United States Eventing Association

When Stephanie Watko first met Brinley Gold, she wasn’t looking for another horse.

A mixed-animal veterinarian, Watko was about a year out of veterinary school and working in Florida when a rescue she frequently assisted called her out to geld a 5- or 6-month-old colt. The procedure would have to wait—only one testicle had descended—but something about the gangly buckskin Thoroughbred stuck with her.

“I don’t know what made me feel that way, but I was just, ‘If you ever need a home for this horse, let me know,’ ” Watko recalled.

She certainly didn’t need him. She already had a Thoroughbred mare she’d hauled from Connecticut to Oregon and eventually to Florida, plus another young mare she hoped to develop. But the colt kept cycling back through the rescue. He was adopted three times and returned three times, Watko said, still a stud colt and proving too fresh and difficult for his new handlers.

Then one of Watko’s mares suffered a serious knee injury and was sold as a broodmare, opening a space in her barn. When Watko returned to the rescue to pull Coggins tests, the buckskin was back once again.

This time, she took him home.

Watko paid his $450 adoption fee, brought him to her farm, and gelded him in her front yard. She gave him the barn name Liam, a nod to actor Liam Hemsworth, of whom she was “a big fan back in the day.”

Eight years later, the horse she didn’t need has become the horse she didn’t know she was waiting for.

Now 8, 18-hand Liam is preparing to make his third trip to the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds with Watko. After previous appearances at Beginner Novice and Novice, Watko and Liam will contest the Training level this year—another milestone for a partnership she has built almost entirely from the ground up. “He kind of really has become the adult amateur packer that I always wished I had,” she said.

All the Firsts

Watko, who grew up in Connecticut, spent her childhood riding hunter/jumpers at a sale barn and didn’t begin eventing until she was 18. She started while attending the University of Connecticut, where more opportunities to compete in the sport became available.

Eight years ago, Watko moved just outside of St. Augustine, Florida, to begin her veterinary career. She now serves as chief of staff at Shelton Veterinary Clinic, where her patients range from dogs, cats, and guinea pigs to horses, cows, goats, pigs, and even emus.

As a youngster, Liam was more backyard pet than future competition horse. He had an insatiable curiosity and a penchant for putting anything he could find in his mouth.

“He loves power tools,” Watko said. “We would be building fence lines. He would grab a drill and run across the field with it. He was scared of nothing.”

Watko introduced him to the sport through the USEA’s former Future Event Horse program as a 2-year-old. Sometime around age 2 or 3, Watko said, Liam fractured his pelvis. He was never overtly lame, but she later noticed that one hip sat visibly lower than the other. His left hind leg is also slightly shorter than his right.

Over the years, Watko has sought opinions from veterinarians, chiropractors, and farriers and experimented with different approaches to his hoof care. The general consensus, she said, has remained simple: If Liam is comfortable and capable of doing the job, let him do it.

So that’s what she has done.

Before Watko ever asked much of Liam under saddle, she gave him an extensive education from the ground. She ground drove him, took him hiking, and brought him cross-country schooling in hand. He learned to negotiate logs, ditches, banks, and water before he ever had to do it with a rider aboard.

Her friend Cheryl Carl remembers one of their earliest adventures away from home.

“Our first off-property adventure was at the farm I work for,” Carl said. “She worked him in-hand over some logs, over our wooden bridges, passed various livestock, then we hiked out to our lake where he absolutely loved playing in the water. I could tell then that he would do anything for her and that she was so excited to get to do all of the firsts with him.”

That foundation paid off when it came time to ride him. Watko sat on Liam briefly at 2 and again at 3, but because of his size, she waited until he was 4 to put him into more consistent work.

Liam eventually grew to about 18 hands—a far cry from Watko’s ideal 15.3-hand horse.

“Everyone who wants a tall horse, I say you don't,” Watko joked.

Neither of Liam’s parents suggested he would become quite so enormous. His sire, Goldmaker, stood around 16 hands, Watko said, while his dam, Dem Eyes, was about 15.3.

“I don't know how he got really tall,” she said. “He never stopped growing.”

From Starter to Training

Liam’s competitive career began with modest expectations—and a memorable first outing.

At his first schooling show, he jumped out of the dressage arena.

“He had never been in one before,” Watko said. “So, he just popped over it because he thought it was a cavaletti, and I just literally jumped back in and finished the test.”

Watko initially figured they would stick to Starter, but as Liam kept proving himself, the goals kept moving. They progressed through Beginner Novice and Novice to Training and eventually Modified.

Along the way, Liam has proven remarkably versatile. In addition to eventing, he has competed through Fourth Level in U.S.Dressage Federation competition and is schooling movements approaching Prix St. Georges. Watko earned her USDF bronze medal with him and hopes eventually to earn her silver. This year, they have even added working equitation to their résumé.

Dressage has also served a practical purpose. The progressive strengthening work has helped Liam learn to better use his uneven hind end.

“He moves better every year, just because we advance more with the dressage and everything,” Watko said.

Liam and Watko also actively participate in the USEA Medal Program, and Liam has earned gold medals at both Novice and Training.

Cross-country may be where the big buckskin is most naturally at home. Watko describes him as a solid, uncomplicated ride who will tackle whatever is in front of him without becoming overly strong or dramatic.

Show jumping has required more work. Liam’s size and hind-end asymmetry make it harder for him to quickly reorganize himself when a distance doesn’t work out perfectly. At the lower levels, he could easily correct a mistake; at Training, rails have become more likely.

That has shaped much of Watko’s AEC preparation this summer. They competed at Ocala Summer II at the Florida Horse Park as their final prep event, their first full event since May. Otherwise, Watko has concentrated on local jumper shows, giving them more mileage in the phase she knows will be especially challenging in the atmosphere of Rolex Stadium.

“I’m really just looking to have a positive ride in the stadium this year,” she said. “That’s what I’ve been putting the most effort into.”

Back to Kentucky

Watko knows exactly what that atmosphere feels like.

Liam first qualified for the AEC at Beginner Novice, then returned at Novice. He qualified at Training last year, but with the championships held in California, Watko opted not to make the trip. This year, they earned their spot again.

Preparing for Kentucky from Florida in August has presented another challenge. Watko tries to ride before work when possible, but lessons and weekly cross-country schools often fall during the hottest parts of the day. She has relied heavily on long walking sessions for low-impact conditioning and limited her gallop work because of both the heat and hard ground caused by drought.

“I wouldn’t be doing anything right now if I wasn’t going to AEC,” she said.

Still, the destination makes it worthwhile. Watko loves the Kentucky Horse Park and is especially looking forward to returning to its cross-country course at Training level. But her ambitions for the week aren’t centered on a ribbon.

“As long as I finish on a number, not a letter, that is always good enough for me because it’s always just a privilege to be there,” she said. “I evented for over a decade, and it was a very distant dream for a long time that I would ever be able to even qualify for AEC. This certainly isn’t the horse that I expected to be doing it with.”

That horse—the $450 rescue colt with the uneven hips, insatiable curiosity, and affinity for power tools—has instead exceeded nearly every expectation Watko had for him.

Much of that journey has happened alongside Watko’s longtime trainer, Victoria Kelley, who has worked with Liam since his earliest days under saddle and helped Watko develop her own dressage skills. Kelley will accompany Watko to Kentucky this year while also competing at her first AEC aboard her own 20-year-old Thoroughbred.

Carl has watched the partnership develop from an even earlier stage.

“It’s been so exciting to watch him grow up into such a powerful and confident horse,” Carl said. “His transformation is a true testament to Dr. Stephanie’s careful and focused training with her coach, Victoria.”

And then there’s the obvious part of Liam’s appeal.

“First of all he’s absolutely gorgeous,” Carl said. “There are not very many giant buckskin Thoroughbreds that I know of. But mostly, he has the fun, goofy gelding personality that I adore. We always refer to him as a potato. It just fits him.”

After the AEC, Watko plans to give Liam a month off before hopefully returning to Modified this fall. She may aim for a CCI1*-S level in the future, continue with working equitation, and turn more attention toward her USDF silver medal.

But she has no intention of pushing Liam toward a predetermined destination. From the beginning, the approach has been to listen to the horse in front of her. “We just kind of let him show us what he wants to and can do, and that’s just what we do with him,” Watko said. “And so far, he hasn’t given us a limit.”

For Carl, Liam’s success is as much a testament to her friend as it is to the giant buckskin she has watched grow up.

“While I am definitely a huge fan of Liam, I’m an even bigger fan of Dr. Stephanie,” she said. “She has the dedication and drive to excel in this sport. I admire her grit and perseverance. I’m so happy for her and Liam’s success, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.”

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About the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC)

The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is the pinnacle of the sport at the national levels. Held annually, the best junior, adult amateur, and professional competitors gather to vie for national championship titles at every level from Starter to Advanced. This ultimate test of horse and rider draws hundreds of combinations from around the country to compete for fabulous prizes, a piece of the substantial prize money, and the chance to be named the National Champion at their respective levels. In fact, the 2021 AEC garnered over 1,000 entries and now stands as the largest eventing competition in North American history. The 2026 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds will be held on Aug. 25-30 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Click here to learn more about the USEA American Eventing Championships.

The USEA would like to thank Presenting Sponsor: Nutrena Feeds; Advanced Final Title Sponsor: Adequan; Platinum Level Sponsors: Bates Saddles, Marshall+Sterling Equine Insurance; Gold Level Sponsors: ARMA, Gallaghers Water, PulseVet, Schneiders Saddlery, SmartPak, Standlee; Silver Level Sponsors: Auburn Labs, Kerrits, The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program, Rood & Riddle; Bronze Level Sponsors: 70°, Antech Diagnostics, Athletux, The Chronicle of the Horse, Devoucoux, D.G. Stackhouse & Ellis, Dubarry of Ireland, Equestrian Team Apparel, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, John Deere, Retired Racehorse Project, Ride EquiSafe, Santa Cruz Animal Health; Contributing Level Sponsors: AnimaSol, CrossCountry App, Foxhollow Farm, Georgetown/Scott County Tourism, Kentucky Equine Research, Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, Lexmark, LV Harkness, Only Fools and Horses, #WeRideTogether, YETI; and Prize Level Sponsors: ARRO Helmets, The Dad Den, Dandy Products, Equiluxe Tack, Equine IMED, Fair Hill Saddlery, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips, I Love My Horse Boutique, The Infused Equestrian, Love Equestrian, Majyk Equipe, Mare Modern Goods, Natalie Hummel Coaching, Neighborly Tack, Outlaw Nutrition, Parkmore Supplements, Peak Performance Equine Spa, Poseidon Animal Health, Rachel Dory Fine Art, Right Path Equestrian, Saddle Bird Boutique, Sidelines Magazine, Strides For Equality Equestrians, STRIDER, Stylish in the Saddle, VTO Saddlery, and XLR8 Equine.