Deiter Felgendreher, Jeanne Dake, George Williams, Betsy Steiner, Michelle Gibson, and Jim Kofford all had him in training at one point or another. Jeanne, now of Austin, Texas, is eager to sing his praises. “He was only four when he came to me, and I was the first one to show him training and first levels. I have trained a lot of stallions and he was always my favorite! He was calm, smart, and uncomplicated with a fabulous character,” Jeanne says fondly. At age nine he went to George Williams, who trained
and competed Donavan for several years beginning in 1995. George remembers him as a horse with wonderful gaits and a great deal of competitive potential, some of which went unrealized because of his age. He remembers vividly one of their early tests where their scores included a 10 on the extended trot. “He was the first horse I received a 10 on,” George says. “And you don’t forget that!” Beyond his potential, George continues, Donavan
was a horse that his daughter, then six years old, took to completely. “She would go into his stall and put her arms around his neck to hug him. And while she held on, he would lift her up and down,” he says. “It was a game that they played. While he certainly could and did behave like a stallion at other times, he was always very careful and gentle with her.” The first time Wendy saw Donavan, George was
riding him and she was awestruck. Never in her dreams would she have thought she’d eventually own a stallion of his caliber. So at first, Wendy’s connection with Donavan was simply to purchase a breeding for her Thoroughbred mare. In 1999, then living in Wisconsin, she was thrilled to get a colt she named Duesenjaeger from the cross. (The name, she laughingly explains, means “jet fighter” in German—a tribute to her husband, a by-then retired Marine pilot. It had to be explained, she says with a giggle, to every native German speaker they met, and so the horse was
Owners Wendy and Marty Costello pose with JJ and Donavan after an exhibition ride during a polo half-time.
soon dubbed simply “Pilot.”) Later watching Donavan perform a Grand Prix exhibition at Pilot’s Hanoverian foal inspection with George in the saddle, she says, was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
NEW RELATIONSHIPS Soon after, trying to save him from a situation that they felt could have ended badly, Wendy and her husband purchased Donavan. When they brought him to their Wisconsin farm in 2000, the original plan was to get him ready for sale to the proper home, Wendy explains. “But in my heart, I already knew how much I loved this guy.” Therefore, Wendy continues, she knew the next order of business was to find the appropriate rider for him. Although a dressage fan who enjoys lessons, Wendy had no interest in the show ring and knew immediately that she was not that person. “We wanted to find a local rider to get him ‘out there’ where people would see him competing,” she says. The Costellos were introduced to Jessica Jo (JJ) Tate,
George Williams competing Donavan. Photo courtesy Roberta Williams
a local rider who had travelled to Europe to ride and train after competing as a Young Rider. They invited her out to ride Donavan. “It was an immediate good match,” Wendy recalls. “When we saw them together, we just knew it was right. And I wanted someone for the long term. I didn’t want him bounced around from rider to rider.”
Warmbloods Today 23
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