Many of you have probably heard of Kate Erickson. She has been a guest blogger for EN (in addition to writing for her own fabulous blog, Greybrook Eventing) and her byline has graced the cover of Eventing Magazine with her Badminton coverage. Did I mention she’s a pretty good photographer too? Needless to say, she is the perfect candidate to launch a new set of interviews that I will be doing for EN. They will focus on anyone and everyone in the Eventing world, basically. I know that doesn’t really narrow the field very much, but that’s the point. If you have done something cool, watch out. I’m coming for you.
Now back to Kate: She is about to be a senior at Stanford University, double majoring in Art History and Studio Art. Originally from Massachusetts, she blogged about her 3,000 mile haul for the US Eventing blog back in 2009 and from there hasn’t looked back. These days she splits her time between Stanford and Massachusetts, having just returned from a semester abroad in England. Ladies and Gents, Kate Erickson:
How did you first start Eventing?
My parents got me a Burghley VHS tape for Christmas when I was 8. I immediately thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen and quickly became a spectating junkie, but was way too chicken to do it myself. When I was 14 I started riding this wonderful horse named Dually, who had evented through CCI* right before I got him. He was a dyed-in-the-wool saint and gave me enough confidence to finally start eventing myself when I was 16. He took me from Novice to Intermediate in two and a half years. I owe everything to him.
What are your competitive goals for this year?
I have two horses right now: a 7 year old ISH mare named Waikiki (Kiki) and a 13 year old ISH gelding named Ringmoylan (Ringo). Kiki moved up to Training last year and I’d love to do a Training Three Day with her in the fall. Ringo was injured last summer and is just getting back into full work. We’re going to do some dressage shows and I’d be really thrilled if we made it out to an event at the end of the season, but of course making sure he’s 100% healed is the top priority.
Who is the biggest inspiration to your riding career?
I think, at the moment, it would be Mary King. She seems to genuinely love and value every horse she sits on while still being an incredibly tough and gritty competitor. Even when things go poorly for her, she has an unbelievably positive attitude about it. I’m always working on trying to keep a more positive outlook, so she’s definitely one to observe!
What is your favorite horse memory?
Coming off Phase D at my first long format CCI* with Dually at Galway in 2008. Dually wasn’t the scopiest or the fastest horse out there, but he made it feel so easy that day and came in spot on the optimum time on steeplechase and then finished only 8 seconds over time on the longest and hardest cross country course we’d ever done together at that point. We had spent so many countless hours together before that moment, trotting around in two-point and going on endless hacks to get fit, and all of a sudden all the effort had paid off better than I ever could have imagined. I had never felt such a close bond with my horse and was pretty sure, right then, that we could move mountains together.
Best advice you have ever been given?
What’s worth having is worth working for.
Why you ride in five words:
The horse, and that’s that.
Go Kate.
