By Erica Larson
Gina Miles wasn’t thinking about posing for the cameras when she was taking her victory gallop after earning the Individual Silver Medal in three-day eventing at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong last summer. But the smile on her face said it all – a dream had been realized and a beautiful partnership was displayed to the world. “I look really goofy in all the Olympic pictures, but it was because I was just so proud of McKinlaigh. He finally had his chance to shine.”
The road to the top wasn’t without plenty of speed bumps for Gina and her partner McKinlaigh, a stunning liver chestnut Irish Sport Horse gelding by Highland King. A few consecutive injury-plagued seasons could have easily turned this talent- ed rider away from the sport of eventing, but persistence and positive thinking pulled this team through numerous rough times and all the way to the top of the sport.
How It All Began Gina began riding at age seven at a small riding school near her home in Davis, California. Her father bought Gina her first pony not long after for just $170 at a local auction. After competing in a few small schooling shows, she became hooked on three-day eventing after watching the Olympic Eventing in Los Angeles in 1984 when she was ten.
Gina began eventing and moved quickly up through the lower levels – the Beginner Novice, Novice, and Training levels – with her next two horses, an Arabian named Sir D’Artagnan and an Appaloosa / Thoroughbred called Patches. After she graduated from high school in 1991, Gina became a working student for well known eventer and trainer David Adamo. was then when she got to ride her first upper level horse.
It
“The first horse that I rode at Preliminary and Intermediate was Southbound, another Appaloosa / Thoroughbred cross, and I took him to Young Riders in 1993. After he was injured when trying to return to Young Riders in 1994, I was without an upper level horse for seven years. During that time, I rode numerous horses at the lower levels which gave me lots of experience before I started riding McKinlaigh,”said Miles.
During the time that Gina was without an upper level mount, she attended the inaugural Rolex Kentucky Four Star Three- Day Event to observe the competition. It was then, in 1997, that she firmly set her sites on competing at the four-star level – the equivalent of the Grand Prix level in dressage and show jumping.
In order to achieve this goal, Gina knew that it would be hard work and a lot of luck, but most importantly, she would need a great horse to take her there.
The eventing world has always been known for the camaraderie that flows through the veins of everyone involved. After hearing about Gina’s dream of competing at Kentucky and beyond, close friends Thom Shulz and Laura Coats of Rainbow Ranch found a stunning five-year-old liver chestnut gelding in Ireland and purchased him for Gina to ride in 1999. The horse was McKinlaigh, and little did Gina know the long and rocky road she and this horse would travel together over the next nine years.
Big is Better? Before the training even began, one look at the horse and it was obvious: Gina measured only 5’3”, and McKinlaigh stood a towering 17.3 hands high…not quite a match made in heaven. Regardless, Gina decided to give the partnership a chance.
“When Thom imported McKinlaigh, my first thought was that he was too big to be an event horse,” Gina admitted. “I did insist that I be able to get on from the ground, which I found that I was able to do. But we soon discovered that he had a bit of a mounting problem…he would bolt when you put one foot in the stirrup! At the first few shows I took him to, I
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