One of my favorite things about (top junior rider) Mia Bagnato is that for the last 2 years, she has done just that- making it to the finale at RRP (with no groom) while also showing her warmbloods through the 3* GP level.
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I get that âthe trainerâs kidâ is a strange kind of âpoorâ in the horse world. I canât imagine trying to explain their particular kind of need and disenfranchisement to a non-horser.
Being a trainerâs kid, with the opportunity and wealth that actually does come from that position, is not the same as being the son of a plumber and working for $2/day.
And, of course, what working for $2/day meant in Matzâs youth, or getting sponsors in his day (when the industry and the USET had a different model of support for Olympic teams), and while being male, doesnât seem like a relevant comparison to todayâs âpoor Olympic hopeful.â
I didnât know all of Kusnerâs history. Thatâs interesting!
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Have you read School for Young Riders? Its out of print but still available through eBay, Amazon and online book stores, although it doesnât cover her amazing career as an adult.
Top trainer kids are also not the same than a kid of a parent with so much money, to buy top horses is like buying a new outfit for next big fancy party.
Trainerâs kids have many advantages in the horse world, but they donât have the personal money it takes to go play and establish themselves that is what those grants seem to be for.
Those proven trainerâs kids coming up should also be those in consideration for that help and most apt to make it work for them, along with those that came to horses thru other means and are also outstanding.
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Kessler got to the Olympics, then went out on her own in Europe (with a wonderful facility her parents bought for her) to try her hand at developing young horses for international competition. She was done with that after what - 3, 4 years? - and is now out of the sport entirely, at least for now.
It might not be the case that she didnât like what she was doing, I have to add. She was so young to be out on her own and hadnât had the experiences most kids her age had. I can easily understand wanting to pursue college and goals that arenât necessarily horse oriented. And she is partly responsible for the development of at least one very good horse; she had Contagious before turning him over to McLain.
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On the subject of trainers kidsâŠkeep in mind that while they have access to horses? Most of them do not get their own personal partner to compete with for season after season. The family business is all about selling and pleasing clients.
Only way they get a fancy, push button ride is if it stuffs its Junior owner into an oxer. Then they get to ride and maybe show that fancy one until the owner kid can get it aroundâŠor it sells out from under the trainer kid. Fancy catch rides from other trainers barns only, last until they are sold.
Itâs not what it looks like from outside.
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I remember when Tori Colvin was in the earlier stages of her junior career, riding horses for Rivers Edge and Betsee Parker while still showing Parkerâs ponies. Rivers Edge had a really good horse named World Time, and there was an article somewhere, not COTH, about Tori in which she excused herself to go love on World Time, saying he was her favorite horse ever.
Not very long afterwards the Gochmans bought World Time. Iâm sure Tori was perfectly aware of that possibility, since Stewart and Berkeley make their living developing and selling hunters. Still, when youâre a young-ish tween/teen, it hurts to lose the ride on a favorite horse.
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Maybe you are referring to not top tier trainerâs kids here? Maddie Tosh, JJ Torano, Taylor Cawley, Olivia Sweetnam - are they really getting their mounts because those horses stuffed their junior riders into an oxer? I just donât think so. Maddie Tosh has been getting the ride on Betsee Parkerâs horses since she graduated from the ponies, so this theory just doesnât apply to her. Vivian Golden got a lot of rides on Parkerâs horses too. Iâm certainly not shedding any tears for these poor trainerâs kids who get to ride and show six figure horses all day every day.
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I donât think anyone is âshedding tearsâ for trainers kids that get catch rides from Betsee Parker. They get those rides because they can ride well. They arenât starting out as beginners catch riding for wealthy owners.
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I was responding to findeightâs post that made it sound like these trainerâs kids only get the ride on the ones that dump their owners or are only in the barn short term until they are sold, which makes their lives tougher than we think. The trainerâs kids that I mentioned seem to have sponsors who bend over backwards to ensure they have tippy top horses that will pretty much ensure they win if they ride well (which they absolutely do).
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I took @findeights post to mean that riding the sales and/or difficult horses that are a real part of a trainerâs kidâs education, contributes to them being good enough to have the chance to get catch rides on fancier horses.
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Oh, could be - I might have missed that perspective.
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Indeed.
What I am coming to understand is this state of affairs.
- It is necessary to have some talent and lots of opportunity to learn to really ride. Trainersâ kids have this in spades.
But talent and practice are not sufficient (anymore).
- You need to tap in to a multi-millionaire/billionaire level of wealth to be able to buy the Olympic horse. No amount of talent (or anything else) will take the place of that money.
In all of these discussions, the difference between necessary and sufficient is one of the keys to keep in mind.
Also, I do think that trainersâ kids catch-riding the tough horses doesnât mean that thatâs all they ride or that they stay there. Rather, I think they get on better horses because of what they can do on the lesser ones. But making the hard ones look easy will always be a job for someone to do.
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It is hard with text only but yes, that is what I meant.
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Had a late thought here about generous owners like BP who use Junior catch riders that are often trainers kids. They are wonderfulâŠbutâŠthere is an expectation of performance and a kid could lose the ride so there is pressure on the kid not felt by a full leasing or owning kid.
Also, many times that owner uses their own trainer and the Junior does not have the horse/Pony at their home barn with their personal trainer be it parent or other. Itâs meet at show onlyâŠeven if they are in the road a great deal, itâs not the same.
Itâs not what it looks like, there are trade offs.
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I agree but these kids donât know any different, itâs been like that their entire lives. I was watching the WIHS medal class and all of the riders are A students in addition to their riding. Todayâs kids have a lot of pressure I think.
Far as finding young talent for International goals? Probably being able to deal with that pressure to produce results is an asset.
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Hereâs a link to Equestrian Living magazine where they interview Carlee about the Road to the Top program and provide details about the level of support for the kids chosen. https://eqliving.com/november-december-2024/
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Thanks for the link!
I do think the program is a great idea. I wish they would sell it/describe it with a little less grandiose language ⊠because I think weâre all better off if we understand what this particular solution can and cannot do.
The stories of Michael Matz and Kathy Kusner are valuable and important but this program does nothing to find or promote or support people like them.
Michael Matz and Kathy Kusnerâtwo of the greatest show jumpers of my lifetimeâare Olympic medalists (Matz with silver in 1996 in Atlanta, and Kusner with silver in 1972 in Germany). Matz was the son of a plumber in Reading, Pennsylvania, who never rode a horse until he was 15 and a neighbor asked him if he wanted to go riding. From there, he worked his way up from a groom to a rider to an elite competitor. He was not wealthy; he was not a trainerâs son, and he worked his way up from the ground.
He earned sponsors who gave him the opportunity to buy great horses in order to become a great rider. His stellar career is based on studying all aspects of the horse and training endlessly toward perfection of his craft. In todayâs world, there would most likely not be a Michael Matz.
Kusner was the first female licensed jockey in America, one of the first women to ever ride for the USET, and the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in equestrian competition. She was born in Gainesville, Florida, to a father who was a mathematics professor and a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and a mother who was a school teacher. She had no access to horses but was drawn to them instinctively. She worked in the afternoons after school for $2 per day to pay for riding lessons. Soon, she became a sought-after young rider for horse dealers in the area.
She rode every type of horse, even competing in unrecognized flat and jumping races as a teenager. She famously sued to become the first licensed woman jockey, unable to become the first woman to ride a race because of a broken leg sustained while jumping at Madison Square Garden. Kusner was indomitable, pushing through barriers and jumping up to become one of the greatest riders in the history of the U.S. How would this Army brat who never understood the words âyou canâtâ be able to navigate the current system to become a three-time Olympian and an inductee into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame?
Itâs okay - building a program that finds athletes at those early levels is much harder and in some ways may not be possible today. Itâs just no longer true that kids can bike after school to the local horse dealer and ride 5 $500 sale ponies a day. Arguably today the young counterparts of Matz and Kusner might never swing their legs over a horse at all, let alone get to any show ring. We are going to need a different approach to build the pipeline at the truly grassroots level.
But also - very fair to note that even people who get halfway through the pipeline to arrive at the 1.30 jumpers are still losing out, and that itâs a much lower lift to find those people and build them up. Some need money, some need connections, some need coaching, and giving them the exposure to the next step is valuable.
This program is well worth doing - just donât sell it as grassroots.
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