I moved to Maryland in April and have a training business that I run out of Shari Glickman’s GoodNess Ridge Farm, in Mount Airy. I am a USDF Gold medalist, but have had the delight to get involved with the young horse program in the last few years. I have always had my sights on riding for the U.S. Team, but have found much pleasure and passion in preparing my young horses for these challenging classes. I never thought that my first experience of riding at the World Championships would come on the back of my six year old, and what a wonderful experience it was!
My mom and I were in Aachen, Germany, three years ago for the big show in July. I had stopped to talk to a friend of mine, David Dewispleare, and told him I was looking for a nice young horse to bring along. He told me about a three year old who was at the show for the auction. On the last day I rode Donnermuth, aka Petri, and it was the strongest three year old I had ever ridden.
We offered a price, which they accepted, and he was ours! We have been very successful coming up the levels, but it was this year, as a six year old, that he really started to shine. We competed in the Morven Park spring show and got our qualifying scores for the Eastern Selection trials. We attended Raleigh and had an interesting time there.
Raleigh is the last of three selection trials in the nation. So we knew what our scores needed to be to get a bid to the World Championships. On the first day, we didn’t go so well. Nothing went terribly wrong, he was just a bit too tight in his back in canter (one of our issues!) and the walk was not round enough. We ended up tied for fourth with UB40 from Iron Springs. Not a bad place to be as Alex does a great job with the beautiful stallion. So I had figured now I was out of the running for a spot to the World Championships, but my best friend (and PVDA member), Teresa Butta, was in second so the day was still good. On the final day, I had nothing to lose and went into the ring and Petri went superb. Never before were we able to keep that balance and swing through all his gaits, I was so proud of him, and we won over some of the best six year olds in the country. With that score we learned that we would be packing and getting ready to head to Germany to represent the U.S. at the World Championships!
It was a dream come true. Everyone on Team Tate was so excited and the real work started. The riders were told that in order to go to Germany, we would have to fund the whole trip privately because the USEF was over budget due to the Pan Am Games. They had told us it would cost about $30,000 in total. Now I was getting nervous. How was I going to come up with that kind of money? We all brain stormed and devised a plan. Not only would we ask for donations from my clients all over the country (I teach clinics in North and South Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Canada, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania), but we would have a fund raising party, as well.
We held the party at GoodNess Ridge in the indoor arena. It was huge success! Everyone was so generous and gave me a great start toward the goal amount. The party raised nearly $10,000. What was so special was to have everyone attend and show their encouragement, support and kindness. We had a super silent auction—a really fun time. PVDA also generously donated $1,000 to my trip fund.
The planning continued with the assistance of my support team—all PVDA members, too. Kelley Wachter, my manager assisted me with the necessary paper work and equipment. I had my horse massage therapist, Courtney Molino, come out and get Petri ready to take on the best young horses in the world. His acupuncturist (and mine!), Rebecca Douglass, also treated him and showed me how to put some important needles in, in case he needed an extra special treatment while we were there.
Tim Porter took us to the airport on July 20 and our adventure began. I had never flown with my horses before, even though I had lived and trained in Europe. The airlines had always had grooms to look after the horses. Not that anything bad happened, but I will forever forward be with my horses during flights. I think the stress of the travel takes a lot out of them, and for them to be able to recognize their person settles them a little. Petri is a super traveler, but I could tell he didn’t really know what to think during take-off. The look on his face was so cute as he wondered what he was feeling. We arrived at Michael Klimke’s stable on Sunday the 22nd, a full week and a half before the show.
Petri traveled well, but I could tell during those first couple of days riding that he was tired from all the stress. I think it is important to give horses ample time to recover from travel because it can cause such internal stress. By that Thursday, he was feeling like he was ready to go. It was perfect timing because Scott Hassler, the young horse coach, arrived in time to teach me on Friday. I had lessons from Scott (and sometimes Michael, too!) every day leading up to the show.
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It was so much fun to be in Muenster at the Klimke stable. Michael is a wonderful horseman, and it was inspirational to be at the same place that the “Father of Dressage” had trained all of his horses. The town is quaint and everyone rides bikes everywhere. It made it all very easy for me because the stable was a 10 minute bike ride through the city park. I loved watching Michael work his horses in the morning, and I had some quiet time to reflect on what we had accomplished.
I have worked with Scott for the last year. He has been very helpful with this particular horse, which is not the easiest horse to ride. Scott is a very good coach; he can give a rider what they need at the right moment. For me, it was very helpful to have him there the week before the show, as well as at the show itself. I have never felt so prepared for a show. |
Photograph by Brooke Doss
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Two other American riders, David Blake and Lars Holmberg, arrived at Michael’s a few days before the departure for the show. We all had a wonderful time getting to know each other and hanging out at the stable and at the hotel. Chris Hickey, the other American rider, was at Ulla Salzgeber’s stable, and we would all meet up in Verden.
Verden is such an exciting place. The quality of the horses there was overwhelming. I made a big effort to convince myself that we belonged there with these top horses and riders. I had waited all my life to be in the warm up with this caliber of riders. We arrived on a Wednesday, and the show would start the next day. We did our vet jogs, but even before the vet jogs, the U.S. contingency had a let down. David Blake’s horse acted up on a hand walk and as David tried to hang on, he was pulled off his feet, and broke his collar bone and was sent to the ER. But like any real rider, he pulled himself together and rode later that day. Thank God for pain killers!
Petri was fresh and a whole new horse from what I was used to riding. I loved it, but I was not sure how to handle this new found energy. He is by nature a quiet, calm horse. He was snorting and all full of himself. I was delighted to meet his breeders who were there even on warm-up day. They were so proud. It was a terrific environment. To be around such super horses and talented riders, proud breeders, and capable trainers was an inspiration.
Photograph by Brooke Doss
On the first day, Petri was unbelievable in the trot, very good in walk, and tense in the canter. They really liked what we presented and gave us an overall 8. It was all positive, and even though I was disappointed with the canter, I was very proud of my boy. We held our own with the best in the world. We ended up 17th on the first day. Not enough to make it to the Final, but I still had one more shot the next day in the Small Final.
The next day, we had more of the same. Trot and walk very high quality, but canter and the changes were tense and had mistakes. We finished 7th in that class, and 18th overall. We were the best placing Americans, and best of all was that his breeders were happy and proud. They treated my Mom and me to some champagne. Even though I had wanted to make the top 15, I was still thrilled to be in the top 20 in the world.
It was such a special experience, and I want to thank everyone who helped make it happen. Without a terrific team behind me, this couldn’t have happened. We, as trainers, sometimes think it is all about our great training, and, yes, it is important to train well, but it is the people behind the scenes that really create the glue that makes success happen.
Special thanks go to my sponsors The Equine Source, Back on Track, Thinline, Buckeye Feeds, MacKinnon Ice Horse, MDC Stirrups, and to PVDA and all its members who helped make my dream come true. Looking forward to seeing you at the spring shows!
See my rides from Verden on YouTube below: