Out & About: Washington International Horse Show
The legendary show jumper, jockey, philanthropist and ground-breaking female rider Kathy Kusner was in- ducted into the WIHS Hall of Fame.
That Feeling of Flying When Melanie Ferrio-Wise entered the arena
aboard her aptly named horse Wings at the 2017 Washington International Horse Show, many spectators had confused looks on their faces as they noticed something was missing from her tack… a bridle. T at’s right. Melanie was about to compete in the $10,000 Adult Amateur Jumper Championship without a bridle. Stand- ing near the ring with back-up bridles was her husband, Maryland trainer Brendan Wise. “Rid- ing Vlad in that arena without a bridle has really inspired me to set new goals,” Melanie said. Melanie started riding when she was just four
or fi ve years old. Her parents did not ride but she was driven to keep horses in her life and after high school, she moved to North Carolina to work in a dressage barn for two years. She met Brendan when she moved back to Mary- land and the two of them headed south to start a training barn. While still in North Carolina,
From left: WIHS Junior Committee mem- ber Ana Bertozzi, WIHS staffers Anna Becker and Caitlin Lane
Wings (called Vlad at home), was given to them, as his various behavioral issues were not suitable for his current owner. “Vlad was a jumper and a stallion in the Do-
minican Republic until he was about nine years old,” Melanie explained. “He was then imported to the States to become a dressage horse and was gelded.” Unfortunately, the horse did not adjust well to life as a gelding, or life as a dressage horse. “He couldn’t be turned out and was aggressive to handle, so we decided to pull his shoes and sent him to my mom’s farm in Maryland to spend the winter learning how to be a horse.” He was turned out with cows and one old mare and when Brendan and Melanie returned to Maryland, he trotted up to them… sound! “He happily showed off his beautiful movement and extended trot,” Melanie remembers. Brendan started Vlad’s early in-hand re-
training, and the couple tried a variety of bri- dles and bits on the often head-shy gelding. Vlad slowly started to trust them around the same time that Mela- nie lost her longtime equine partner, Boyd. “T e plan was to re- train Vlad to sell but then when Boyd died, we decided to keep him,” she explained. “He was a hard horse to ride but I liked him and we started show- ing in some small lo- cal 2’3’’ classes.” She started to play
64 | THE EQUIERY | DECEMBER 2017
around bridleless as well with him but he could be so hot at shows, she kept him
Lawrence Fowler won Thursday evening’s WIHS Shetland Pony Stee- plechase aboard the pony Tuesday.
in a bridle for competitions. “I really like rid- ing bridleless but he wasn’t liking it at all at fi rst,” she said. Eventually he got the hang of it and she used him as a demonstration horse at Maryland’s Horse World Expo this past win- ter. It wasn’t until just two weeks before WIHS that she competed him without a bridle. “We went up to New Jersey to practice in a big in- door at 1-meter 20 and after the show was over, I asked the steward if I could do some practice rounds without a bridle.” Vlad performed even better without the bridle so Melanie started re- searching USEF rules to fi nd out if competing at WIHS sans bridle was even a possibility. “I looked up every rule possible and couldn’t fi nd anything that said a bridle was required tack for the jumper ring so I called the WIHS stewards and show management to see what they would say,” she said. WIHS said yes, she could compete without a
bridle, however they reserved the right to pull her from the class or request she but a bridle on if they felt there were any safety concerns. T us on competition day, Melanie warmed up Vlad without a bridle while Brendan stood nearby with bridle options, just in case. “When I start- ed warming up in the practice ring, the infa- mous tiny and insanely claustrophobic practice ring, it was overwhelming. But he did great!” she remarked. Once in the arena, the course did not go exactly as Melanie had planned as she got jumped out of the tack at one point, losing a stirrup. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her, and Vlad was more than happy to jump around for her. “When I came over that last fence, I was completely in tears,” she said. “I was beyond happy to fl y over that last fence! I could have been fi rst or last and I would have been just as happy. I was just happy to have a teammate that is so amazing.”
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
Shawn McMillen
Shawn McMillen
Tracy McKenna
Shawn McMillen
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