United States Eventing Association

Aharoni's Notorious is Carrying on His Five-Star Brother's Legacy 'in a Golden Jacket'

Just over a year ago, Arielle Aharoni’s world came crashing down when her long-time partner Dutch Times suffered an injury on cross-country at the MARS Maryland 5 Star within sight of the finish flags. Now, with “Dutch” safely on the mend, she has her sights set on a bright future with his full brother, Notorious, and other up-and-comers.

Dutch’s story with Aharoni began 15 years ago when her mother, Christina Aharoni, set out to buy a horse for herself. A former eventer, she’d taken time off for her career and family, but wanted to get back into riding. “My kids were in school, and I didn’t really fit in with the PTO moms, so I thought I’d buy a horse who could do it all—lessons, clinics, events, anything,” Christina said. “I wanted it to be nice, but all I could afford was a young horse.”

She came upon Goldhope Farm, a warmblood breeding farm in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, owned by Lauren Efford. Christina was initially interested in a handsome buckskin stallion, sired by Goodtimes and out of Alino Queen DH, by Michellino. “He wasn’t for sale, so Lauren showed her Dutch, his younger full brother who was just a baby, and he was really naughty,” said Arielle, who was only 8 years old at the time. “My mom walked in there, and was like, ‘Yep, that’s the one.’ She knew he had quality, and he was so full of himself and so much confidence as a foal.”

Christina remembers the day well. “He was so unruly, and his ego was so big, and I thought, ‘You know what this horse is going to be? A superstar.’ ” At the time, Arielle wasn’t interested in riding—but Christina had an inkling her daughter might soon change her mind.

After Christina started him under saddle, Dutch went to Tik and Sinead Maynard’s farm to begin his career. Sinead had the early ride on him, but Tik took over after she traveled to England to train with William Fox-Pitt. Tik turned out to be the perfect next trainer for Dutch, whom he partnered with for four years. “He’s very soft and understanding with his horses, and he just let Dutch be Dutch,” said Christina. “I think if I’d had a rider who was going to muscle him and make him conform, then it wouldn’t have been successful.”

While Dutch was getting a jumpstart on his future, 11-year-old Arielle began riding with her mother at their farm in Branchburg, New Jersey. After competing through the three-star level with Tik, Dutch finally came home to Arielle, now 15 and skilled enough to take over the ride. From then on, their partnership flourished, and they progressed up the levels together.

A driven teen, Arielle always knew she wanted to go to five-star. “I thought he was the horse to do it,” she reflected. “He was a bit of a know-it-all. He knew the job before he even experienced it. As the crowds and atmosphere got bigger, he grew into it—he never got nervous. He loved that environment, and the more challenges you put in front of him, the more he thrived.”

As the two gained experience (including a two-year stint training with Boyd Martin), they built a deep trust in one another, a quality she finds vital for the upper levels. “You almost have to be able to read each other’s minds, because you have to make split-second decisions out there,” she said. “He made even the toughest tracks seem easy because he already knew what I was thinking before I even asked him.” Arielle credits their strong partnership to their long-time relationship, as if they were siblings. “I think he took care of me because I was ‘his kid.’ He was almost like a big brother to me.”

In 2023, they had their sights set on the Maryland 5 Star. A second-place finish at Bromont CCI4*L (Quebec, Canada) in June boosted their confidence as the fall event drew nearer. Coached by Andrew Philbrick of Princeton Show Jumping, the pair also won grand prix show jumping classes together. After Dutch won two of the classes, the Aharonis were offered $2 million for the gelding. “I said, ‘Sorry, not for sale,’ ” recalled Christina. “Everybody was like, ‘Are you crazy?!’ But how do you put a price tag on a family member?”

Soon after, the pair headed to the five-star, a dream 15 years in the making. But the event wasn’t the weekend they’d hoped for, as Dutch suffered an injury near the end of cross-country. “There was a big table on a downhill, right before you make the final turn, and you could see the finish line,” remembered Arielle. “I’d gone through the Fair Hill drop, and I thought, ‘We’re home. We did it; there’s only two fences left.’ I was probably already bawling because I was so excited.”

As Dutch jumped the table, he whacked a part of his leg not covered by the boot. “That injury can only happen when the leg is in full extension with blunt force trauma,” said Arielle. “When he started going on three legs, I knew something terrible had happened. It took me a while to pull him up, because he was still trying to keep going.”

Dutch was transported to the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, to assess the damage. When the swelling had subsided, tests showed a full rupture of his superficial digital flexor tendon. Fortunately, surgery wasn’t required, but he needed to have the leg protected and the weight taken off it so that the other tendons and ligaments weren’t affected. “A lot of it was rest and pain management, and making sure he was sound enough for rehab,” said Arielle. “Months later, he finally got the go-ahead to begin walking. And now, a year later, we just did our first cross rail.”

On stall rest, Dutch was miserable without a job, throwing tantrums whenever the trailer would head to an event without him. “He was so happy to get that saddle back on for the first time—even if it was just walking,” recalled Arielle. “If he wanted to live in a field for the rest of his life, and just come in to get groomed and pampered, I’d be happy with that. Because he owes us nothing. He doesn't need to have a job, but he wants to. So, why not? [The vets] say he can maybe do small courses, or dressage, or something with low impact. I think we’re going to try and give him that.”

This year, Arielle was back at Maryland with a new ride in the CCI3*-L, Cooley Baltic Sea, or “Crunchie”, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Baltic VDL x HHS Cheerio) she and her mother got back in the spring, and ultimately finished 10th in the division. And though it’d been a year since the accident, the memories of the tragic moment were still fresh. “Walking past that spot on course at Maryland this year, I think my mom gasped,” remembered Arielle. “I try to separate it from my mind and focus on the horse in front of me, but it was upsetting to be there without Dutch. I think I felt it the most when we started the competition season, and I didn’t have him out there with me.”

As a former event rider who competed at Ledyard (Hamilton, Massachusetts) and Radnor (Malvern, Pennsylvania) decades ago, Christina understood how her daughter felt. “It’s hard to go from that level to being almost irrelevant,” she said. “Back then we had one horse; we were one-hit wonders. If your horse got hurt, you didn’t even have a school horse to ride. So that was part of the reason we got Crunchie. But on the other hand, I thought, ‘How lucky have you been your entire young life to have a horse like Dutch in your life? Who took you around a five-star, who won grand prix classes?’ I think Arielle knows that. If he were 7 or 8 when he’d gotten hurt, instead of 15, it’d be different. But how lucky were we to have had 15 years of that?”

Seven years ago, the promise of Arielle’s next superstar came on her birthday. Unbeknownst to Arielle, Christina had purchased Dutch’s full sibling in-utero. “We bought a tiny buckskin model foal from Tractor Supply and put it in a box and brought it to dinner,” Efford recalled. “She opened it, and that’s how she found out she had Notorious.”

The next spring, Notorious (known as “Noodle”) was born: a stunning buckskin, brimming with self-confidence. “He’s basically Dutch in a golden jacket,” said Efford.

The little colt was likely going to be one of the last full siblings. “The mare was getting older, and I was like, ‘How can I not buy it?’ ” said Christina. “Dutch is the horse of 10 lifetimes, to cart around my young daughter safely and teach her a lesson when she was too big for her britches.”

Now 6, Noodle is following in his big brother’s footsteps—and in a way he’s learning from Dutch through Arielle. “He has the same kind of personality,” said Arielle. “We say he thrives in chaos…the more challenged he is, the better he goes. He gets bored doing the same thing every day, so we’re always changing it up for him. I didn’t ride Dutch at this age that [Noodle] is now. He’s very much a teenage boy. He’s always like, ‘Where are the people? Let’s check out the vendors.’ ”

A few weeks ago, Arielle and Notorious took seventh in the USEF/USEA 6-Year-Old Developing Horse National Championships CCI2*-S at Morven Park (Leesburg, Virginia). And though he didn’t earn top scores in the USEA Young Event Horse classes, when he stepped into his own this season Christina wasn’t surprised with his success. “I was just like, ‘Ha, I told you so!’ I’m a typical mom. Maybe other horses have better technique or better gaits, but I’ve known from day 1 that he’s going to be a top horse. He’s just so brazen and bold.”

Besides Noodle, the Aharonis also own another relation to Dutch, Veni Vedi Vici (“Pickle”), a 6-year-old (Valentino x Furst Queen) out of Dutch’s half-sister who competed through two-star. “Pickle and Noodle are best friends,” says Arielle. “He’s at Training level, so he’s coming along a bit more slowly than Noddle. He’s huge, so I think he’s going to develop a little slower, until he finds where his legs are. I’m really excited about building the same partnership with these two that I had with Dutch.”

Needless to say, the Aharonis have been drawn to the bloodlines since their success with Dutch. “I think this line thrives on being challenged, but you also have to let them know how great they are and keep that confidence up and not overface them, especially for the upper-levels,” said Arielle. “You have to make them think they’re the best and set them up for success where things feel easy.”

A lifelong breeder, Efford’s philosophy has always been to breed good all-around horses, though many warmblood associations have become more breed specialized. She wanted to use a stallion for her breeding program that checked all the boxes: good gaits, intelligence, jumping ability, and soundness. “It’s one of the reasons that I chose Goodtimes because he has very good gaits and an excellent jump,” she said. “He’s also what’s known as a cheeky horse”—a quality both Dutch and Noodle inherited.

Dutch and Noodle’s dam, Alino Queen DH, turned out to be the perfect match. Sired by dressage legend Michellino, the palomino mare was imported from Denmark for a client as a yearling, and Efford bought her two years later. “She’s 27 and still sound,” said Efford, “and her sire is 35, and they still ride him. These horses are built for longevity.” Besides producing exceptional foals, Alino Queen also has a saintly demeanor. After the mare aborted her foal one year, she raised an orphan by another mare who’d died during foaling.

But it’s not just the Aharonis’ geldings who’ve had success. Two of the full brothers to Dutch and Noodle are licensed stallions: Good as Gold and Heroic Times. Another son of Alino Queen’s was sold to Denmark, and ended up one of the top 6-year-old dressage horses in the country. “All of my horses now are either out of her or by her son,” said Efford. “I’m breeding her grandchildren now, which is pretty special.” Just this month, one of the youngest, a stunning palomino filly named Parhelia GHF, began her show career.

Efford chats often with Christina about the horses, and even though she doesn’t retain ownership of any of the homebreds, she still feels like part of the team. “It’s amazing to go to the shows and not only see them earn ribbons, but see how they’re loved beyond measure,” Efford said. “They do not spare a single expense for these horses. They’re family members, and the Aharonis would do anything for them. What more could a breeder ask for?”

For now, all the Aharoni horses are on vacation, until they head down to Florida to leg up for the next season. “Noodle can’t sit for too long because then he starts finding things to do,” joked Arielle. “He’ll do a little bit of dressage boot camp, and then he’ll start the season at Prelim and maybe do a two-star at TerraNova [Myakka City, Florida] or maybe go up to Bouckaert Farms [Fairburn, Georgia]. Then mid-season we might do an Intermediate move-up, if he’s ready. He’s 6 right now, so I’m not in a rush.”

And as for Dutch? “We’re all fighting to see who gets to ride him at AEC in the starter classes one day—me, our veterinarian, or our barn helpers,” said Christina. “Maybe we’ll take turns?”