find a way to make things work.” “In December of 2007, I was just starting to look for a
young horse and heard that there was a pinto Windfall baby that had just arrived at Darren’s barn,” Max recalls.“I
had a friend working there at the time and told her to give me the scoop. She sent me pictures of him and immediately I wanted him.” Max’s trainer arranged a trip from California to Florida
to see Devon. Although Max’s mind was all but made up before the trip, her trainer had her look at several other horses before settling on the colored horse. “We ended up looking at about 25 young prospects that trip,” she adds. “But each time I saw Devon, I wanted him more and more. There was just something special about him. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but I knew I had to have him.” The deal was finalized and Devon arrived at his new
home in California in early 2008. Initially, Max took it slow, allowing him to adapt to his new surroundings and grow into himself. “I would ride him bareback in the creeks around the barns and race him against my friends down the beach. I really think that helped his mental development for eventing a lot. He learned to expect the unexpected.” Max adds, “He’s always been a very fast learner and
figures most things out faster than I can. He really wants to please and won’t stop working until he figures out what we are asking of him.”
Above: Devon’s amazing gallop stride during Galway Downs in November 2010. Photo: Amy McCool
Trakehners Tackle the NAJYRC D
evon a.k.a. Project Runway is not the only Trakehner finding success with a young rider in eventing. The 2010 North American Junior/Young Rider Championships saw two Trakehner mares take the top two places in
stunning fashion. Copycat Chloe, a U.S. bred Trakehner mare by Stiletto *Ps*, took home the individual gold medal in the CCI Two-Star Division after turning in a clean show jumping round under the guidance of owner/rider Kelly Pugh. Finishing just behind them were Missy Miller and her imported Trakehner
mare, TSF Amazing Grace, who also jumped clean in show jumping. The Trakehner ladies finished ahead of 15 other horse and rider combinations. Both Copycat Chloe and TSF Amazing Grace have since moved up to the
Advanced level and are competing successfully against some of the top eventers in the nation. Like Devon, these two mares demonstrate why Trakehners excel at eventing.
Their light and impulsive movement couples with their very high trainability to bring them to the top in dressage consistently. Their athleticism from cavalry horse breeding goals provides gallop and jumping abilities to make light work of the difficult cross-country and show jumping courses. There have been at least four previous NAYRC (now called NAJYRC) gold and
silver individual eventing medalists mounted on Trakehner horses. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. The 2010 USEA records show that 85 junior and young riders competed on Trakehner and part-Trakehner horses.
50 July/August 2011
COMPETITIVE SUCCESS Before long, Devon began his formal training. His competitive career started out on a high note, as he brought home back-to-back Reserve National Young Event Horse (YEH) Championship titles, one at four and one at five; his first Reserve Championship came less than a year after he arrived in California. Outside the YEH program, Max worked
towards bringing Devon up through the levels. Novice and Training proved no challenge for him. Blue ribbons were commonplace for the colored gelding, and he finished outside the top three only twice in eight competitions. He regularly turned in dressage scores in the 20s and low 30s. Preliminary also proved easy for Devon; he
regularly performed brilliant dressage tests and text book cross-country and jumping tests. Confident that it would be no huge challenge for the Trakehner, Max entered Devon in his first Intermediate level event at age seven. “Devon definitely has come up the levels
quite fast, yet I have never once felt like he has been over-faced,” Max says. “If anything it is the opposite. The bigger the fences, the better he jumps. The Windfall blood in him makes him extremely sensible. He knows what needs to be done, and he makes it happen.
American Trakehner Association
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