Classic Eventing Nation

We hear all the time about horses at the top of the sport, but what about the next generation of equine talent? EN’s Got Talent introduces the future superstars of the sport, interviewing riders about how they’re tackling training with these youngsters. Have you spotted a spectacular young horse at an event you think should be highlighted in this column? Tip me at [email protected].

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Steph Rhodes-Bosch and Seahawk at Waredaca last year. Photo by Pam Patton.

Last week we met Steph Rhodes-Bosch and Seahawk, her 6-year-old Thoroughbred gelding she first rode as a 2-year-old while exercising racehorses in Ocala. When Mosby, a Seattle Slew grandbaby, turned out to have zero interest in being a racehorse, Steph took him on as an eventing prospect in 2011. Mosby showed that he was much happier with his new job as an eventer, winning the first event of his career in beginner novice at Longwood Farm in January 2012 as a 4-year-old. “He loves to go into the competition arena and do his thing,” Steph said. “I don’t know how he knows, but you point him down center line or take him into the show jumping ring, and he just gets bigger and taller.”

Mosby competed in his first recognized event two months later in beginner novice at Rocking Horse III, where he finished in second place on his dressage score of 31.4. Steph moved him up to novice in the late spring of 2012, which is when she began to encounter some stops on cross country. “He has always been such a pleasure to ride, even when he was going cross country in the beginning and would have some stops,” Steph said. “I couldn’t teach him not to stop the way I usually would because I couldn’t just give him a little tap behind the leg with the whip. He was so sour from the whip from being at the track, and he would just check out. I knew I could get around that and not use a stick. Ever since then, it’s been smooth sailing.”

Steph Rhodes-Bosch and Seahawk at Waredaca last year. Photo by Pam Patton.

After finishing out the rest of the 2012 season at novice, Steph moved Mosby up to training level at the Ocala Horse Properties Winter II Horse Trials this past February. “In the lead up before the upgrade, I took some dressage lessons from Jacqueline Brooks, a top Canadian dressage rider,” Steph said. “She really challenged me to stop riding him like he was a baby — even if I only pushed him for 10 to 15 minutes to challenge him into a higher frame with more movement behind. All of a sudden I had this fancy, elegant, big-moving horse. So having a trainer tell me it was time to push on my baby horse was a really big confidence booster. His trot was so much more uphill and forward after that.”

While Steph was a little nervous about the cross country at Mosby’s training debut considering his past bobbles, he jumped double clear to finish in second place. “I wanted to make sure I had properly prepared my baby, but he just ate it up,” Steph said. “He didn’t even bat an eye. The things I thought might be difficult, he just did and cantered away.” Mosby was third in his training division at The Fork in April, where he also placed fourth in the 5-year-old YEH division and picked up a qualifying score. Steph will compete in the YEH at Waredaca this weekend, where Mosby can qualify for the YEH 5-year-old East Coast Championships at Fair Hill this fall if he receives another qualifying score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMASeHeJMkg
Seahawk in the YEH jumping phase at The Fork 

Getting to the YEH Championships is definitely Steph’s main goal for the rest of the year. “I would also love to do some preliminary horse trials if he feels like he’s ready,” Steph said. “I already jump him over preliminary height at home, and we play around with the leg yields and a little counter canter. But the main goal is to make sure he’s solid at the training level for the next few months and focusing on YEH.” Looking ahead to next year, Steph hopes Mosby — as well as her other 5-year-old OTTB superstar True Bellamy — will be ready to run the one-star in Ocala in April. “I think it’s important to pick the time you’re slow with these youngsters,” Steph said. “You get excited about it, but there’s a time for patience that pays off down the road. You want to make sure there aren’t any gaps because you don’t want to get going intermediate and realize there’s something missing.”

Steph is very excited about Mosby’s future and is looking for shareholders to be involved in his syndication. She already has the first syndicate members on board, Scott and Lisa Robinson of New Hampshire, and she is hoping to bring on a few more shareholders to round out the syndicate. “This is the only way I can keep him and produce him and have him be a part of my career,” Steph said. “With Port Authority coming back into competition now, I’m looking forward to building a team who can help me take Seahawk’s career to the next level.” Click here to view the syndication proposal. Those interested in more information about the syndicate can contact Steph at 571-420-3351 or [email protected].

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awNzQpMknj4
Seahawk’s YEH dressage test at The Fork 

Next week on EN’s Got Talent: We’ll meet Andrew Palmer and Tatendrang, a 7-year-old Trakehner stallion owned by Anissa Cottongim. This horse most recently won his first CIC1* over a tricky cross-country course at CHC International, and he also won his preliminary division at Poplar Place earlier this month. He is sired by the elite Trakehner stallion Onassis, who is also the damsire of Seacookie TSF, William Fox-Pitt’s second-placed mount at this year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. “Andrew is amazing with him, and I think they have a big future ahead of them,” Anissa said. “They will run the CCI1* at Fox River Valley in Illinois in a few weeks.” Thanks for the tip, Anissa!

Meet my new OTTB mare, Horizontal Love, aka Sexy. The horse I will be using for the RRTP Trainer Makeover.

As many of you know from reading my posts, Thoroughbreds play a  huge role in my life as an eventing trainer and rider.  I am a huge fan of the breed, and I love bringing them along after the track.

This year, the Retired Racehorse Training Project has a new Trainer Makeover going on.  A friend of mine passed along the information and application to me and suggested that I apply.  Low and behold, I was chosen to be one of the 26 trainers.  I am super excited about the opportunity.

I would love for everyone at Eventing Nation to be able to follow along with myself and the other trainers in this showcase of the American Thoroughbred Racehorse.  The trainers range from a 12 year old girl to eventers to hunter/jumpers to western riders.  It should be a great example of the adaptability and work ethic of this great breed.

Here are a few links to specific eventer pages:

My Personal Page

Daniel Clasing

Lara Borson Knight

Alexandra Knowles

Erin Sylvester

Cathy Wieschoff

I think everyone that has been picked is probably as excited as I am.  I have already gotten started by picking my OTTB.  You can read my first blog here!

Every once in a while, I run across a video on the internet that I have not yet remotely explored and it turns out to be absolutely fabulous. Today, I’m bringing you a charming little old man named Texas Ollie, and he is a wonderful horse trainer. His horses have a great array of tricks up their sleeves, and they seem very content in their jobs. This video is pretty darn entertaining, and if you wait until a little after 4 minutes, you get to watch Ollie’s horse Silver see-saw on a teeter-totter. Enjoy!

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The Third Annual Eventing Nation Blogger Contest is upon us. Abby did a super job of running the Blogger Contest last year, but she’s now off at Oxford getting smarter than all of us. That means I’ll be taking over as emcee for this year’s contest. If you’ve followed along with the previous two Blogger Contests, you know that this is your shot to join the eclectic EN team that delivers your eventing fix every day.

Let’s go back in time two years ago, when a yet-unknown Wylie submitted her introduction to the Inaugural EN Blogger Contest. She professed a “lifelong dream of interviewing Boyd Martin in his underpants,” carving a little Boyd-Martin-underpants-shaped hole in our hearts. Now take a quick peak at our sister site, where you’ll notice Wylie’s name atop the Horse Nation masthead, evidence of her full-time Managing Editorship — and also, evidence that if you love eventing and want to write, there are possibilities here.

And last year, I proposed that eventing gives thrill seekers an outlet for their addiction, ensuring we don’t engage in questionable activities. That post — which spawned the catchphrase “Eventing: Do it for the children” — clinched the win. Since winning the Blogger Contest, I’ve come on to the EN staff full-time as Assistant Editor, providing live coverage at Badminton, Rolex, Fair Hill, Jersey Fresh and The Fork. The point is that if you’ve been looking for a way to get your foot in the door for a writing career in eventing, this is your chance.

The fine print:

Contestants should want to write part-time for Eventing Nation — at least two to three posts per week. If this already sounds like too much, don’t apply. Otherwise, the gates are open. All are eligible (including previous contestants), and no prior experience is necessary — though competition has been fierce for the past two years — and personal style is a must. Take risks. Laugh. Entertain. Create something only you can create.

Your Round 1 entries will include a short bio (name, age, background, character-defining qualities, embarrassing tidbits) and a 300 to 600 word sample of your best eventing-related work. The EN Team will judge by the same standards as the last two years (interesting, funny, informative, creative), and factor public opinion into our final decision. Keep in mind that you’re writing for an audience of thousands, and we’ll be selecting finalists based on the quality of entries — no pressure.

Entries are due one week from today, on Wednesday, June 5, at 8 p.m. EST. Email your entry to [email protected] with the subject “EN Blogger Contest Entry.” Good luck, and go eventing.

Lila Gendal is the newest edition to our family of bloggers here on EN, and she comes with a particularly interesting perspective. Lila lives in Vermont, and works for the famed Denny Emerson at Tamarack Hill Farm, and when she’s not buried in snow, she is privy to the inner workings of one of the Eventing world’s most illustrious program. Lila has an amazing mare named Valonia that she has been slowly bringing up through the ranks, and is able to ride many of Denny’s young horses, and learn the “old school” way of doing everything. Take it away, Lila!

Valonia at King Oak this year

When I was in high school my daydreams were consumed by thoughts of two things: horses and having a boyfriend.  I never had difficulties finding horses, but getting a boy to ask me out was a task and a half. After three years I managed to accumulate a number of insignificant dates and countless indifferent phone calls. At last, my senior year I began dating a boy in my class. Unfortunately this relationship was based solely on the fact that this boy challenged me mentally and that we could carpool together to our multivariable calculus class at Dartmouth (no wonder I never had a boyfriend). That combined with the fact that I seemed to be far more intrigued by the idea of dating than actually dating in real life. We were definitely never in love, or at least I never thought we were.

About a week after high school graduation I asked my boyfriend out to dinner only to break up with him. I only got about half way through my pre planned speech when his eyes began to tear up. Suddenly I was forced to change the course of the awkward conversation. I completely caved in and basically said, ‘never mind, it was just a thought I had…I guess we can stay together.’ After that dinner I realized how callous and unemotional I could be in some instances, while in others I was a sobbing mess. My entire life has been torn between being too emotional and not emotional enough. Of course not all females are the same, but for me personally, I have experienced countless occasions where I have had trouble compartmentalizing these emotions.

When I first arrived at Tamarack Hill Farm, I was deathly afraid of what I had gotten myself into, mostly because I didn’t think that I deserved to be riding and training with one of the most distinguished riders in this sport. Denny was everything and who was I? I might as well have been a bum off the streets. Needless to say I didn’t talk much the first couple years. I might have said twenty words a day or less. As a working student in the beginning I tried my hardest to do what they asked of me while keeping to myself. I also made myself an unofficial promise that no matter what, and under no circumstance was I ever going to let myself cry in the presence of anyone at the farm. Well, if I owed myself a dime for every time I have cried here, I would have thousands of dollars right now.

Skybreaker at Hitching Post

Riding requires dedication, time, energy and focus. Obviously we don’t need to be 100% tuned in every time we take our horses out for a hack, but being focused when you are jumping or flatting is absolutely necessary. How can we expect our horses to do whatever it is we are asking them to do if our minds are elsewhere? Have you ever had one of those lessons where your thoughts were somewhere else, like planning a dinner party, or worrying about accumulating bills, a death in the family, or ending a relationship? No matter how significant or insignificant your thoughts or life happens to be, being ready to ride when you get on your horse deserves an undivided attention. This can be easier said than done.

There’s another component to this whole separation of your horse life from your normal person life and that’s balancing your two worlds. To begin with, I live and breathe horses. All I want to do is jump and compete. Might sound pathetic or it might not? I suppose it depends who my audience is. Nevertheless, eventing and riding horses in general means the world to me. I would not be where I am today if I had only been sort of obsessed with this sport. Here’s the recurring dilemma: giving as much time and energy to your family, friends and significant others as you would your horse. I can’t even count how many times my mom would get mad at me as a child and she would end the conversation with, ‘if you cared as much about us as you do your horses…’ How do we give everything we have to this sport, to our horses, and to our horse life without trampling over our other lives? How can we balance the two worlds, or can they never be balanced? Can a serious competitor ever live happily ever after with a non-horse person? Can you be a diehard athlete with gold medal dreams and still maintain a healthy, happy and functioning outside life?

Spending the last seven years at Tamarack has actually added to my already semi-tough exterior. Denny is very real and his lessons are sometimes excruciatingly real, meaning what you and your horse need to work on becomes acutely apparent within seconds. This brutally honest style of coaching works very well for me and many others, though at times the honesty can hit a sensitive nerve and can lead to me owing myself a dime at the end of a ride. I can’t change who I am. I can’t pretend to be not sad or overwhelmed when that’s what I am feeling. Maybe these are female attributes or maybe it’s my upbringing. I am not just a horse person. I have numerous interests and goals outside of the horse world. I have horse friends and non-horse friends. That being said, horses are at the pit of my focus. I want to give everything I have to my riding goals and dreams, though I never want to lose touch with my amazing family, boyfriend or friends. I want to be able to compartmentalize my two worlds while maintaining an ongoing balance within the worlds to the best of my ability.