Just about five years ago, I was helping out at my barn’s schooling show in Kansas City. I scanned the dressage warm-up looking for my next rider to call forward, and I was struck by a flash of white in the corner of my vision. I’m not sure I’ll ever forget the first time I saw Rebecca Hunt’s flashy, fancy OTTB mare, Snowflake Lane. The mare was not too far removed from the track — Becca runs a small operation in Missouri, where she breeds sporthorses and retrains racehorses while also pursuing her eventing dreams — but holy…could she move! I’d never seen a horse, especially (and don’t hate me, OTTB lovers – you know it’s true!) a Thoroughbred off the track with little experience, move so lightly and freely.
Fast forward to now, when Rebecca and her fierce mare have just moved up to Intermediate in Ocala — the first time at the level for both horse and rider.
“I still don’t think it has sunk in what my little powerhouse of a mare just accomplished,” she reflected. “We finished second at Intermediate, whichwas by far the biggest, most technical cross country course we have seen to date. She was so bold and brave to every question out there.”
Rebecca, who along with a large part of Area IV, trains with Julie Wolfert in Kansas, says she never would have predicted “Stella” would move up the levels so easily, crediting Julie for helping push them to their potential. “She has the biggest heart of any horse I’ve ever ridden,” she said. “I’m so incredibly proud to call her mine. From three years old off the track to a proven Intermediate horse…never in my wildest dreams!
Enjoy the ride with Rebecca and Stella as they skip around the Intermediate at Ocala I this past weekend. Go Eventing!
