do her bidding. It takes a long time to earn the level of trust needed to develop this kind of communication and it only takes one mistake to lose this precious relationship, so one must be very careful to protect it.
Making the Switch I asked Marilyn what her motivation was to switch to event- ing from the show jumping ring in which she had been so successful. She laughed and said that, 15 years ago, her former husband was watching television and beckoned her to come and watch the cross-country competition of an advanced level event. He said it looked horrific but Marilyn thought it looked like fun.
Boldness—and practicality—has never taken a back seat to fun for this lady. Early in her career, Marilyn realized that she had not been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and that finding a sponsor who would back her by providing the multi-million dollar jumper she needed was probably not in the cards: she did not have a foreign sounding name, didn’t have a foreign accent and was not a young man. No matter how good her skills, how much she won, how well she rode and how hard she worked, she feared a sponsor wouldn’t materialize with the deep pockets needed for a top show jumper. In contrast, she felt she could find an event horse that would suit her bold, riding style and that could fit into her budget. Te rest, as they say, is history and she soon found herself in the winner’s circle in a new sport.
Her Horses Demeter, her very successful eventing mare who is now 15 years old, came from a very interesting background. By the famous Oldenburg dressage stallion Rubin Royal and out of a Pik Bube I dam line, one would automatically think of this horse as a dressage prospect. But upon further scrutiny, one can find a substantial number of jumpers from Pik Bube’s full brother, Pik Bube II, lurking in the background. And further back on the dam’s side falls Pik Koenig, who also sired many jumpers. Demeter’s sire Rubin Royal comes from the very famous dam line, Ruling Chica and Rudilore, that has produced the outstanding jumpers Coleur Rubin, Gio Granno, Conterno Grande, Coleur Rouge and Con- gress and even more. Ruling Chica was an outstanding event horse herself so, as you can see, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Marilyn is adamant that ‘if you don’t look back you will
never be able to read the book,’ and she is so right. Tis mare met all her requirements and, when the strength of the jumping in her pedigree was considered, there were no surprises. Marilyn next built the mare’s speed factor by be- ing clever in her training. Despite the reputation, really a myth, which comes with a “chestnut mare,” all who handle Demeter love her. Some people won’t take the time to
46 May/June 2017 SPECIAL Oldenburg SECTION
understand mares with the consequence of flailing down in the ditch for a long time. Marilyn takes the time to speak their language and is rewarded accordingly. Demeter was the early book favorite to win the $50,000 eventing prize at
Marilyn Little (middle) earned individual gold on Scandalous at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, and stands on the podium with other medalists Jessica Phoenix (CAN) and Ruy Fonseca (BRA).
In early April Scandalous and Marilyn won the CIC 3* competition at Te Fork in Tryon staying at the top of the leaderboard through- out all three phases.
FEI/Stockimageservices
Shannon Brinkman
Oldenburg Horse Breeder’s Society
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