PRO Faces of Eventing: Zach Brandt Tells All

PRO just released a new episode of Faces of Eventing presented by World Equestrian Brands, this time starring Zach Brandt, a California native who moved east last year to pursue his dream of competing at the Rolex Kentucky CCI4*.

Zach came east with Cavallino Cocktail, his Irish Sport Horse mare who finished 10th at Jersey Fresh CCI3* and fifth at Rebecca Farm CIC3* last year, with the intention of running Fair Hill CCI3* in preparation for Rolex this spring. But “Scotty” suffered a tendon injury last fall that derailed their plans.

The good news is Scotty has been rehabbing beautifully, and she returned to competing this spring, finishing 10th in the Open Intermediate at The Fork and jumping a beautiful clear show jumping round under the lights at CHC International CIC3* before withdrawing from cross country. Zach is back on track with his plans to target a fall three-day and head to Rolex next year.

As for how he got into riding, Zach said he had no interest in horses and got dragged to the barn each day by his mom, who started riding again in her 40s. One day she encouraged him to have a riding lesson, and he’s been hooked on eventing ever since.

The sport is like a microcosm of life, it teaches you a lot about discipline, responsibility and how to use that responsibility,” Zach said. “There’s a lot of ups an downs in this sport, which I’ve experienced lately. It kind of puts everything into perspective.”

At the time of filming, Zach was working for Will Faudree in North Carolina, but he told us that he’s since moved down to Ocala to work for Jon Holling. Watch the video to hear much more from Zach. Go PRO, and Go Eventing.

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