EN’s Got Talent is Eventing Nation’s newest series. We hear all the time about horses at the top of the sport, but what about the next generation of equine talent? This series 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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Last week we met Belafonte D’Avalon, better known as Harry, a powerhouse 14.3-hand, 5-year-old Germany Riding Pony stallion whose rider, Rebecca Brown, believes could be the next Teddy. Rebecca knows Harry’s owners, Kathy St. Martin and Jos Mottershead of Avalon Equine in Wynnewood, Okla., will play a crucial role in Harry’s future as an upper-level event horse. “They want to see how far he can go,” Rebecca said. “I feel like it’s such a rare opportunity to have people who come to you and say, ‘Here’s a really nice horse. We want to see how far you can take it.'”
But Rebecca knows it’s not as simple as just having a nice horse. “First, you need to have a great horse. Second you have to develop him well,” Rebecca said. In looking to develop Harry properly, Rebecca wants to take her time when it comes to testing him over fences. Despite Harry’s incredible jumping ability — Rebecca likes to say that he has rockets for legs — she doesn’t want to push for too much too soon. “He’s only 5 and he’s little, so we don’t want to jump him too high too early,” Rebecca said. “I want him to have a Superman mentality and not overface him.”
While Harry has typically been very brave over fences, he has shown an aversion to ditches. “His only real training challenge is ditches,” Rebecca said. “Everywhere else, you would think he’s 10 years old. With ditches, it’s the only time he needs to process something. He’s incredibly smart; he just needs to figure it out on his own time.” At Greenwood and Chattahoochee Hills, where Harry refused ditches, Rebecca believes he didn’t understand the question. “At Chatt Hills, he went out the next day without the pressure and the atmosphere and he jumped it just fine,” Rebecca said. “I take him over ditches once a week now, so we’re working through it.”
Harry ran his first training level event at MeadowCreek Park last month, but withdrew — along with most of the division — before cross country after a severe rain storm saturated the grounds. He most recently placed second in the Area 5 Novice Championships at Holly Hill Farm. “I may do one novice just to start next year, but he’ll go training level for the rest of the year. Then I think he’ll tell us from there,” Rebecca said. “In the past, I’ve had some horses who move up really fast, and I’ve had others where you need to take your time at the lower levels. Best case scenario, he’ll be doing a one-star by the end of next year.”
Only time will tell if Harry will be the next Theodore O’Connor. Jimmy Wofford, who worked with Teddy prior to the pony’s partnership with Karen O’Connor, loved Harry when he saw him at a recent clinic at Rebecca’s farm. “Jimmy said that Harry is way more rideable than Teddy ever was at this age,” Rebecca said. “I don’t know how people can say a horse is definitely going to go to Rolex when you’re so early in the game. All I know at this point is that every day he gets better. Every day he comes out and tries his hardest. He has all the pieces.”
Next week on EN’s Got Talent: We’ll meet Katie Murphy and her talented Esccord RGS, a 4-year-old Hanoverian gelding who won the Young Event Horse East Coast Championships at Fair Hill last month. Chris Carter, one of Katie’s students, tipped me on this youngster: “I met Katie this summer and love her lessons as she helps me develop my young Thoroughbred mare. Katie also has a full-time job and an MBA, which is why it might be interesting to showcase someone who does not totally fit the mold of a professional event rider.” We couldn’t agree more.
