Allison during the 2010 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit. Allison was also presented with the Leading Mare Award for her remarkable efforts throughout the eight weeks of competition. With such an outstanding comeback, Callan felt that it


was time to wrap up Allison’s Grand Prix career. “As long as I asked her to do it she would try, and I couldn’t ask any more,” she says. “I just love her so much and didn’t want to push her in any way. You could just feel that it was starting to be not easy for her any more, and it was always easy for her.” She continues, “In all the years I rode her she never


walked in the ring and didn’t give 110%. You have to know when to stop asking for more, to respect the gift of what they’ve given and let them retire with four good legs to stand on. It’s our responsibility to protect them and to be fair; they don’t sign up for this.”


How It All Began At the end of 1998, Carol Thompson and BJ Maghan


purchased Allison as a six-year-old from Lee Ann Flavin in New York for Callan to ride. Callan started out as an exercise rider but became much more than that, working


at Quiet Winter Farm for 14 years. She also competed internationally with their Grand Prix stallion Warsaw Bianca, who like Allison is 18 years old now. When she first started riding Allison, Callan recalls, “She


was a young horse. I had a lot to learn and so did she. I had only jumped a few Grand Prix’s and we really learned together. It was such a journey! The places I went and people I met because of that horse are amazing. She made a huge impact on my life. “Allison may have been able to win more prizes with another more experienced rider, but she’d never have found someone who loved her as much as I did. It was great that the owner stuck with me; she could have sold her a hundred times but never did.” Callan attributes Allison’s success to the mare’s


intelligence and bravery. “She’s a genius, the smartest horse and was never afraid of anything,” she says. She also admits that since neither of them had very much experience to draw from, she often had to put on a brave face and just go for it. Eventually they did get the experience to back up the bravado, which increased Callan’s confidence as a rider. “We were smart and knew what we could do, but she taught me to gallop to a fence acting like the horse could jump a foot bigger than the horse could—to get the best out of a horse by acting like it’s going to be fine,” she says. Over the years and with training from Mark Jungherr,


Callan and Allison developed their own recipe for success. “Her front end is not the best and we definitely worked it out,” she explains. “She’s so smart and so careful. She always had a really good sense, or ability, to move her body to miss the rail. Some people say to beware the horse that jumps the fence the same way every time, because when something changes they can’t adapt—she had a million ways to clear the jump! One time, though, she jumped me right off and I broke my arm—she didn’t do anything wrong, she was just trying to clear the fence.” According to Callan, the bigger the occasion and the


more ‘atmosphere’ at a show, the better Allison would perform. “Whenever there was a hard jump I’d think, ‘At least I’m riding Allison’,” she says. “She made me really brave.” “She has a huge amount to do with my career. I think


I don’t even realize all the ways. My big job in life for 12 years has been taking care of her. She was the kind of horse that if I was showing her that day or that week, all the other horses I rode went well too. I was always so excited to show her because I always knew I had a chance—she would try so hard to jump clear and fight for me.”


■ Left: The pair competing in early 2010 at HITS Ocala. Photo by Lindsay McCall


■ Opposite page: Callan (middle) celebrates with her new partners, Virginia (left) and Collin McNeil (right) at the opening of Callan Solem Show Stables. Photo by Amy Dragoo


16 November/December 2010


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