United States Eventing Association

Ten Years of Eventing: "She's Gone Off Course! Oh Dear!"

The USEA is pleased to present a series of stories written by Joe Verga that chronicles Eventing in the U.S. from 2000-2010.

The 2000-2010 decade was, in many ways, a renaissance for Eventing. It was filled with great moments and incredible accomplishments featuring some of the greatest riders the sport has ever known. Some events would capture our imagination because of the magnitude of the accomplishment while others will never be forgotten despite the fact that the story didn’t end with a blue ribbon. With that, I present the biggest stories in U.S. Eventing from 2000-2010.

2007: “She’s gone off course! Oh dear!”

And with those words from the stadium commentator Sally O’Connor, the collective hearts of over 47,000 people sank. The 2007 Kentucky Rolex four-star would not be defined by who won the event (Clayton Fredricks), but by the excitement generated by one incredible pony and the relatively unknown rider from The Plains, Virginia by the name of Kristin Bachman.

Kristin and her horse Gryffindor, a 16.3h Bay thoroughbred, were unknown to most casual Eventing fans going into the 2007 season but after spending 2005 and 2006 in the USEF Developing Riders program, she was hardly an unrecognized talent.

Kristin smiled, “2006 was a good year for us actually. We completed Kentucky (27th), finished 6th at Fair Hill CCI***, did well at Foxhall Cup CCI*** and Jersey Fresh CCI***, and won the Advanced division at the American Eventing Championships.”

Even before the 2006 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day, a keen-eyed Jimmy Wofford wrote this when handicapping the field: “Every year at this time I hand out the ‘Whodat?' Trophy to the best-placed rookie. I predict that Kristin will receive the Whodat? Trophy on Sunday afternoon. Gryffindor is a terrific horse. He may be short of experience at this level, but he's not short of talent.”

Commenting on her expectations going into Rolex in 2007, Kristin said, “We had been working hard on our dressage, so I just wanted to improve on our 2006 performance. We had a run out our first time (at Rolex), which is unusual. It was my fault.There is no room for error and I missed the line slightly. It was a great learning experience for me.”

A great, rain-soaked dressage test caught everyone’s attention as the pair sat in 6th place in Kentucky.

“I was very pleased with results. I knew Gryffindor was capable of good dressage and he improved twelve points from the previous year. Did I know he was capable of being a world class horse? Probably not. So, yes I guess I was really surprised about where we were (in the standings) after dressage."

What was the talk of the evening after dressage?

“How hard and long the course was. Gryffindor had never given me any reason to think there was anything he couldn’t do out there. The year before, every jump he jumped he looked at it like, ‘Whoa, that is a big jump.' And then he’d come to the next one and he’d say, ‘Oh, that one’s big too.’ But this year with that under his belt I was confidant. Although there is nothing you can take for granted, the course looked like fun.”

After engineering one of only eight double clear cross-country rounds, Bachman and Gryffindor sat on top of the leader board going into the final phase.

“We were so in tune with each other throughout the whole ride. Bruce Davidson came up to me after cross-country and said that my ride was inspirational. Later Lucinda Green sought me out and said, ‘I was sitting out by the sunken road and when you went through that and thought: Wow, this is one amazing horse and rider combination.’ Two of the greatest Event riders of all time gave me a compliment. That was huge!”

Her thought that evening before going to bed? “It’s not over yet. We still have to do stadium. Recently we had quite a few clean rounds, but he was not always the best show jumping horse.”

Fredricks kept the pressure on with a clear round, meaning Kristin had a six point lead (one rail in hand). She didn’t have to be perfect, Kristin just had to be solid.

Gryffindor looked fresh to begin her stadium round but gave back that spare rail at the 8th fence. Still, she had the whole stadium, minus Clayton Fredricks perhaps, rooting for her to hold her position. This was the story of the underdog. The story that says that no matter how few sponsors or how little international experience you have, you can overcome and beat the best in the world.

Then disaster struck.

“After fence eight I turned left when I should have turned right. I then jumped the Liverpool and pulled up in the triple when I heard the buzzer. As soon as I heard it, I knew what I had done.

“I cantered right off course for the first time in my competitive career. If only it had happened any place else... Every time I walked the course, there was always a hitch after fence eight. In my mind, it felt like I should be going left there and I’d have to remind myself to turn right.”

The whole crowd let out a collective groan but Kristin Bachman couldn’t hear them. Well, the whole crowd except for Clayton Fredricks, who was now celebrating his victory.

Kristin was puzzled, “What reaction from the crowd? It would have been better if I heard something, anything! The whole stadium seemed silent.”

I so wanted her to win. I mean she lived about 15 miles away from me. She was the mouse that roared. She was to be the local hero. I kept telling myself, “It’s not supposed to end this way!”

“Afterwards I read that people said it was nerves, but that wasn’t it at all," said Kristin. "This is what happened: He hit the rail on fence eight. When I landed instead of thinking, ‘Okay where am I going now? I need to turn right.’ I growled to myself, ‘Ride like you know how to ride. Get the canter, get out of his face, and just go ride the course.’ That’s what went through my head. Of course looking back it would have been better to think about where I was going first and then worry about getting my head on straight afterwards.”

How did you take it?

“It was a pretty big letdown.”

Kim Severson chipped in, “Are you kidding me? She was devastated! Who wouldn’t be? You take David O’Connor at the Olympics. That almost happened to him!”

Kristin recalled, “You know, it's funny. Rolex Kentucky 2007 was my biggest high and my biggest low. When I got him I was hoping to do a three-star. I never thought about doing a four-star. I thought, ‘I'm no Phillip Dutton, I'm not brave enough. I'm not going to get on a horse and go ripping around a cross-country course.’ I will have other great horses in my life, but he's my horse of a lifetime. My biggest regret over that week was that he did everything I asked of him and for all intents and purposes he finished, but he has nothing to show for it. It isn’t so upsetting to me because I never, ever expected to be in first place going into show jumping.”

At the final press conference, a journalist asked the top finishers what they would say to Bachman.

Karen O’Connor answered, “There are an infinite number of ways to get eliminated in Eventing. If you stay around long enough, most of them will happen to you. She’ll never make this mistake again. It’s behind her. Kristin is a very talented rider on an extraordinary horse. She will be in that position again—soon.”

But that was not meant to be. Injury (tendonitis in both front legs) sidelined Gryffindor for the next two and a half years.

“Honestly, I got a little depressed. I am goal oriented and love teaching but I was a little adrift because all I had besides Gryffindor was some young horses.”

Kristin and Gryffindor made their triumphant return back to Rolex in 2011 only to retire him before cross country, “We did fine in dressage but I retired him before cross-country because it was so wet. I am convinced that he wouldn’t have come out of it sound. Ninety percent of the course was great but it was the other ten percent that I was concerned about (being too deep). It isn’t well known yet, but I am retiring him from FEI competitions.”

Perhaps someday Kristin Bachman will get that second chance at Rolex victory or perhaps she’ll just be a side note in Eventing history that reads, “Sometimes the best horse and rider doesn’t always win that day.” Either way, we will never forget and we will always be your fans.