Classic Eventing Nation

A Horse That Owed Me Nothing Made My Career

By on May 18, 2022 9:00 am -

After the announcement of the retirement of Vandiver, the Olympic partner of Doug Payne and best friend to #supergroom Courtney Carson, we asked both Courtney and Doug to write about the horse that took them around the world. We’ll kick things off with this must-read from Courtney.

Kentucky 2019. Photo by JJ Sillman.

It may sound a bit ridiculous to say that Vandiver made my career, considering I’ve only been doing this for six years and I hope my career extends way past this point. Hell, he may not have been the first horse that I went to a championship with, but there are some that you just have a feeling about.

In a weird way I knew the moment it was announced he was going to Doug for the ride, a full 15 months before I took the job, that Vandiver was destined to do amazing things. I am just lucky that I was a part of that ride. He took me on my first foreign adventure, he was my first 5* horse that I groomed for, I got to ride him at Burghley and Aachen. He made more dreams come true than what 10-year-old me could have ever dreamt.

Vandiver is a horse who seemed to always be the bridesmaid despite being one of the most consistent horses you’ve probably seen in this country. That may sound a bit insane to think of, but in the time I worked with him he was rarely out of the top-10. He may not have won anything massive, but he was the USEF National Reserve Champion in 2019 with a fifth place at Kentucky, he was the direct reserve for the Pan American Games that year, was top-15 at Blenheim 2017, and capped his career with a top-American finish at the Tokyo Olympics.

Courtney Carson puts the finishing touches on Vandiver. Photo by Abby Powell.

It takes a lot to keep a horse running at the top level, and the great thing about event horses is that they don’t all fit the same mold. The really great ones have a lot of heart though, and this particular horse has a heart even bigger than his giant, amazing ears.

His journey was not without bumps, some stops, and a lot of anxiety and emotion. He lived the career as an afterthought, it seemed. When I got to Doug’s in 2016 it was just exciting to have an Advanced horse. He was third at the American Eventing Championship in Tryon that year and followed that up with a second place in 2017.

He had other top placings which gave us hope that he would be placed on the 2018 World Equestrian Games team at Tryon. He was at home there; it is essentially home for us because we show jump there often in addition to eventing.

Quinn started 2018 incredibly strong, even winning the CIC3* (now CCI4*-S) at Carolina International in the pouring down rain as the only horse to finish on his dressage score. Then heartbreak struck when he was held at the first trot up two weeks later during the Fork/WEG Test event. We withdrew from the hold box and had a serious discussion about how we needed to get to the bottom of his chronic off-again-on-again lameness in the right hind. I spent an afternoon sitting on the barn floor with some good friends, a bag of Swedish fish, and a bottle of vodka. While we knew there was a chance we could get this turned around, he was already 14 years old and had done a lot in his career prior to that.

Hanging at Millbrook in 2017. Photo courtesy of Eliza Goldberg Photography.

Following a routine arthroscopy that didn’t show us more than what would be expected in a horse with his resume. We still gave it the ol’ college try and had them clean everything out, what did we really have to lose at that point? During this time Doug was campaigning Getaway at the Advanced/4* level and Quantum Leap was qualified for Le Lion d’Angers as a seven year old (both went on to represent the U.S. that fall at Boekelo and Le Lion), but no one was really ready to step into Quinn’s shoes.

Thus began a long several months of walking, and walking, and walking. I would get up at 4 a.m. to hand walk before work began. I would stay late and hang out with him while he ate grass. We built him a small turnout area at the bottom of the hill with good grass when he could finally go outside. By the time he was able to begin tack walking I had talked Doug into letting me do it. I spent more time with that horse in the next nine months than I’ve probably ever spent with one particular horse. I learned everything about his eating habits, something he was notoriously finicky about prior to this.

I created a monster. Sometimes I had to hold his grain bucket so he would eat a meal, occasionally I would even have to hand feed it to him. I learned to power walk in the dark by the moonlight so that we got an acceptable amount of time in by his watch. We had several arguments about how long he should be trotting once that was allowed. And I became even more obsessed with getting this horse back to the top. I just knew somewhere deep in my soul that he could, and that he deserved, to be on a team before he was through.

Courtney and Vandiver share a moment in the Kentucky vet box. Photo by Sally Spickard

2019 was a roller coaster of a year. Quinn had an incredibly strong spring season, finishing it off with a fifth place and Reserve USEF Championship at the Land Rover Kentucky 5*. We had talked about trying to take him to Aachen that summer, but being named as the direct reserve to Starr Witness for the Pan American Games kept him stateside that summer. Instead we tried our hand at a second trip to the UK and a canter around Burghley.

In the year that saw one of the most gruesome Saturday’s in the history of the sport, he fell victim to the statistics. This big, golden hearted gelding cantered up to the biggest white, open rail oxer on course and left the ground despite being a full half stride away from where he should be. 99% of other horses would have slammed on the brakes and said “hard pass”, not this guy.

Were we there two years too late? Maybe. Was he ever destined to be a Burghley horse? Maybe not. He showed his resilience though and flew home to claim the win at Stable View in the CCI3*-S two weeks later, he didn’t look like he had missed a beat. He finished his year with a canter around at Fair Hill and another double clear show jumping. Maybe the Olympic dream was alive for this guy.

Doug Payne and Vandiver under the lights in Tokyo. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

Covid hit. I’m not going to try and put into words how Covid affected others less fortunate than myself, and it seems unfair to say that my biggest worry throughout the 2020 year was that the Olympics were canceled and that we had missed our shot. It is incredibly selfish to even have had these thoughts, but while he still looked great and was working well, time was slipping away from us like sand in an hourglass. I didn’t know if we could keep him going at the top of the sport for an entire year — he was already 16 at this point. When we got back to competing he came out and won a 1.35m Welcome Stakes in Aiken, won the Advanced at Tryon, and then was fourth in the CCI4*-L that fall. Maybe if we played all of our cards correctly, we could do it.

Quinn just continued to impress us and step up. He ran well all spring, winning the CCI4*-S at the Fork, earned a top-12 finish at Kentucky, and jogged up afterward like a champion. My whole world now became keeping him as happy and sound as possible so that no one ever saw him in less than his best condition.

Being named initially as the reserve almost fueled my fire even more. I was not going to give anyone the chance to say that he did not deserve to be there if he was given the opportunity to compete. I found out as we were loading equipment at Gladstone to leave for Aachen that he was stepping into the team role and my world changed. He was in! Everything I had spent five years working towards, every feeling that I had, every heartbreak we had experienced along the way — Quinn was finally, officially, getting his shot to prove to the American eventing scene that he was not just a footnote at the bottom of the write-up for the weekend.

The best Dude – ears and all.

At the Olympics it was a bit difficult to not be starstruck. You’re standing in a field grazing your horse looking at the likes of Explosion W and Gio thinking that you’re surrounded by the best in the world. Then it hits you that you’re holding a horse at the Olympics as well, you’ve made it. Spending five weeks with only one horse to focus on can become difficult, but I tried to keep it in perspective and not get down his throat and upset him.

Quinn is notoriously antisocial, and even though it has been joked that I’m his emotional support person, even I get sick of myself so I can only imagine how he felt. Talk about a horse who gave it his all, though. At the ripe old age of 17 he galloped around and left it all on the floor for everyone there.

Finishing the Olympics was the most incredible experience, and finally being the top placed American horse was just the cherry on top. Erik Duvander told me at the beginning of cross country to take a moment and enjoy it, after jumping the individual round I told him through my tears that I was going to take more than one.

Quinn owed us nothing. We never expected to get what we did out of him. Coming into this year, we said we would always let him tell us. He was never going to be a horse to quit — it’s not in his nature — but we hoped he would let us know. At the 2022 Kentucky Three Day, he told us.

Most people won’t believe me when I say it, but I think in a weird way he knew it would be his last trip around the bluegrass. He was oddly calm and relaxed in the dressage ring. While he still demanded from the moment I showed up that he was taken out for grass, he was almost less fierce than ever before.

The morning of cross country he ate his breakfast, something that I can promise you has never happened before. Watching him gallop around the cross country, standing in the tent, I knew this would be the last time I met him at the finish line. While he continued to jump, it was never in his nature to not keep trying. Even walking down on Sunday he was slow, his warm-up lacked some of the spring off of the floor, but he went in and gave it his all.

Through the Tunnel at Tokyo. Photo by Bridget London.

I had silent tears going down my face as I walked him to the gate. One last trip down the ramp for the big guy. I began crying outright when he jumped the last fence. As he got his standing ovation, walking out of the ring on the buckle in front of the fans who loved him so, Doug wiped a tear from his own face and I cried even harder.

I enjoyed my last walk home with him, crying the whole way. I have a lot of memories coming up that ramp, one of my favorite photos is us coming up it in 2019 and it hangs in my house. I will never forget a single moment spent with this amazing horse.

Doug telling the world that I get to take him for a spin — my only bucket list competition item for myself has been to leave the start box on him one time — makes it even more emotional. It is weird to think he won’t get on the trailer to the big horse shows any more, that I won’t get to spend hours walking him to make sure he is fit enough, and that I won’t run to meet him at the finish line.

But he capped off an incredible career in style, giving it his all in front of a sold out crowd on a Kentucky Sunday, and I can’t think of a better way to have finished it.

I hope every horse in our barn knows that it’s nothing personal, but they will never fill his shoes. Mostly because no ears will ever be as large or as perfect as his, and I hope to God that no one else ever needs to go in just one glue on front shoe.

There just will never be another horse that touches my soul the way that he has done. It has been an honor and a privilege to chase him around the world and to be his person. I have loved watching him come alive over the last six years and I hope I’ve been able to convey to everyone just how special he truly is.

Remembering Kim Meier: Charisma, A Horse with No Name

By on May 18, 2022 9:00 am -

The team here at EN was deeply saddened to learn of beloved eventer Kim Meier’s passing earlier this month. We were honored to make Kim’s acquaintance and were lucky that she shared some of her countless stories with us. We’ll be sharing some of these stories this week in tribute. Do you have a memory or story about Kim to share? Please send it to us at [email protected].

This story first appeared on Eventing Nation on April 5, 2016.

Kim Meier and her mare Charisma, whom she competed to the CCI3* level, at Blue Ridge Horse Trials in 1982. Photo courtesy of Kim Meier.

There were no windows in the bottom of the bank barn. The only light came from a row of yellowed light bulbs down the center aisle, and those were covered with hundreds of little brown spots, as if the flies had taken a census. There were ten tie stalls on each wall. Here and there a low wall separated the horses, but mostly, it was fencing boards nailed to a beam or hung from the ceiling with baling string.

The old horse dealer backed out a skinny little mare. “Now I know she ain’t big even though she’s only 3, but you like ’em young and unbroken and she is that. She’s been stuck in here with strangles for a month. He led her out into the light of the open door, something she hadn’t seen in awhile as she rapidly blinked her large brown eyes. Nice eyes, I thought. Intelligent. She was barely 15 hands, I wanted 16 ideally, but those eyes … Something about them.

“How much?”

“Four hundred.”

“Three hundred.” Big pause. Staring, eye to eye.

“Three-fifty then.”

“And I can bring her back.” It was a statement.

“You can always bring them back.” He liked it when I brought them back. They were always fatter and wormed and better schooled.

It was done; the spare spot in my trailer had been filled, and the scrawny mare traveled home with the school horse I could put to use right away. On the way home I named her Charisma, because those big eyes screamed class beyond her unimpressive little body.

She was easy to break, afraid of nothing, least of all me. By summer she was ready to go in the school horse string, but I was the only one who taught off her. Most would think it was scary to put such a baby under campers, but I would rather have them nicely broken by me. I used her as lightly as I could and rode her myself when the campers went to lunch, to keep the schooling up.

By her 4-year-old year I’d figured out she was quite a good jumper and although I was obliged to keep her in the school, I found myself competing her on weekends. At that time I had a nice Preliminary horse named Moon Pilot. He had been a trade for a school horse. After a couple years of hard work we had made him into a Prelim horse and he would be taking me to the Junior National Championships at Radnor that fall.

I had a very disappointing Radnor, as poor Pilot irritated an old tendon injury shipping down and couldn’t complete more than the dressage. If fall was disappointing, then winter was dismal. Pilot colicked badly in January when colic surgery was very young and I was not very lucky.

For over a month it was all I could do just to feed the other horses and turn my head as I walked past his empty stall. But somehow during the March thaw the omnibus arrived and I looked around the barn and there was Charisma.

I called up Denny Emerson and said I had a horse to go Prelim on. Our first lesson commenced with her running around the ring like a sewing machine. He watched for all of three minutes and then, using every ounce of tact possible, asked, “Can she jump?”

At Hitching Post, I found myself standing in the lineup at the end of the day. Denny looked around and his eyes landed on me. “Did you win?” he asked in disbelief. I vigorously nodded my head with this stupid smile on my face. I had never won Preliminary before. Little Charisma had rewarded me for saving her out of that dealer’s barn two years ago.

But she developed an aversion to ditch and walls and left me in the toilet more than on the podium many, many times. Denny sat me down and said, “Look, she isn’t going to do it for you. I know you don’t have any money, but I don’t care if you beg, borrow or steal some, you need something the quality of Pilot.” So I chose to beg, from my grandmother, and for 10 times what I had ever spent before, I procured a lovely green off-track horse and named him Copilot.

But I refused to give up on Charisma.

Denny protested when I took her to Radnor Three-Day. Yet she placed fifth behind four USET riders. The next spring he was excited when I said I was going to spend a couple months working with Ralph Hill, but not excited when I said I was taking Charisma Intermediate. “You are really pushing it now,” he scolded. “Radnor was great but I think you should leave it at that …”

A year after that he met me in the warm-up ring at Chesterlands, which had only Preliminary and Advanced. He shook his head and smiled. “I’m not even going to ask what division you’re in.”

Although she got me through my first Advanced, wouldn’t you know you don’t just get a competitive upper-level horse for $350. So I bred her.

She’s little so we went for something big, a local Trakehner, and she cloned herself in chestnut; I named that baby Chaos. Since that didn’t work so well, we had to go even bigger, Epic Win at over 17 hands, and he put 6 inches on Char; I named that one Chleptomanic.

Well then Bruce Davidson was riding two fancy Advanced horses by Babamist, and that meant I had to have one too. The only problem is that Babamist tended to put a bit of a, we’ll call it enthusiastic, spin on his babies; that might not have been the best gene pool for Char to go dipping in.

Regardless, that marriage produced a very fancy solid mare, Chamakazi, albeit she only made it to 15.2 hands. The last one was by a Thoroughbred named Lord Baltimore owned by one of my vets, and there was a rumor he produced some good jumpers. That time I finally got my colt, Chobalt.

My group of “Char babies” knew how to jump as a birthright. Chaos got her forever home in California after just a few runs at Preliminary. Meanwhile, having recently sold two good Prelim horses and not having much to compete, I began sneaking 3-year-old Chamikazi into a few Novices. She enjoyed competition, and I liked her very much.

I was planning on taking a little bit of the money from the sale of my two horses and getting something off the track to resell when my babies grew up, but I decided I’d rather take a little more stud fee than I usually spent and get another breeding to Babamist, this time to our big girl Chleptomaniac. This produced the most beautiful colt on whom, after much thought, I used one of my special saved names, Test Pilot, after Moon Pilot and Copilot.

As time went on, Chleptomaniac went Intermediate and then retired to be a broodmare. Chamikazi and Chobalt were going Advanced. At Fair Hill in 1996, both won their advanced divisions on the same day. If you congratulated me, my standard comment was “Thanks! I bred them both!” I was so proud of them.

Test Pilot had been so lovely that when it came time to geld him, I asked, “What if we kept him a stallion?” The answer was he would have to still be a good competition horse; he would have to be gentle to be around, as there were lots of kids running around the barn; and, of course, he would have to throw good babies. He made it to the Advanced level; my 7-year-old daughter could hold him; and his first foal, Test Run, turned out to be my four-star horse, placing 10th at Rolex Kentucky and completing Burghley.

I really just wanted to get another horse up to Prelim level. What I got was an introduction to Advanced; my first trip to Kentucky CCI3*; and another Preliminary, an Intermediate and two Advanced horses. Plus, Charisma became the great grandmother to my four-star horse. Not bad for $350.

Wednesday News & Notes from Haygain

By on May 18, 2022 12:01 am -

Happy Wednesday! A few more positive-feeling missives from Ukraine to start the day off…

There is still help very much needed, however, and you can always learn more on how to do so on the Ukrainian Equestrian Federation Charity Foundation website here.

U.S. Weekend Preview

Chattahoochee Hills H.T. / USEA Intercollegiate Championships (Fairburn, Ga.): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Fair Hill International H.T. (Elkton, Md.): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Hunt Club Farms H.T. (Berryville, Va.): [Website] [Entries] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Otter Creek Spring H.T. (Wheeler, Wi.): [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer]

Spring Gulch H.T. (Littleton, Co.): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Wednesday News & Reading

We’re excited to be attending the USEA Intercollegiate Championships, happening at Bouckaert Farm / Chattahoochee Hills in Georgia this weekend. Shelby Allen will be on site for EN all weekend, so keep an eye out here for more. In the meantime, you can get all the must-know info here.

It was a summer to remember for Ever So Sweet scholarship recipient Sierra Lesny. Relive it with her in this wrap-up blog looking back on her time spent in Florida training with Sara Kozumplik.

Lauren Sprieser might be one of my favorite bloggers, as her writing offers a frank view at life as a pro rider with a good dose of humor added for good measure. Her latest blog is a tale of buying a horse sight unseen during the pandemic. As we all know, it’s not an experience for everyone, but in this case — with some smart thinking — it worked out quite well. Read the story here.

The Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse competition will make its return alongside the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, happening September 1-4 for the first time in three years. This exciting showcase of exceptional young horses has undergone a few updates this year, including an increase in prize money, format tweaks, and addition of judges such as Capt. Mark Phillips and new CEO for British Eventing, Helen West. Read up on the updates here.

Allergy season is upon us and somehow it seems this is my year to remember how incredibly fun they can be. Horses suffer from them too, so it’s good to keep up on what can be done to mitigate them. More from Haygain here.

Natalia Neneman went from desert camping to 4* eventing, and she’s managed to do these things while maintaining a busy coaching business, too. She’s the latest guest on the Major League Eventing podcast and you can listen here.

Watch This on H&C+:

All events carried on the H&C+ live stream can always be found on replay shortly after they are live. Here’s a clip from Chatsworth International last weekend, and winner of the 2*-S with the, in all likelihood, aptly named Brookfield Future News:

 

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Wednesday Video Break: Anyone familiar with riding babies/spooky horses/horses can probably relate to this one…

Tuesday Video: Pratoni Nations Cup Remix

By on May 17, 2022 5:57 pm -

Pratoni was the place to be over the weekend, hosting both the first leg of the 2022 FEI Nations Cup series and the WEG test event. Catch up on all of EN’s live coverage here or, if you only have exactly 60 seconds to spare (which might get you all of one-twentieth of the way into one of Tilly Berendt ‘s reports — our girl is nothing if not thorough!), relive the action via this FEI recap.

Pratoni 2022 Test Event: Website, Results, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Copper Meadows Will No Longer Host Recognized Event

By on May 17, 2022 3:00 pm -

Photo via Copper Meadows Eventing on Facebook.

Some sad news out of Area VI and Ramona, Ca. as the Hoffos family has announce that it will no longer run recognized events at Copper Meadows. A staple training, schooling, and competition facility in southern California, Copper Meadows had hosted recognized eventing up through the Advanced/4* level for over 20 years. The venue hosted its first event in 2000.

“It is with sadness but also a bit of relief that we have decided to cancel the Copper Meadows recognized horse trials indefinitely,” Taren Hoffos told the USEA. “Our team has enjoyed serving the Eventing community for over 20 years: thank you to the riders who supported us for so many years! Unfortunately the cost of running these events has proved to be unsustainable, and we need to do what is best for our facility and for our family. We will continue to offer schooling, clinics, and unrecognized events, and will of course see all our wonderful friends at other Area VI Events.”

Copper Meadows has been a family affair for Carolyn, Robin and Taren Hoffos. Carolyn, a San Diego-area native who grew up riding and dreaming of one day owning her own competition and training facility, shared the horse bug with Taren, who would later grow up to run Copper’s training program while also maintaining her own string of competition horses. After the purchase of the Copper Meadows property in 1999, it was all business for the Hoffos family: at their first event, it was Robin in the announcer’s booth, Taren on concessions, brother Drew Hoffos on the water truck.

From that point on, Copper Meadows hosted yearly recognized events and also grew its unrecognized and educational opportunities to the point where it’s now one of the most popular schooling events in the area. Never fear, local riders: the Sun Series and Look B4 You Leap clinics are here to stay, as are multiple other clinic opportunities and other events at Copper Meadows.

Thank you to the Hoffos family and the crew at Copper Meadows for all the dedication, hard work, and incredible memories. We’d love it — and we know the Copper Meadows family would love it that much more — if you’d share some of your favorite memories from over the years — post them in the comments and/or on social media! Enjoy a few photos we’ve collected in past seasons:

MARS Bromont Rising Recipients Announced

By on May 17, 2022 1:30 pm -

Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Entries are strong leading up to the exciting return of the MARS Bromont CCI happening June 8th to 12th in rural Bromont, Quebec. A popular destination for North American competitors who are eager to return to this 1976 Olympic Games venue just 90 minutes from Burlington, Vermont.

We are pleased to the recipients of the MARS Bromont Rising scholarship program. The brainchild of Bromont organizer, Sue Ockendon, and the late Steve Blauner the program began in 2019.

Steve had a vision of supporting young eventers from the U.S. and Canada who were not yet under the radar of national U25 training programs. Riders competing at any level of FEI competition offered are eligible to apply.

The following have been successful in receiving US$2,500 grants through the MARS Bromont Rising Program.

  • Rory Frangos (FL-USA)
  • Lulu Malinoski (PA-USA)
  • Lea Adams-Blackmore (VA-USA)
  • Emalee Bodimeade (ON-CAN)
  • Sophie Miller (SC-USA)
  • Alexa Gartenburg (PA-USA)
  • Maddie Hale (KY-USA)
  • Abby Dubrawski (MA-USA)
  • Makayla Rydzik  (ON-CAN)
  • Sophie Click (WA-USA)

The following have been invited to participate in lectures and course walks.

  • Lea Kilpatrick (FL-USA)
  • Emma Mchugh  (QUE-CAN)

Cara Whitham of Stoney Creek, Ontario will again do the Centerline dressage workshop and other presentations along with course walks and coaching by New Zealand Olympian, Andrew Nicholson.

Bromont rising chair Peter Gray is excited to be able to offer these scholarships again at the MARS Bromont CCI happening this June 8-12 and the Galway Downs International 3-day Event happening November 2-6. “Through the generosity of MARS Equestrian, I am very pleased to be a part of this initiative to identify some of the countries up-and-coming emerging talent in the sport and to provide them with an amazing 3 days of education and team building.”

For more information about MARS Bromont Rising Program please contact Program Director, Peter Gray [email protected]

Remembering Kim Meier: My Rolex Rookie Story

By on May 17, 2022 11:00 am -

The team here at EN was deeply saddened to learn of beloved eventer Kim Meier’s passing earlier this month. We were honored to make Kim’s acquaintance and were lucky that she shared some of her countless stories with us. We’ll be sharing some of these stories this week in tribute. Do you have a memory or story about Kim to share? Please send it to us at [email protected].

This story first appeared on Eventing Nation on April 21, 2015.

Kim Meier and Test Run at Rolex. Photo courtesy of Kim Meier.

Kim Meier and Test Run at Rolex. Photo courtesy of Kim Meier.

Over a decade ago, Rolex Rookies were not featured, and that was a shame, because my Test Run had a great story. I miss him very much, and when Rolex comes around, I think about him even more and relive the magical week we had there.

Test Run, AKA Merle, was by Test Pilot, a son of Babamist and a grandson of Epic Win. I rode his great grandmother, Charisma, in my first Rolex CCI3*, 20 years earlier, and his grand uncle Chobalt, son of Charisma, had placed 8th in 1997 and 11th in 1998 in the CCI3*. I, in fact, had hardly competed anything that wasn’t related to Charisma since the late 80s. So Merle had some history in his blood at Kentucky.

I first met Merle when he was a few minutes old. I was his first rider, aimed him at his first jump and competed him exclusively. I did loan him to my good friend Molly Sorge the winter of his 3-year-old year, and we refer to her as his surrogate mother. He did Training as a 4-year-old and moved up a level a year, running his first Advanced when he was 7, shortly before placing fourth at Bromont CCI2* in 2002.

The next year he did two CCI3* at Fair Hill and Foxhall. Being very sound and never missing a competition put him right in line for Rolex in 2004 as a 9-year-old. Neither of us had ever done a CCI4*. Of course, Molly would be his groom.

He did an obedient albeit green dressage, which was our only goal in that phase. That was the last year Kentucky ran a full old format endurance day, as well as a new format division for those who were qualified for the Olympics. We were in the first division, thank goodness.

It was my tradition to tell him the course before hand, including where to turn and where the minute markers were. I told him he had to remember everything I had taught him all at once, today. I am positive he understood me.

After a half dozen trips to the port-a-let, it was time to get on. I can’t imagine not doing old format. I love the relaxation of hacking out, and the kick in the ass for courage sake galloping fast. It sets the whole tone.

The serenity comes to an end as you see the 10 minute box ahead. Reluctantly, I handed Merle over to Molly as she ordered me to “drink something.” Having done that, I desperately wanted to cool him out myself or get on and ride, but watching was no good. I was not nervous, I just wanted it. I wanted it bad.

With all the people lining the ropes, clustered at the fences you would think you could hear the noise. Personally, I couldn’t. Only after the fence has been jumped does the crowd’s roar get to you, and allow you to crack a smile as you smack your horse on the neck in praise.

Kim Meier and Test Run at Rolex. Photo courtesy of Kim Meier.

Kim Meier and Test Run at Rolex. Photo courtesy of Kim Meier.

Merle and I had never been more in sync. We didn’t argue about left-hand turns, I didn’t pick (maybe once early on) and if he saw an awkward question, the wheels upstairs just turned faster. It was a dream sequence, the kind you don’t want to end, but when it did you realized you were only two seconds over, so your dream had come true.

On Sunday I left my demons in the warm-up area when I missed at a big oxer and sent a handful of people running for their lives. No one had had a double clear round yet but somehow I knew we could do it. We galloped forward and never missed a distance, never got hollow, never got flat. And until then, had never signed an autograph.

We were 10th, .8 added to our dressage score, winner of the Bank One Trophy for leading owner/rider, and to top it off the head vet came up to me and said I was one point off Best Conditioned. We posed with our trophy, Merle’s ears regally up, me grinning ear to ear. What magic.

Driving home I called every person I knew and gave them the news, and that there would be a two-hour special on a major network on such a such a date and time, and please watch it because I thought top 10 would get at least a minute or two or part of a jump round.

It was starting to sink in on the way home what we had accomplished. Molly had even made me go up and inquire what I had to do to go to Burghley that fall. She reminded me that I had once said there was no reason to go to Europe unless I had done all the events in the U.S. well, and now that I had kicked quite a few butts here it was time to go there.

I received an unexpected phone call from a popular event announcer, a friend, who told me that he really hoped my story was played up on the TV special because I was really the Cinderella tale of that week. He had been announcing our results for six years and knew I had bred him and how phenomenal it was to produce such an outstanding first four-star.

I felt so honored that he would even think to call and got even more excited about the TV show. When we hung up, I just giggled with amazement that other people had noticed us.

When the show came on, there was a split second glance of Merle over a stadium fence, and then another of his dappled gray legs trotting along in the warm-up, and we were only in the preview! As it went on, there were long passages of Mr. Super Coach warming up his oh so rich student. The coach, an Olympian, had only placed one above me, and his student far below me.

Time was running out, and at the end the scoreboards were highlighted with the names and placings of everyone, except, except … 8th and 10th place? Really? The only two riders without big-time sponsors virtually eliminated from sight. I was so embarrassed that I had told everyone to watch me and there was no evidence I was even there.

I was pretty hurt. It wasn’t a very nice thing to do. Being an underdog is OK because of the elation when you finally break loose. Eventually the high stayed but there will always be that annoying undercurrent, the only thing that was wrong with the most perfect week I shared with Merle.

Remembering the Life and Legacy of Kim Meier

By on May 17, 2022 9:00 am -

The team here at EN was deeply saddened to learn of beloved eventer Kim Meier’s passing earlier this month. We were honored to make Kim’s acquaintance and were lucky that she shared some of her countless stories with us. We’ll be sharing some of these stories each day this week in tribute. Do you have a memory or story about Kim to share? Please send it to us at [email protected].

Kim Meier and Test Run at Rolex. Photo courtesy of Kim Meier.

From the word go, Kim was a horse girl through and through, sitting astride her first horse as a young girl and quickly picking up lessons and competing as she grew. Her mother enrolled her at the toughest Pony Club she could find: GMHA in Vermont, where she would eventually begin working with Denny Emerson. Kim would go on to be, among many other things, a successful eventer whose career spanned from 1969 to 2007.

She favored producing and competing her own homebreds, making six Advanced horses from the ground up — four of them were bred by her, five of them were first broken by her, and all of them began their careers with her.

In 2004, Kim competed at what was then known as the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event as a first-timer with the homebred Test Run (she had also bred Test Run’s sire, Test Pilot, and dam, Iron Gal, in addition to the dams of both parents), where she finished tenth, won the Bank One Trophy as top owner/rider, and Best Conditioned to boot.

“Merle and I had never been more in sync,” Kim wrote about the experience. “We didn’t argue about left-hand turns, I didn’t pick (maybe once early on) and if he saw an awkward question, the wheels upstairs just turned faster. It was a dream sequence, the kind you don’t want to end, but when it did you realized you were only two seconds over, so your dream had come true.”

Kim and “Merle” would also complete Burghley that same year, and had her sights set on Badminton to complete the trio of classic three-day events before the gelding came up with an injury in 2005.

A freak riding accident in 2007 left Kim paralyzed from the C5 vertebrae down. After the accident, her love for the horse never wavered, and she remained and friend and student of the sport for the rest of her days.

“Needless to say we weren’t at Rolex, but a year later I did ride him again, with someone behind me holding my limp body up,” Kim wrote in 2016. “He didn’t care if we were galloping down to the Head of the Lake or if we just walked around the indoor for 15 minutes. He was always there for me, and this time he came back to help me feel alive again.”

Take a deeper dive into the life of Kim Meier in this profile from the USEA in 2008.

Tuesday News & Notes from Legends Horse Feeds

By on May 17, 2022 3:27 am -

While we were away sunning ourselves in Italy, back in Englansd, the Chatsworth International Horse Trials finally returned to the calendar for the first time since 2019. It’s brilliant to see this iconic fixture back, particularly as its four-star course is one of the true tests of the level — but even better is spotting this super photo gallery from Hannah Cole, who spotted Ros Canter’s longtime groom Sarah Charnley out on a horse herself. We love seeing our sport’s supergrooms nailing their own competitive goals.

Events Opening This Weekend: Essex H.T., Chattahoochee Hills H.T., Summer Coconino H.T. I,

Events Closing This Weekend: Flora Lea Farm YEH and Mini Event, Carriage House Farm Combined Test, Genesee Valley Riding & Driving Club Spring H.T., Poplar Place June H.T., Ocala Summer H.T. I, MCTA H.T. at Shawan Downs, GMHA June H.T., The Spring Event at Archer, IEA Horse Trials

News & Notes from Around the World:

When we seek out viewpoints different from our own, it’s important that we keep intersectionality in mind. Coined as a way to distinguish between multifaceted feminist struggles, ‘intersectionality’ refers to the cross-section of prejudices a person might have to live through — for example, a Black woman will likely have to deal with racial prejudice as well as misogyny, which a white woman is less likely to have experienced. One intersectional viewpoint we’ve not seen much of in the amplification of diverse voices is that of a Black woman with a disability — but this piece on para rider Tegan Vincent-Cooke changes that. [Hear her perspective]

Every barn has one — the person who’s habitually late to pay their board, leaving the owner and manager in the lurch as a result. But legally, what can a barn’s owners actually do about it, and how should they implement the consequences? And, if you hit a rocky patch, how much trouble can you expect to get in for late payment? [Seriously, just pay your bills]

In a sad change to the USEA calendar, California’s Copper Meadows will be no more. You can read more about it in the event organisers’ statement. [Thanks for the memories]

Video Break:

Revisit Kentucky’s first phase with Elisa Wallace and Let It Be Lee:

Monday Video: Ride the Pratoni Test Event With Andrew Hoy

By on May 16, 2022 4:30 pm -

Are you ready for a romp through the Italian countryside? Take a ride on Bloom des Hauts Crets, who was piloted by Australia’s Andrew Hoy in the World Championships test event at Pratoni del Vivaro this weekend.

“Bloom”, an 11-year-old Selle Francais mare owned by Odaria Finemore and Andrew, continued a streak of clear cross country jumping rounds and is now 15 for 15 in all of her FEI starts (thanks to some incredible riding by Andrew at a corner early on this course!) The pair finished their weekend in 28th position out of 56 competitors. You can check the full results here.

Our own Tilly Berendt was on site in Italy this weekend to cover the competition and take a good look at what course designer Giuseppe della Chiesa‘s World Championship course might have in store come September. The property, which was also the site for eventing at the 1960 Rome Olympics, is filled with undulating hills steep enough that the rolling terrain is easily visible through Andrew’s helmet cam video. You can also catch a few glimpses of the marathon obstacles being constructed, as Pratoni will also serve as the venue for Combined Driving!

Catch up on our full slate of Pratoni Test Event coverage here.

Pratoni 2022 Test Event: Website, Scores, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram, EN’s Coverage