United States Eventing Association

Ava Wehde Persevered and Triumphed at the AEC with U.S.-Bred Bonaire

There were so many horses and riders who overcame the odds and triumphed at this year's USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds. While we couldn't tell every story during the event, we'll be sharing some in the coming weeks on useventing.com.

As I walk down the ramp into the Rolex Arena to compete in the 2024 $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds, I ask myself, “What am I doing here?” I look around in the warmup area, and everyone is a big-name rider—several are past Olympians—and here I am, a rider no one has heard of. I don’t have a stable full of upper-level horses or owners, but what I do have is a wonderful U.S.-bred mare that I produced myself from scratch.

I bought my mare, Bonaire (Bliss MF x Avalon), or “Beezie,” as a 3-year-old from her breeder, Elizabeth Callahan, in Maryland. My mom Paula Wehde and I really liked the way she moved in the video, especially how she worked over her back, and she had proven herself as a future jumper in the Young Event Horse jump chute. She had been backed by the Daniel and Kaitlin Clasing and was only under saddle for one month. I instantly fell in love with the big mare with intelligent, kind eyes and a lovely demeanor in the barn. I rode her lightly in a field with knee-high grass, and I just knew she was special. That day changed my riding career and brought me to places I never knew were possible for a small-time rider from New Hampshire.

I grew up in USEA Area 1, and like many young girls, I started taking riding lessons. My mom was a dressage rider, and I was around horses from a young age. My first event horse was a Thoroughbred mare, blind in one eye, that was fast and quite hot. I thought going 520-meters per minute at Beginner Novice was fun, but looking back, it was ridiculous to ride like a speed demon all the time, decked out in hot pink.

I moved to Ocala, Florida, in 2017 as a working student. I had three different working student positions before becoming an exercise rider galloping racehorses at Bridlewood Farm. During my five years as an exercise rider, I rode thousands of horses. This job gave me the balance and leg position needed for galloping at the upper levels. I often hear riders say they want to compete at the upper levels, but as exciting as it might sound, it is not easy at all. Riding at this level is not for the faint of heart—it requires fitness, a great seat, dedication, and determination.

I had been competing at Intermediate on my wonderful late mare, Butts Leonie, when we purchased Bonaire. Unfortunately, “Leonie” had to retire from competition in the spring of 2018, and all I had going was a big, gangly baby going Novice. It was a difficult time, but I knew I had a very special youngster on my hands, and my dream of moving up the levels was more alive than ever.

In early 2018, I started riding with Jon Holling in Ocala with Beezie, even before she had done her first recognized event. Seven years later, he walked us down the ramp into the Rolex Stadium for show jumping in the Advanced Final. To say he has been an essential part of our journey would be an understatement. It’s hard to describe how grateful we are for Jon’s knowledge and wisdom that helped get us where we are today. Beezie has never been an easy horse, and it has been instrumental to have a coach who understands the more difficult horse and brings out the best in them.

Getting to Advanced has not been easy. I don’t have huge financial backing, and I work A LOT. I will be forever thankful for my family, who has been nothing but supportive of my crazy dreams. My days are long. I don’t have grooms or working students. My days consist of riding my horses and client horses at my small farm, traveling around Ocala to teach and ride, then returning home to finish chores. My days end with feeding horses, turning them out, and cleaning stalls. Add to that mowing, arena dragging, paddock picking, tack cleaning, raking—anything else that needs to be done. It is absolutely exhausting some days, but it’s the drive and love of the horse that keeps me going.

There have been times when I’ve wanted to give up. When Beezie was young, she was very difficult but always extremely brave. Rideability was challenging, and I had to learn to ride her the way she wanted, not what I thought was best. That didn’t truly come until she was 7 years old. As the months and years passed, we progressed from Novice to Training, then from Training to Preliminary, slowly checking off solid scores. Her dressage was inconsistent scoring-wise, but she continued to show bravery and scope in jumping. Every time we moved up, the new level felt easy for her. We did our first two-star together and won in 2021, then moved up to Intermediate in August of 2022.

Our second and third Intermediates were massive three-star tracks, but again, they never felt like a challenge for her. That’s when we realized we might have a big-time horse here. From then until fall 2023, we continued to have fabulous runs at Intermediate and three-star events. At that point, it looked promising to move up to Advanced in fall 2023, and we did! She didn’t bat an eye at anything, which is typical for her, but you truly don’t know if you have an Advanced horse until you finish one.

That brings us to the 2024 AEC. We entered the Advanced Final, which was only our fourth Advanced run, but we had three runs at the level that were phenomenal, with clear cross-country rounds each time. I walked the AEC cross-country course for the third time and had thoughts like, “I’m not good enough for a track like this,” or “I don’t belong here; this is only for the big guys.” But on Thursday morning before cross-country, I took Beezie up for a graze at sunrise, overlooking the stunning cross-country course at the Kentucky Horse Park. The thoughts changed to, “I can do this; we belong here,” and “We’ve got this together, Beezie.”

I left the start box feeling determined on a horse ready to tackle the challenging track. We finished the cross-country clear with a bit of time! I didn’t have many words other than how awesome Beezie was and, “I can’t believe we just did that.” In typical Beezie style, it felt easy for her. We show-jumped under the lights in the Rolex Stadium, which was intimidating, but we finished. There’s truly nothing that compares to finishing your first big Advanced championship on a horse you made and produced yourself.

Thank you to everyone who has always believed in us: my family and friends, Jon and Jen Holling, Beezie’s wellness team, and my amazing boyfriend, Thomas Domit, who continues to be my rock in this sport. I am truly grateful and will always be. So much of this journey has been about believing in myself, too. All I can say is: If you have a dream, chase it. Get good help, find trainers who bring out the best in you and your horse, and don’t stop believing and working. On the hard days, don’t give up. With the challenging horses, don’t give up. Continue to chase the dream—it is worth it.

Ava Wehde operates a small farm in Ocala, Florida, specializing in training young horses and OTTB restarts.