EN’s Rising Stars is a new weekly series about up and coming riders in the sport of 3-Day Eventing who are exceptional in their performances and personalities. Spotlighting riders under the age of 15, the series is meant to call attention to the next generation of talent before they even become Young Riders. Have a child, sibling or student who you think deserves some notice and praise? Please email me at [email protected] with contact information and pictures!
The winning ride at Stuart HT, photo by Erika Olijslager
Name: Nicole Carolan
Age: 16, but when Kate asked me to do the article, I was 15, so that counts right?
Horse: Topgun “Gunnar”
Hometown: New Providence, New Jersey
Level of competition: Training
How did you get started in Eventing? “When I was 8, my parents and I started looking for lesson barns in the area so that I could begin riding. I started riding school horses, and it was an Eventing barn, and I realized that I wanted to continue on and compete more seriously, so I needed my own horse. I bought my first horse soon after, and his name was Tide Creek Diablo, or “Diablo”. I was able to do BN on Diablo, and that was about it. He wasn’t very brave, and he made cross country very difficult for me, so we sold him as a dressage horse. Last year I started looking for a better match, and we found him in Virginia through Kara Angulo. Gunnar was imported from England in the summer of 2011, spent about six weeks in the states, and I snapped him up almost immediately. He hadn’t competed or anything, but he went out and did a few Novices no problem. Doug Payne helped me get him going, he competed him this spring in Aiken, doing a few Novices and a few Trainings. He was 2nd at The Fork, and 6th at Southern Pines. I just started riding him regularly in April.”
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Recent accomplishments? “It’s been amazing, I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to do this year. I’m most proud of our win in the Junior Novice division at Stuart Horse Trials in the summer. We also qualified and placed 6th at the AEC’s out of 45 people, which was pretty impressive. I also was able to go to the Area II Novice championships with him, where we placed 5th. Gunnar and I have been in the top 6 of every single show this entire season. We moved up to Training at the 2nd Horse Park of New Jersey HT, and we’ve completed three of those so far. I had that one horse that was such a struggle, and now with Gunnar it’s so simple and fun, I just love it.””
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Favorite thing about Eventing? “I do love cross country, because Gunnar is a machine and it is so much fun. It’s such an adrenaline rush. You’re on a 1000 pound animal, and you build this partnership and this bond, and you take and use it to get to all these levels and kind of fly with them. I also really love the behind the scenes portion of Eventing. I like seeing the connections that make that sort of amazing athleticism possible. I like knowing the background on the horses, the background on the people. The teamwork and community aspect of Eventing is amazing as well.”
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Nicole & Gunnar at the AEC's
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“I would like to get a job working with horses, have my own horses, and compete them in Eventing. I really want to have a farm, where I can have my own horses, but I want to have an outside job that supports that. I would really like to be a groom for an upper level rider for a while, I like the behind the scenes part, and I think being a groom can teach you things you can’t learn anywhere else.”
