United States Eventing Association

At 17 years old, Ava Applebaum had been thinking about moving up to Intermediate for a while. Winning her first start at the level? That was more of a daydream.

“I had the thought, ‘It’d be cool to win your first Intermediate,’” she said. “But it would just be exciting to be there, you know? I had that goal set for a while in my heart and in my head.”

Then, at the Millbrook Horse Trials in Millbrook, New York, on July 23, Ava and DHI Qyaracolle Z made the daydream a reality.

Applebaum and the 10-year-old Zangersheide/Thoroughbred mare, known as “Qyra,” started the competition with a 29.8 in dressage and added just 3.2 cross-country time penalties to finish on a score of 33.0. The pair topped a competitive field of 20 that included several five-star riders.

For the Area I teenager, the result was about much more than a blue ribbon. It was confirmation that nearly two years spent building a partnership with the opinionated mare were beginning to pay off.

“Millbrook was one of those shows where you’re like, ‘Wow, everything just worked,’” Applebaum said. “We were together, the rideability was there. She was thinking what I was thinking, and vice versa.”

A Horse-Crazy Kid

Applebaum grew up in Massachusetts and started riding at age 4, inspired by her mother, Nicole Applebaum, who also rode. Her first pony was named Nick at Night, and Nicole recalls that horses quickly became far more than a childhood hobby.

“I remember when Ava was about 6 or 7 years old, her trainer at the time told me she had never met a child as determined and eager to learn as Ava,” Nicole said. “Even at such a young age, you could see how much riding and caring for the horses meant to her and how deeply she loved it.”

Ava began in the hunter world and stayed there until age 12, when she was finally allowed to try eventing. Cross-country provided the initial draw.

“I think it was just the excitement of it,” she said. “At first every time my mom mentioned it to me, I was like, ‘I can’t do dressage. No way.’”

She laughs at that now: Dressage has become one of her favorite phases.

Her early eventing partners included Bailey, or FE Bail Me Out, whom she considered her “heart horse” for years. Later came FE City Boy, known as Fenway, a young horse Ava got as a 5-year-old and produced to Modified. Fenway was eventually euthanized because of a neurological condition, a loss that left Ava facing the difficult question of what came next.

The answer arrived unexpectedly. Qyra wasn’t on the market when Ava received a message from Cornelia Fletcher, who suggested that she come try the mare anyway. Ava remembers arriving for that first ride and seeing a rainbow over the dressage ring.

“I was like, ‘That’s my sign. This is my horse,’” she said.

Learning Qyra

Qyra (Quinar Z x Celiacolle Z) had already competed through the three-star level and came with plenty of experience—and plenty of opinions. “She is quite a sassy little thing,” Ava said.

In fact, that personality was part of the appeal. Ava said she likes horses who make their opinions known, and Qyra certainly fit the bill. Because Qyra had been with the same connections since she was 4, Ava initially tried to ride her more like the rider she was accustomed to before gradually developing a style that worked for them both.

“It is a conversation, and she really taught me what a relationship is,” Ava said.

There was plenty to learn. Qyra can be hot at competitions, and Ava had to figure out what was going on in the mare’s head and how to channel that energy. She also had to learn all of Qyra’s different moods. Fletcher warned her early on that the mare might show up feeling like “six different horses” from one day to the next.

For Ava, developing the partnership meant learning how to ride all of those personalities and different feels, while making sure each could depend on the other when needed.

Nicole has watched that relationship develop from the sidelines.

“Qyra has taught Ava a wealth of knowledge—not only about riding, but also about patience, trust, responsibility, and partnership,” she said. “Qyra loves the sport as much as Ava does, and I think that is truly clear to see when they are together.”

Putting It Together at Millbrook

At Millbrook, those pieces seemed to click from the start.

Before her dressage test, Ava pre-rode Qyra, who kept eyeing the nearby cross-country course. The mare seemed eager to get over there, but Ava reminded her she would get her chance soon enough.

The test improved as it went, and Ava left the arena mostly thrilled to have completed her first Intermediate dressage test. Then a friend told her she was tied for second.

Ava admits she is a scoreboard watcher. As more combinations rode, she kept refreshing the scores and waiting to drop down the standings. She didn’t.

Cross-country brought another test of their partnership. Ava expected Qyra to be strong; on a previous trip to Millbrook, she had learned that she needed more bit. This time, though, the added questions at Intermediate seemed to help keep the mare focused.

“I think just those extra questions really helped her be like, ‘OK, I’m gonna listen,’” Ava said.

They jumped clear, adding only 3.2 time penalties, and moved into the lead. That left show jumping—a phase Ava considers one of her weaker ones—with the pressure firmly on. “I was like, ‘OK, Ava, just figure it out; you’ll be OK,’” she said.

There was no hiding from the standings. With the division jumping in reverse order, everyone knew exactly where she stood. The plan had been that cross-country might take a little energy out of Qyra before show jumping. Instead, Ava said, the mare entered the ring “as lively as ever.”

Still, the rails stayed up. “When I felt her front legs land from that last oxer, I was like, ‘Wow, that really just happened,’” Ava said.

The weekend carried one bittersweet note. Nicole, who usually attends competitions with her daughter, had recently opened a boutique on Cape Cod and couldn’t make the trip. She watched the action via livestream while Ava’s father, Matthew Applebaum, accompanied her to Millbrook.

Ava wished her mother could have been there, especially after the two had shared so much of her riding journey. But having her father there made the milestone special in a different way.

That family support has helped make an unconventional teenage life possible. Ava switched from public school to online school during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing her to spend winters in Florida and devote more time to horses. There, she takes care of her horses herself while keeping up with schoolwork. She is now heading into her senior year.

“When you have a child who is so passionate about something in their life, I feel like it becomes a responsibility to chase your children’s dreams with them,” Nicole said. “My husband always says, ‘We divide and conquer,’ and that is exactly what we have done to make everything happen.”

With two older brothers who had their own school and sports commitments, supporting Ava often required exactly that. Her parents balanced horse shows and trips to Florida with football games and their sons’ other activities, making sure they showed up for all three children.

Ava also credits the team of trainers helping her develop, including Grant and Sharon Schneidman, Ferial Johnson, and Alyssa Phillips. She has spent the past two seasons working with Johnson, whose combination of high expectations and encouragement has particularly resonated with her.

Ava describes Johnson’s teaching style as a balance of “tough love” and recognizing when a rider gets something right. Both Johnson and Phillips, she said, have also made a point of telling her when they are proud of her—something that has meant a great deal.

That support extends beyond lessons. When Ava traveled to Maryland and was Johnson’s only student competing there, her coach still booked a flight, rental car, and hotel to be there.

“She really has your back, and she’s just a really good person, full of a lot of knowledge,” Ava said.

The goals from here are ambitious. Ava hopes to continue gaining experience at the three-star level and apply for U25 opportunities as she looks toward her future in the sport. With college approaching, she is already thinking about how to build the next stage of her education around continuing to ride at a high level.

“Our goal is to definitely be on the U.S. teams, maybe make it to the Olympics,” she said. “At some part of my life, [that] would really be a dream and a goal that I’ve always had.”

Millbrook was only one weekend on the way there. But the win offered a glimpse of just how far the partnership between Ava and Qyra has already come—and, perhaps, where the 17-year-old hopes it might eventually take her.