No It ‘Tissant, Lynn Symansky’s longtime partner was laid to rest in January at the age of 28. “Fergus” was an off-the-track Thoroughbred by Admiral’s Flag and out of Yes Tis who had 24 starts on the track as a 2 and 3-year-old, winning three times and earning $16,675. Fergus was introduced to eventing by Julie Gomena, and Symansky purchased Fergus when he was 5 years old and she was just 14. They learned the ropes of eventing together and climbed from Novice to Advanced in just four years.
In 2003 Symansky and Fergus earned a spot on the USEF Winter Training List and finished in 10th place at the 2003 Pan American Games. The pair made their Rolex Kentucky CCI4* (now CCI5*) debut in 2007, finishing in 19th place. They returned the next year with another top-20 finish and Fergus was named the best-conditioned horse.
“Fergus was never lacking in personality and had the strongest opinions of any horse I’ll know,” said Symansky. “His emotions were never hard to read, and his dramatic hatred of dressage and discipline was only rivaled by his obsessive love for cross-country and dirt. We would likely never win a single thing in the modern-day sport, but I can’t think of a better horse to have learned from.”
It was on Fergus that Symansky earned her Pony Club ‘A’ rating. Other highlights of Fergus’ career included first place at the 2000 Morven Park Intermediate, seventh place at the 2000 Radnor Three-Day CCI2*, second place at the 2002 Plantation Field Advanced, first place at the 2004 Virginia Horse Trials Intermediate, seventh place at the 2005 Fair Hill International Advanced, fifth place at the 2005 Plantation Field Advanced, and 10th place at the 2007 Fork CIC3*.
“Fergus was a tried-and-true long format horse—he taught me the importance of showing up and kicking on no matter how far down the leaderboard we found ourselves on the first day. What he lacked in classic technique over fences he made up for in scope and heart. As a kid I had little understanding of his exceptional bravery and power, but it was that feel which instilled a confidence in me nearly impossible to teach without the right partner. It’s what most of us work our lives towards cultivating,” continued Symansky.
“For every bit of success he helped me realize, we saw even more disappointment. He taught me lifelong lessons in patience, a strong work ethic, compromise, respect, and friendship. I learned that a horse’s most frustrating flaw can also be their best attribute. Whether bruising my mom’s arms in the ‘D’ box as his heart rate rose in direct proportion to the excitement still out on course, or scaring away the barn help from the only place that tolerated him, he would gladly push anyone around in pursuit of his own self-interest. Even in full retirement he would gladly plow one over to escape his stall or the perceived threat of a bath. He acted like this up until the day I had to say goodbye.”
Fergus retired from upper level competition in 2008 and went on to compete at the Preliminary level with two of Symansky’s students – first Retsy Holliday who won the JYOP at Virginia with him in 2010, and then with Cara Goode who campaigned him in 2012. Fergus was retired from eventing after the 2012 season and spent his remaining eight years “being the king of Handlen Farm.”
“Fergus, thank you for giving me my foundation, keeping me humble, and solidifying my love for OTTBs and eventing. He was my best friend from my early teens, helped me survive college and adulthood, gave me a taste of breaking into the top, and granted me the joy of paying it forward as I watched him teach (and terrorize) others. He was my most frustrating rival, my best professor, and responsible for changing the course of my life.”
If you are wanting to get a good parking spot at the Kentucky Horse Park this morning, you better be on your way as early as possible! Cross-country day at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is easily the busiest day the Kentucky Horse Park sees each year, so it's time to grab your coffee and go ensure you get the viewing spot you want for both the CCI4*-S and CCI5*-L divisions today.
Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.
Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.
Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.