In Memoriam
Olympic Eventer & Washington State Native Amy Tryon Dies at 42 By Kim MacMillan, MacMillan Photography & Media Services
Olympic event rider Amy Tryon, of Duvall, WA, died April 12 at the age of 42. She passed away in her sleep with her faithful terriers Razzle and Jasmine at her side, according to a statement issued by her family on her farm web site. The cause of death is not known and an autopsy is scheduled.
“Eventing has lost a great rider, a great person, and a tremen- dous competitor today. Amy was hands down the toughest eventer I have ever known and she was incredibly well respect- ed in the eventing community,” said John, a blogger on the Eventing Nation web site.
Tryon was born in Redmond, WA, on February 24, 1970, and was an internationally accom- plished rider, trainer and coach, as well as a firefighter and paramedic. After college, she first served at the Pine Lake Fire Station 81 (1992 – 1994), then at Eastside Fire and Rescue (1994 – 2006). In 2006 she retired to ride and train full-time after years of juggling career and riding at the highest international level. She met her husband of 16 years and fellow firefighter, Greg Tryon, on the job.
she placed fourth individually. In 2002, she and her American Thoroughbred gelding Poggio II, an ex-racehorse who she found from a classified in the Seattle Times, were members of the gold medal U.S. team at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, and were also the highest placed American pair at the Badminton CCI****. In 2004 they were members of the bronze medal U.S. team at the Athens Olympic Games. That same year she was named The Chronicle of the Horse Horseman of the Year, an honor she won once more in 2006.
Amy Tryon and Coal Creek at the 2010 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event**** Photo by Kim MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
She began her equestrian career at the age of one when her mother, who had always wanted a horse, but did not have one of her own as a girl, purchased a pony for Amy and her older sister Kerrie to ride. She rode in her first event at the age of eight on a borrowed pony. Amy finished high school early in order to travel across the country with two horses to ride with world-class trainers across the country from age 16 – 21.
Tryon was a veteran of multiple U.S. Equestrian Eventing Teams, with her first senior international championship spot being on the 1999 Pan American Games team in Winnipeg, Canada, where
They earned another U.S. team spot for the 2006 World Games in Aachen, Germany, where they won individual bronze, which contributed to Poggio II being named the 2006 The Chronicle of the Horse Eventing Horse of the Year. In 2008 the pair made their final Olympic appear- ance at the Olympic Games in Beijing (equestrian events were in Hong Kong), China. Poggio was retired after the Rolex CCI***** in 2009. Her last competition was aboard novice-level horses Miles Away and Landretti at Galway Downs International Horse Tri-
als, Temecula, CA, March 30 to April 1, 2012.
U.S. Equestrian Eventing Team Chef d’equipe Captain Mark Phil- lips said, “Amy was one of my first developing riders on the West Coast and went on to be a regular member of the team for 10 years. We will all miss her terribly.”
Tryon is survived by her husband, Greg; parents Jemi and Larry; sister Kerrie; niece Lauryn, and nephews Jayson and Kyle. Her loss is felt as well by the staff at Tryon Eventing and Mapleleaf Eventing at Upson Downs and her many team members, students, friends and colleagues from both of her chosen fields.
Her family shared their thoughts on the farm web site, “She was a friend to horse and human alike. As we struggle in the loss, we are comforted by the friends, family, supporters and strangers who have taken us under their wings. We ask that all take a moment to reflect on Amy whether that little girl on a pony, that girl on the horse, that woman representing her country in the Olympics, or the woman serving her community as a firefighter. We hope that brings a smile and a bit of comfort as it does us. Although Amy was intensely shy, her evident joy in the world was brought out in the presence of animals. She was fiercely determined and focused. Nothing was insurmountable or preordained to her. She just wanted to see if she could...”
Her family asks that remembrances of Amy be made to your local humane society and that each of us remember that anything is possible if you try.
38 Northwest Rider Magazine May 2012
www.nwrider.com
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