T Four-Star eir
First Five Stars Earns
Madeline Backus and her Trakehner mare grow up together overcoming adversity to successfully compete at the 2017 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.
W
hen then nine-year-old Madeline Backus started riding the five-year-old mare P.S. Arianna, there was no telling what their future would hold. It
could have ended with a few years in Pony Club, or tackling a few lower-level horse trials. And a couple of years later when “Ari” had an injury and was out of training for two years, their future together was seriously in question. But in April 2017 the pair competed at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI4*, the toughest eventing competition in the United States. One of the youngest entries in this year’s only four- star event in the U.S., 21-year-old Madeline and Ari, now 16, finished twentieth overall out of 59 entries. Madeline grew up in Larkspur, Colorado where her
parents own and operate Pendragon Stud Equestrian Center. Her mom Laura is an instructor and trainer, and Madeline was fortunate to start riding before she could walk. She grew up involved in Pony Club and Laura coached her until Madeline was eighteen years old. At eighteen, Madeline and Ari headed to Blue Hill Farm in
Pennsylvania to work with mom and daughter team Jessica and Missy Ransehausen. (Both Missy and Laura coached her at Rolex.) Jessica is an international dressage judge and competitor, and Missy competes in both dressage and event- ing, and has evented to the four-star level.
18 July/August 2017 Following Rolex, Madeline headed home to Colorado,
where she is helping her mom ride and compete some lower- level horses. She says that while she’d like to include college in her plans, her primary interest is with horses and she would like to be a professional rider and trainer.
HER FOUR-STAR TRAKEHNER The mare P.S. Arianna, by the Trakehner stallion Ibsen and out of the Thoroughbred mare Amazing Raven, is registered with the American Trakehner Association. She was bred by Dennis Ackerman, the Backus’ farrier, and sent to Laura Backus for training in 2002. A couple of years later, Madeline started riding her and the pair developed a connection. “She was five years old and I was nine when I started
riding her,” Madeline recounts. “We took off up the levels and grew together. It’s been really special.” Her mom Laura says that when she started Ari, she loved her immediately. “She has very balanced gaits and is very willing to communicate. It’s funny, she used to go around on a long rein—yet she was bred to be a dressage horse. When Madeline was little she never took advantage of her at all, then as Ari learned more she got quite a bit fiery—but
TOP: Madeline and Arianna during their jog at Rolex Kentucky.
By Amber Heintzberger
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