United States Eventing Association

Road to the AEC: Margo Goldfarb Balances Graduate School and Intermediate Eventing With Her Connemara Cross

I am heading to the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds on my 8-year-old Connemara/Thoroughbred cross Ridgetop Pirate Blue.

“Pirate” was bred by my grandparents, Walter and Marynell Eyles of Ridgetop Connemaras where they stood Pirate’s sire, Landgate Bluebeard in Middlebrook, Virginia. Pirate’s dam, Queen Daisy was a quirky but nice Thoroughbred mare given to my grandparents by my late uncle, Billy Eyles. Unfortunately, Queen Daisy passed soon after Pirate was born, but efforts from my grandparents and a team of vets and fellow breeders connected Pirate with a mare who recently lost her foal, and they got along quite well. Pirate grew up on the hills in the Shenandoah Valley with other Connemaras and learned his first lessons about cross-country from going up and down natural banks and water crossings. I’m sure it has served him well in his current career!

In 2019, Pirate and another 3-year-old Connemara came to us to start their education under saddle at our farm in Franklin, Tennessee. I worked with Pirate while my sister, Nora Goldfarb, worked alongside me with the other 3-year-old. Nora’s young horse proved to be much easier than Pirate, and she progressed much faster while Pirate and I were struggling to walk over a pole (still a struggle today!). Eventually and with lots of patience, Pirate could do all the things a 3-year-old should do reasonably well, so he went back to Virginia to process everything we worked on over the summer/fall and grow up some more, and I went back to school for my senior year at Kenyon College (Gambion, Ohio).

The following spring in 2020, I graduated (virtually) with a degree in chemistry with plans to attend graduate school to get my PhD. One day, after graduation, I got a letter from my grandparents with Pirate’s papers signed over to me and a note that said, “Please accept our gift horse, Ridgetop Pirate Blue, in honor of your graduation. We hope the future is bright for the both of you. Although, we do offer a generous return policy! But sorry, no graduation money or guarantees!”

While I had been accepted to the Quantitative and Chemical Biology PhD program at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee), I opted to defer for a couple years to pursue my education with the horses during Covid. I went to work for Meghan O’Donoghue and brought a young Pirate along with me (I had worked for Meghan previously with another horse that she helped me produce to Intermediate, so returning to her program was a no-brainer!).

Throughout my time at Enduhring Farm in Virginia, Meghan provided valuable lessons that helped me bring Pirate along and instilled confidence that ostensibly little progress each day compounds significantly over months and years.

Eventually, I moved back home to start my graduate studies at Vanderbilt, but I have been fortunate to maintain my connection with Meghan’s program and still seek her mentorship despite now being over 600 miles away! I am also grateful to have the support of my parents, especially my mom who enables me to keep my horses at home while balancing school.

Balancing graduate school with my equine activities has been challenging, but I am able to stay productive in the lab with the time management skills I learned during my time as a working student. I can ride my horses early in the morning before driving to Nashville for school. I recently passed my qualifying exam for defending my thesis proposal and no longer have scheduled classes. Since my work is now exclusively my own research, I have flexibility in planning my experiments around my eventing schedule!

I am grateful for all the people who support me in pursuing my passion for the horses and the sport of eventing, as I most certainly would not be able to do this all on my own. Most of all, I am grateful for my little horse, Pirate, who tries his heart out every ride for me. Pirate has already exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine! Although we still struggle to walk over ground poles sometimes, Pirate has continued to improve and thrive in the sport. He stepped up to the preliminary level as a 6-year-old and completed two CCI2*-L competitions at 7, including a second-place finish at the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event (Lexington, Kentucky) in 2023.

So far this year, Pirate has transitioned well in the move up to the Intermediate level, most recently finishing in the top-10 at the CCI3*-S at the Maryland International Horse Trials (Adamstown, Maryland) thanks to the support from the MIEF Scholarship provided by the Maryland International Equestrian Foundation.

I have always said that I will climb the levels with Pirate as far as he would like to go, and I am not sure when we will reach that point. In the meantime, I am just enjoying the journey with him. We qualified for the AEC last year at the Preliminary level; however, I was not able to take the time off from classes to make the trip to Kentucky. We look forward to competing this year at the AEC at the Intermediate level!

Are you planning on attending the AEC this year and have a cool story? Let us know by emailing Lindsay at [email protected] for a chance to be featured on useventing.com

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 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds will be held Aug. 27—Sept. 1 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 Sponsor: Bates Saddles, Horse & Country; Gold Level Sponsors: ARMA, Parker Equine Insurance, PulseVet, Schneiders Saddlery, Smartpak, Standlee; Silver Level Sponsors: Auburn Labs, Canter Culture Riding Apparel, Kerrits, The Jockey Club, Rood & Riddle; Bronze Level Sponsor: 70 Degrees, Athletux, The Chronicle of the Horse, D.G. Stackhouse & Ellis, Dubarry of Ireland, Equestrian Team Apparel, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Kraft Horse Walkers, Retired Racehorses Project, Ride EquiSafe, Santa Cruz Animal Health; Contributing Level Sponsors: Cross Country App, Georgetown – Scott County Tourism, Lexmark, L.V. Harkness, #WeRideTogether; and Prize Level Sponsors: BEMER, Ecogold, EquiFit, Equilab, FarmVet, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips, Horses 4 Your Consideration, I Love My Horse Eventing Boutique, Jack’s Favorites, Jane Heart Jewelry, Kentucky Equine Research, LeMieux, Mare Goods, Neighborly Tack, Outlaw Nutrition, Palmera Polo, Parkmore Supplements, Practical Horseman / Equine Network, Rachel Dory Equine Fine Art, Remond Minerals, Secretariat Center, Shapley’s, Sidelines Magazine, Strides for Equality Equestrians, and VTO Saddlery.