actually had to get on him in the stall and have someone let me out.
“I was also concerned about how his size would affect his speed and soundness,” Gina continued. “The lower levels were fine, but when we went to our first two-star, I wasn’t sure how he would handle the steeplechase and then the nine and a half minute cross-country. But he sailed through that and I was very encouraged that he could succeed in eventing.” They were beginning to form a partnership that would last a lifetime.
Meet McKinlaigh
“In general, he is very shy and does not like a lot of attention,” Gina said. “People that walk by him think he’s grumpy. He really isn’t, but he gives that impression because he doesn’t come over with his ears up looking for attention. He’s never really earned any nicknames, either. I think because he’s so regal and dignified…nothing really stuck. Jimmy Wofford calls him ‘Big Mac’and coming from him it just fits. But at home, he’s just McKinlaigh.”
From the beginning, Gina knew that she had something spe- cial when she was schooling McKinlaigh. Like every horse, he had strengths and weaknesses, but Gina helped the big horse along and sought help for herself from others along the way.
“In some areas, he was a genius. I remember taking lessons with Brian Sabo – he would spend lots of time building these complicated exercises and McKinlaigh would just sail through them on the first try,” she said with a smile. No mat- ter how technical or narrow the questions were, he always figured it out the first time. It was a real challenge teaching him to jump from the base of the jump, though. Because his jump was so scopey, yet very weak behind, it was easier for him to leave a stride out rather than compress on his back end. Brian used lots of placing poles and grids to help teach him to jump properly and it’s worked wonders for him.”
“On the flat, however, he was definitely a late bloomer,” Gina admitted. “Even at the Intermediate level, he could not do a medium canter on a 20-meter circle without switching leads behind. He had a big and beautiful trot, but not much push from behind and not a very good canter. Because of his big size and my small size, it took some help from several other people to develop the engagement. But I never doubted that he could and would do Advanced.”
McKinlaigh’s weaknesses didn’t stop Gina from taking him to as many competitions as she could. After soaring through
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the lower levels, the pair moved up to Preliminary – the first rung of the upper lev- els of the sport. After qualifying, Gina entered McKinlaigh in his first one-star event – a Championship at the Preliminary level – in 2002. Unfortunately, the competition didn’t go quite as Gina had planned.
“I still remember how disappointed I was. We were in the lead after dressage in our first one-star. Unfortunately, though, I ended up having to scratch him after I took a fall from another horse on cross- country.”
Their first phase of the Olympic Event: th a USDF third level test
The next spring, Gina and McKinlaigh returned to the start box again. They placed second in their first two-star – a Championship at the Intermediate level – before moving on to compete at the Advanced level. Just a few months later, Gina and McKinlaigh competed at the three-star at Fair Hill for the first time, where they finished seventeenth. After that, Gina and ‘Big Mac’ enjoyed considerable success at the Advanced level. In 2002, they were selected to repre- sent the United States at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. She competed as an individual and finished twenty-fifth out of 80 starters and 47 finishers.
After a few overwhelmingly successful seasons, Gina and McKinlaigh began a string of bad luck that would have caused some riders to abandon their dreams.
If Things Can Go Wrong …
“After making it to the World Equestrian Games, our first major setback came in 2004. We thought we had a good shot at making it to the Athens Olympics, but sadly McKinlaigh started roaring (a breathing disorder due to blockage in the throat) in the first few events of the season. This meant he needed tie back surgery which we didn’t have time to do before Rolex. We couldn’t go fast enough to be competitive that year because he couldn’t get enough air.”
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