downs. We put in a top 10 finish at Aspen Farms this last spring. So from Beginner Novice through the 2* level, Fritz has really proven himself to be quite the eventer.”

Lilly Linder and Tucker Too. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Lilly Linder – 17 – Carnation, WA

Lilly is riding Tucker Too, a 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding. This is their first NAYC.

“It’s crazy how fast a partnership can grow over such a short period of time. Tucker was a lesson horse that was used in Anni Grandia’s program. I was given the chance to ride Tucker because the horse I had been riding was rehabbing from a fractured patella. I ended up entering him in the Young Rider Benefit Horse Trials not even a week later. We had successful rides that weekend and we clicked almost immediately.

“Tucker had never really had his own person and to watch the bond grow between us has been so exciting. He has always been an athletic and hardworking horse but over the months that I have been leasing him, his personality and work ethic has improved greatly and the overall transformation has really impressed and inspired a lot of people in the evening comity and at our barn. I’ve never ridden a horse like him before and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Sophie Click and Fernhill Rising at Fair Hill (sorry we didn’t get a Rebecca jog photo of you, Sophie!). Photo by Shelby Allen.

Sophie Click – 20 – Carnation, WA

Sophie is riding Quidproquo, an 8-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Quidado x Waleila, by Limbus). This is Sophie’s fourth NAYC.

“I started riding Rocky last spring. My previous horse Hot Wheels was injured so I took the ride on Rocky. At the time, Rocky was very green and had gone Preliminary a bit with a different professional. My family was advised to sell him, but Rocky and I quickly formed a strong relationship and since then, he has been such a hard working and impressive horse.

“We did Preliminary and 1* (now 2*) all of 2018, and recently moved up to Intermediate and 3* this spring. With the help of professionals, Stuart Black and James Alliston, Rocky has shown so much improvement and proved to be a top quality horse. He reminds me very much of Hot Wheels and is therefore very special to me. Although he has been tricky to train, he is very intelligent and learns quickly if you are patient with him!”

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