Te Rapid Rise of Young Eventer Will Zuschlag
By Amber Heintzberger
When Will Zuschlag was twelve years old, he wanted to be a bull rider. His dad made him a deal: ride English for four years and if he still wanted to ride bulls, it would be his choice. During those four years Will discovered eventing, and the sport offered plenty of excitement for the adventure- seeking young man from South Carolina. Not only did Will come around to the idea of not falling off every ride, he found out he’s pretty good at riding horses— and staying on them.
Command, a gelding previously ridden by four-star competi- tor Marilyn Little, won the individual gold medal in the Young Rider division. Will was still competing at the Beginner Novice level in 2014 when he participated in a clinic with Olympian Karen O’Connor, who recognized his natural talent and invited him
T
his past summer Will Zuschlag, at 19, competed for the first time at the North American Junior/ Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, Montana. He and Southern
to train with her and her husband David, a fellow Olympian and current technical advi- sor to the US Eventing Team. Since then, Will has risen rapidly up the levels of the sport. Two years ago, Will
had moved up to Train- ing level but then he broke his ankle playing football and was side- lined from riding for the fall and into the spring. In 2016 he competed in his first one-star level three-day event and moved up to Intermedi- ate level in the spring of 2017, competing first at the Carolina Inter- national in Southern Pines, then at The Fork in Tryon. “Competing at The
Fork was great and I really enjoyed it,” he recalls. “It was fun and exciting. We were elimi-
nated at Red Hills and I think it shook my horse’s confidence a bit, so the Fork was a good confidence builder. He was back to 100 percent.” The trip to Rebecca Farm to compete at the NAJYRC this
summer was his first Young Riders experience. “Young Riders was incredible,” he says. “It was a really fun weekend and we had a really great time competing there. I’m 19 now, so I’ll
Above: Will and Southern Commander on cross-country at The Fork last April. The pair were second in the CIC 2* out of 21 starters.
Warmbloods Today 21
Shannon Brinkman
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