“But as I sat there looking at my coat, I realized that it was
my only identity. I decided if I was going to get back to the four-star level, I was going to do it for me. I had this beautiful black coat that had been given to me by Jennifer, but I hadn’t worn it because I always wore my pink coat. I don’t want to ever take away how powerful it is to wear that pink coat, and as a team member I will always wear it with pride. But I had this epiphany that I was doing this for me, and I had good horses and good support. So I wore the black coat and rode for myself.” Which brings us to the Jolly Roger. “As a kid I always loved the Peter Pan story book. I was
listening to this song called “Lost Boy” and one of the lines goes, ‘Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, even Captain Hook, you are my perfect book.’ I looked at my outfit and thought, ‘this is my own Jolly Roger.’ It’s a powerful symbol to me,” he says. “Someone asked why I picked the poison sign, but it’s not a poison sign to me—it was raised going into battle and life is a battle. It means give it your all—you’re not going to win every battle but, with everything thrown at you, everything in life, I go in with my battle flag raised. That’s the reason for the symbol and it means a lot to me.” In 2008, Will’s sister Kristen’s battle with cancer came to an end when she was 28. The experience of losing a sibling affected him deeply and he says the Jolly Roger has mean- ing from this experience too. “Everyone is fighting their own battle in life,” he continues. “Everybody has had heartache and we’ve all had victories. We’ve all had wins and losses. That’s not just in sport, but in life—you know the old expres- sion, ‘Be nice on the way up because you’ll see them on the way down?’ It’s so accurate.” He says over the years he has relied on his relationships with his horses for stability and support. “My partnership with my horses has always been an important part of my life. I’m a very open person; ask me a question and I’ll tell you exactly what I think. The Jolly Roger isn’t something I broad- cast, because I didn’t do it for anybody else; I did it for me. It’s my journey back to why I do this sport: I do it because I love the horses. It’s not about how many teams you get to be on or how many medals you get around your neck. For some people it is and I think that’s fine, that’s healthy, but not for me. I don’t want to say my broken neck taught me that, but it did highlight it for me.”
PFUN Returning to the four-star level was even more special because it was with Pfun, a.k.a. Fernhill Teddy Two Two, fondly called “Teddy.” Bobby Costello imported the Irish Sport Horse gelding by Tadnus as a four-year-old, but was nearing the end of his own competitive career. Bobby, who also lives in Southern Pines, has been a close friend, coach and supporter and played a huge role in Will’s life, so Will was well acquainted with the horse. “Bobby had planned to sell him anyway, so I started riding him and there was something about him that made me think this could be a serious horse,” Will says. “He’s not the most flamboyant mover and has always been a little spooky. While I have a great partnership with him, he’s not the most
16 September/October 2017
Will and Pfun tackling one of Rolex’s many water jumps.
straightforward horse to teach new things. But we have this solid partnership and I remember showing him to somebody and hoping he didn’t sell. Jennifer had watched him compete and said, ‘Why don’t we get him?’” So they did. The pair competed at in the CCI2* at Bromont (Montreal)
and was short-listed for the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto. “It was cool that we were short-listed, because I’d had lessons on him with David O’Connor and David wasn’t impressed with him. After that he moved up to Advanced and was amazing cross country at Five Points, but that’s when I fell with Hans and got hurt.” Teddy played an important role in Will’s return to the four-
star level, giving him the confidence to ride and compete again. “I’ve been lucky in my career to ride some amazing horses. Teddy gave me a feeling around Kentucky that was unlike any other. I had a glance-off at fence four because I thought he’d be more backed off by the crowds than he was; I rode in too forward and ran past the B element. It’s always hard when you have something like that happen, but I kept going to see if he could go the distance and what feeling he gave me. He just kept jumping the whole way around – I love watching the video because the expression on his face was the same at the last fence as at the first one.” “It was a great experience to show jump clear,” he contin-
ues. “He’s the fourth horse I’ve taken to Kentucky and that’s the best score I’ve had there, a 47.9. It wasn’t my best cross- country because of that stupid issue at fence four, but for him to come out and jump his socks off—that was just awesome. I’m excited about his future.”
JENNIFER MOSING For years now, Jennifer Mosing has owned horses for Will. She has also been there for him through life’s ups and downs. “She’s more than an owner, she’s a very good friend,” he says fondly. “I refer to her as a fairy godmother. She makes me feel like I’m a part of her family. She has four kids and I’m very close to them. She’s a great friend and a great supporter. She’s never put pressure on me to win something or do some- thing—she knows how much pressure I put on myself.”
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
