She describes her learning curve on the European trip as lots of little ‘lightbulb moments.’ “Mostly I think from being there in the thick of it all and watching the best in our sport all within an hour of each other, it was benefi- cial. Every top rider is there,” she says. “I placed myself as a student of the sport and I saw a lot of things that were really good. You can watch so many good riders over there. I think you can’t get that here because we just don’t have the numbers, especially here on the West Coast. I’m so grateful for the opportunity; I feel like it took my depth of experience to the next level.”


an upper level horse. “Typically you don’t really think about taking a seven-year-old to Europe, when we have so many places here in the states to compete, unless it was a personal goal,” she says. “To have a grant to go to Lion made the possi- bility a reality.” Aside from that, she thinks the grant is a great way to get


“I think you have to be


Thankful for the Grant On the online journal that Judy kept for the USEA, she wrote, “Being a single owner is not without its chal- lenges and sacrifices, yet it has given me fantastic opportunities that I could only have dared to dream. It has pushed me beyond my comfort zone. It has introduced me to amazing people and brought me to Europe. I am so very grateful to Dr. Tim and Cheryl Holekamp and Christine Turner for the vision and commitment to U.S. eventing and U.S. breeding. They have provided Rory, Tamie, [groom] Shannon and I with the journey of a lifetime.” Tamie noted that the grant, which was issued to Rory as a five-year-old, was great incentive to develop Rory as


So my friend Chris Turner and I decided to fund the idea


ourselves; but to help domestic breeders we would limit the grant for foreign-foaled horses to $8,000, on the theory that if an owner had the funds to import a horse, with the approxi- mate ten to twelve thousand dollar ‘tax’ that one pays to import from Europe, that owner would also have the resources to pay that much to send the horse and rider back over there for the world championships for young event horses. We did have in mind economically motivating riders to buy prospects bred here in the United States. Our idea was to send the best YEH finalist in the five-year- old division to the Lion two years later. Of course, not all YEH champions find their ways to being CCI**-qualified at age seven. Some are sold to other circumstances, some are injured, and some just aren’t able to progress at that rate. So a horse must be qualified for the Mondial du Lion and be the highest placed five-year-old in the YEH two years earlier. We are now two years into the grant’s life, and both candi-


dates sent were highly qualified and performed remarkably well, bringing great praise upon the U.S. ‘over there.’ (Last year the grant recipients were ninth place finishers, Kelly Prather and D.A. Duras, owned by Debbie Adams.) In both cases the riders and owners have been highly appreciative of our grant program, broadly describing their experiences at Le Lion d’Angers as tremendously educational and a heck of a lot of fun. Thanks to the ‘calendar roll-over’ in October, 2016 was


careful what kind of horse


you take, because not all are up to the challenge, but Rory is a better horse for it.”


more people involved in the Young Event Horse program. “To have Tim Holekamp and Christine Turner pony up that much money to invest in our young horses is a huge boost to our program and our country. I knew Rory was a top horse but it felt great to be there and expe- rience competing against the best in the world. Also, it put into our thought process that we have a four-year-old coming five, and a foal born this year, and we were like, ‘We should do this again!’ It was a great experience and great for the horses. I think you have to be careful what kind of horse you take,


because not all are up to the challenge, but Rory is a better horse for it.” Tamie is thankful for all of the syndicate members, the


Becky Broussard Grant, and everyone who donated to the fund. “It was really a great thing to have so many people support the trip and I really felt like I gained so much knowl- edge from it.” It truly was a bon voyage.


unique in that the Mondial and the Fair Hill International (our East Coast finals venue) did not fall on the same weekend, making it possible for my wife and me to attend in France. Boy, did we have some fun! This was a super location, weekend and contest. The best of the best show up for the Lion champion- ship and the venue is wonderful. And just as importantly, our USEA owners and riders have


responded to this idea with alacrity. Our YEH finals have become so sufficiently subscribed that we will have to limit the number who come to our East Coast finals in coming years, based on qualifier scores. In a way, attending this championship is as big a moment


as any top four-star in the world, and really ought to be on the bucket list of anyone who wants to more fully understand the development of a young event horse. The fact that the rural Anjou district of France is gorgeous and historically important just adds to the enjoyment. We are hoping that other YEH high- placers will find funding to go also, just as it happened this year with Robyn Fisher and Betawave. It does look as though this grant is popular, so my next job is


going to be to make sure that when our donation to USEA runs out, others will step in and replenish the money supply. Some- day soon, every upper level rider will first look domestically for that next international star, and if we have helped that along, Chris Turner and I will feel very satisfied. v


Warmbloods Today 27


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