Jordan Linstedt of Redmond, Wash., and her mount Tullibards Hawkwind are set to make their Rolex debut. (All photos courtesy of Jordan)
When Rolex rookie Jordan Linstedt, 24, salutes on the centerline next week, her biggest fans will be cheering from the sidelines.
Jordan’s mom, Barbara, bought Jordan’s first pony from the next door neighbor before Jordan was old enough to ride, later ponying her daughter along on trails through their rural hometown of Redmond, Wash. Barbara now owns and manages Saddle Rock Stables, where Jordan is chief rider and trainer.
Her boyfriend John will also be ringside, reunited with Jordan for the first time in over a month. In February, Jordan attended a local Washington clinic with Leslie Law and mentioned she was aiming for Rolex.
“Leslie asked a few questions, and it kind of fell into place,” said Jordan. “I came home from the clinic and told poor John I was driving to Florida—now I can’t wait to see him! I drove across the country five weeks ago, and I think it was the best decision I could have made for [Tullibards Hawkwind].”
Jordan and her 13 year-old, 17.3 hand Irish Sport Horse gelding Tullibards Hawkwind, barn name “Jack,” have spent the past several weeks in Ocala prepping with Leslie’s help, and they’re already experiencing the benefits.
“Our [Washington] eventing season starts in May,” said Jordan, who recently attended Poplar, The Fork and Ocala as prep events. “For Jack, the hardest thing is the fitness. He can be lazy and behind the leg; he doesn’t have a lot of Thoroughbred blood. I have to do a lot of conditioning. The tools and mentoring from Leslie have been really good for him.”
Jordan’s parents bought Jack for her when she was still a senior in high school, and the pair have developed their partnership over the course of the past six years, though friends and family weren’t always convinced a four-star was in their future.
“A lot of people thought I made a mistake when I bought him,” she said. “He’s big, and he can be slow cross-country, but no horse is perfect. I always knew I could get him where I needed to get him. He may not be a team horse or Olympic horse, but he’s the best horse for me, and he’s given me the opportunity to ride at the biggest show in the country.”
“When I first get to Rolex, it’ll be pretty surreal, then it’ll set in that I’m achieving this huge goal that I’ve had for so long,” continued Jordan, who takes third-year online classes toward a degree in Society, Ethics and Human Behavior at the University of Washington when she’s not busy training and teaching a group of devoted students full-time.
Three years ago, she temporarily moved to California to spend a year and a half working for Tamra Smith, catching her first glimpse of the Rolex course while grooming for Tamra in 2009. “That year, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, these jumps are huge!’ ” Jordan said. “ I’d just moved up to advanced, but I came back again in 2010 after I’d had a season at the three-star level and thought, ‘OK, I can do this.’ ”
Two years later, Jordan hopes both Tamra and Leslie will help her strategize for her toughest course yet. “Cross-country, Jack’s a kick-ride all the way around the course,” she said. “He has the scope and heart and bravery, so we’ll just take the course as it comes. We’re most likely going to have a bunch of time cross-country, and I don’t have any expectations of walking away in a high place. But just to complete would be a huge accomplishment. It’s going to be a huge learning experience just to watch and be around the best riders.”
A contingent of her students and friends will also be in attendance, but the absence of Jordan’s father, Gary, who passed away a year and a half ago from liver disease, will be felt.
“He was definitely my biggest fan,” she said. “He was so proud of everything, and he had this huge passion to see me succeed. I wish he could be there to see me, because getting to Rolex has been our biggest goal for a long time. It feels really good to accomplish it.”
With less than a week before the big event, Jordan says she’s handling the stress in a “calm way”—but don’t be alarmed if you see her with a far-away look in her eyes in Kentucky:
“I’ll be very quiet, but I’ll be constantly thinking, ‘How am I gonna do this? How am I gonna do that?’ The wheels will be turning!”
Go Jordan and Jack!
