[in eventing] you need that fire. Maybe not in dressage but I know Ari would turn herself inside out to be safe for both of them cross-country. To me it was important that she was a better jumper than a dressage horse. We can work on the dressage. I have a lot of young riders that I bring along; I’m less concerned with their dressage performance as long as they are safe on the cross-country course.” “Ari has a great personality; she’s so sweet and loves hugs
and treats,” says Madeline. “If you groom her she’ll groom you back; she loves attention. But she is definitely a mare. She has that fire in her, and I think that’s what makes her great.” Working their way up the levels, the pair competed in the
North American Young Rider Championships at the one-star level in 2011, but later that year Ari had an injury and was laid up for almost two years. It was a time that might have discouraged most teenagers, but Madeline persevered in the mare’s recovery. “She pulled ligaments in her left knee and lower leg,”
explains Madeline. “The prognosis was that she wasn’t supposed to come back to jumping. But she had two surgeries, shockwave and stem cell treatments and lots of time off. I had an amazing team of vets who helped along the way. Ari had a number of procedures done under the capable hands of Dr. Goodrich at Colorado State University; Dr. Copenhagen was our vet at Rolex, and we go to Littleton Equine here in Colorado; Stacey Kent helped when I was at Blue Hill Farm.” As maintenance, Ari gets joint injections for arthritis in
the injured knee, but Madeline says the mare feels great as long as she keeps moving to keep the joint flexible. “The more consistently she works, the better she feels, so I keep her working and fit and it really helps.”
DEDICATION TO THE TRAINING Still working as the trainer at Pendragon, Laura Backus has her USDF Silver Medal and has competed through Inter- mediate level in eventing. These days she starts the young horses and gets them going to novice or training level and then Madeline takes the reins and brings them up the levels. In addition, Madeline also returns the favor from her youth and gives her mother lessons. “Mom and I have a great relationship,” says Madeline. “She does a good job being my coach in the ring and my mom outside. Being at Rolex was an emotional week!” Madeline also has a sister, Charlotte, who is two years
younger. She isn’t interested in horses but instead is on her way to becoming a pro cyclist. Laura says Madeline was a very timid kid, both socially and with the horses as well—until her first pony Gracie. “That pony taught her an awful lot!” says Laura. “She’d run away with her, or kick up and rear, so Madeline had to become the tough eventer.” The mom-daughter Ransehausen team was a good fit for
Madeline’s continuing education. “They were really nice and let me spend a summer at their farm before high school,” says Madeline. “I loved it and went back for two years. It’s
Rolex Kentucky photos by Amber Heintzberger Madeline and Ari in 2007. Madeline was 11 years old, Ari six.
like a little kid. She always treated her like someone who could ride better. That was great too.” Laura, who is the district commissioner of the Hunter Hill
Pony Club, credits her daughter’s horsemanship skills to her longtime involvement in Pony Club. “I see and hear a lot of kids saying they don’t want to do the work, but when I sent Madeline back east with her mare who needed a lot of care, I knew I could trust her to do the work because of her Pony Club background. She learned everything she needed to know about horsemanship through Pony Club. It also helped her a lot with shyness because the examiners would expect her to defend her ideas.” For the past fifteen years or so, Madeline and her mom
have been spending winters at their small family farm in Ocala, near the Florida Horse Park, so they’re conveniently located near the center of eventing activity. For the past two years Madeline has been part of the US Equestrian Federa- tion’s Emerging Athletes program, working with coach Leslie Law, who is based in Ocala. “There are training sessions set up with Leslie and it’s great to meet some of the other riders, especially for me
Warmbloods Today 19
very different from Colorado, especially with the humidity in the summer, but it’s a fabulous place and really helped further my education to get to Rolex. I’ll be going back to visit—they’re like my second home.” Missy and Laura did Young Riders together and although
they weren’t close friends they knew each other through horses. Laura’s last year of Young Riders was the year that Missy won a gold medal at the NAYRC (later renamed NAJYRC). Later, Laura had a student buy a horse from Missy to compete in Young Riders, and the two stayed in contact. “Madeline was supposed to be a working student for another person and it ended up not working out, and Missy offered to take her,” Laura recalls. “She was only 17 but Missy runs a very ethical program and I really appreciated that, because I didn’t have to worry as a parent. She has high stan- dards and I recommend anyone who wants to send their kids to someone get in touch with her. Jessica’s tough and Madeline had to learn to have the grit to stick it out—Jessica has extremely high standards and never treated Madeline
Courtesy Madeline Backus
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