Oldenburgs Pave the Way to Eventing Success
By Holly Simensen
t’s rare indeed in the equestrian world for riders to switch disciplines at the interna- tional level, where experience is fine tuned to such a definitive extent. Te different meth- ods of riding in competing disciplines, while subtle, can mean the difference between success and failure. Top riders almost never switch; there is neither the desire nor the motivation to do so. But today we have one such rider who has joined the ranks of the oh so very few. Marilyn Little has competed—and won—both in show jumping arenas and on eventing courses at the highest levels. After a jumping career that started as a youngster, Marilyn took up event- ing in 2010. At the same time, she continued her show jumping career, competing abroad to represent her country in both eventing and show jumping simultaneously. In 2015, she won both individual and team gold medals in eventing at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
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Heart is the Key Marilyn’s dedication and determination to excel is legendary, but her criteria when choosing her horses has also helped ensure her success. Over and over she stresses that her prospective mounts must have heart, combined with a strong ability to trust, and they must be innately careful. It goes without saying that both jumpers and event horses
must have correct foundations and feet and scope. If they have heart and will trust the rider enough to try, Marilyn says, then she can build even more trust and bravery. Te key, she adds, is that the horse must truly want to respond to the rider. Several of her horses came to her with a fear of water, for example. Marilyn was able to overcome their fears us- ing simple, common-sense solutions. Another horse had never completed a course but, in learning to trust, this too was overcome. Marilyn’s current mounts will literally jump through fire for her--such is the level of trust she has been able to develop.
Oldenburg Success Walking through the barn at her family’s Raylan Farms in
Te marvelous RF Demeter and Marilyn on cross country in September 2014 at the CCI4* event at Burghley.
Frederick, Maryland and Wellington, Florida, approximately 75 percent of the horses there are Oldenburgs. (Her mother, show jumper Lynne Little, has often said she loves Olden- burg horses and has always been drawn to them.) Marilyn modestly told me that it was not she who should receive the accolades for her competitive successes, but rather the farm- ers so many years ago who had the patience and good sense to make the pairings to produce these horses, painstakingly searching for the perfect combinations. Much credit for Oldenburgs’ competitive successes in general must also go to the Oldenburg Horse Center’s breeding director, Dr. Wolfgang Schulze-Schleppinghoff. Dr. Schulze-Schleppinghoff had the brilliance to continue the open studbook that has allowed a diversity of stallions to populate our society, making it one of the most popular breed registries today. As we all know, however, the pilot sitting on the horse’s back is still the defining factor in winning. Marilyn has been able to instill in her Oldenburgs the speed and courage need- ed to win. She was also able to instill in them the desire to
SPECIAL Oldenburg SECTION Warmbloods Today 43
Oldenburg Horse Breeders’ Society Julia Shearwood
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