Schoensgreen Hanni, a German Sporthorse mare (by Gingerino), survived the accident and is one of Micheal’s top event horses. Here the pair competed at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Mexico earning the team Gold.
done for air transport. “These would be products that can be added to any trailer, not just ours, so it can benefit all horses,” he says. “Jamco is going to help me get a new rig that incorporates the new design features,” says Michael. “The amount of sponsorship depends on how many people buy into the concept, as well as a percentage of proceeds; some will go into the Road to Recovery fund as well. It’s been generous of them—they are putting in a lot of man hours because they believe in it. I can’t overstress how much I owe them because without a manufacturer behind us, it would be hard to get this off the ground.” Nathalie, whose horse Icarus was lost in the accident, says,
Michael’s current string of horses, not involved in the
accident, is nothing to sneeze at. It includes the diminutive but big-hearted Wonderful Will, a Thoroughbred gelding owned by Sher and Elliot Schwartz and Nathalie Pollard, that has competed at the four-star level. DV8, a New Zealand Thoroughbred gelding owned by Carl Bouckaert, competed to the CIC3* level before he was imported. Up-and-comers Jos Calfun, Querdolan and Cheyenne Blue round out the list.
Jamco and Others Make a Difference Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, there was no insurance
coverage for the trailer and the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident also had very limited coverage. In response to many requests, Pollard Eventing established a “Road to Recovery” fund on their website (www.
pollardeventing.com) where supporters can donate to help cover veterinary and equipment expenses incurred. “While we are very fortunate in many ways, we were not
properly prepared for this type of accident,” says Michael. “Since this tragedy we have received incredible support from people offering to help, so we decided to establish this fund where donations will be used to rebuild Pollard Eventing.” In addition, they are partnering with Jamco trailers to
conduct research on how to improve travel safety for horses. “They are working on a harnessing system and hope to have drawings done by mid-December and a prototype by end of March to beginning of April—though things are never simple so it will probably take longer,” explains Michael. “We’ll build one out, and one we can do some crash testing with. There are a couple of horse crash test dummies around, so while we may not be able to simulate speed, we can flip the trailer over and make sure we’re not creating an even bigger problem than we started with. It’s important to do the research before the project goes live.” Dave Dalzell, national sales and marketing manager at
Jamco, explains that the concept is to keep horses in their stalls in case of an accident, somewhat like what is already
20 January/February 2013
“What I really appreciate the most about Jamco is that they are willing to spend the money and the time not only to do the research but to build it out and do a test and see how everything works in practice. I’ve always really liked Jamco trailers and I think this is bringing it to a whole new level. Having been what we’ve been through, it’s crazy that horses travel the way they do. We’d never put our children in a pickup truck just sitting in a chair! I think this is actually going to make a difference.”
An Enterprising Couple With four small children—Phineas, age four, twins Stirling and
Sebastian at two-and-a-half, and baby Axel born in January 2012—the Pollards certainly have a lot on their plates at home. That doesn’t hinder them from being involved in a variety of businesses, both in and out of the equine market. Michael is the CEO of Cavalor
North America, a premium equine feed and supplement company, while Nathalie is the firm’s managing partner (see Warmbloods Today, May/ June 2011, “Love the Product – Join the Company). Michael’s business background includes serving as CEO of Centaur Consolidated Companies, a holding company developing specialty products for carpet manufacturing and waste recycling, and Nathalie serves on the board of directors of Beaulieu of America, her family’s business and one of the nation’s leading carpet manufacturers. (Her father Carl is also an event rider who has represented Belgium at the Olympic Games). The couple also started an equestrian footing business, FutureTrack, which produces arena footing that incorporates carpet additives, and is largely run by Michael’s father Jack Pollard. Michael explains how this new business was launched.
“FutureTrack started with people calling to ask for fabric additives for arenas. It’s grown into seven or eight arenas of my own and I realized that, with our own footing and fabric from the carpet company and with what we’ve learned, we could do it cheaper than other companies. There was no
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
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