The Faces of American Sport Horse Success

We don’t know about you, but we simply can’t stop thinking about these two very different American horse and rider pairs that are currently taking the world by storm!

If we were a 12 year old girl right now, there is no doubt that we would want to grow up to be none other than 24 year old Ashlee Bond. Bond’s sunny, California-girl personality belies an incredibly focused, go-for-broke approach on some of the world’s toughest showjumping courses. What she and her catty and powerful Cadett 7, who is just TOTALLY AWESOME, have accomplished on their first ever tour of Europe is most impressive. Most recently winning the Warsteiner Prize at the World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen, the pair has had an incredible run of double-clear performances while making the rounds at the Meydan FEI Nations Cup.

And then, in contrast to the youthful exuberance of Bond and Cadett 7, we have the relaxed power and graceful athleticism of 45 year old Steffen Peters and the 11 year old Dutch gelding Ravel. We are inspired by and literally in awe of their performances. Peters describes Ravel as “naturally just very, very solid and confident,” a quality most evident at the FEI World Cup Championship, Las Vegas and again last weekend during their clean sweep at the CHIO Aachen.

As much as our inner child wants to grow up to be just like Ashlee, our inner adult wants to be a kid again, so we could have more time to somehow, someday acquire the strength, skill, timing, discipline, and graciousness of a rider like Steffen. We owe a lot, and should pay close attention, to riders like them, as they give us insight into what a truly great equestrian partnership can look like. While laying down winning performances in very different disciplines, we see in both is that elusive and unmistakable sense of magic between horse and rider. When that magic occurs, it is truly unbeatable!