Tuesday Video: Tamie Smith + Ian Stark = #XCgoals

 

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Tamie Smith is the human embodiment of an Ian Stark cross country course — you better have ice in your veins if you’re going up against her. She’s brave, in the same way you have to be to throw your heart first over one of Ian’s signature rider-scarer fences, and yet a consummately empathetic horsewoman — the same way Ian’s fences read like poetry to horses but sometimes as a huge, daunting novel to riders.

And, not unlike the massive impact Ian has made on our sport as both a rider and a course designer, Tamie has invested and continues to invest in the big picture. Yesterday’s USEA profile, “The USEA Lady Rider of 2021 is Leading the Charge in Elevating Eventing Competition on the West Coast,” aptly captures Tamie’s commitment to not just her career, but to the eventing community.

We love seeing these two legends in a collaborative space together, as they were at a Galway Downs fundraiser clinic this month (see video above). The idea of Tamie improving even further as a rider, or Ian as a designer, is … what’s the word … scary?

Go Ian. Go Tamie. Go Eventing.