United States Eventing Association

The Road To Bromont CCI2*: Kristin Carpenter

Kristin Carpenter and her 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Trance, are aiming to compete at the CCI2* at Bromont in Quebec, Canada. Follow along with their journey together as they head from Virginia to Canada for this international competition.

I have been an avid reader of the various “Road to…” blogs, so I was very excited when I was asked to write for Bromont. I then quickly realized that I was increasing my odds of crashing and burning by about 100 times, but figured if nothing else it will be something I can share and laugh about…or be laughed at. For good measure I talked my trainer, Skyeler Icke Voss, into doing the blog as well. In her words, “the odds of one of us crashing and burning at Bromont while blogging is pretty high, but the odds of BOTH of us doing so is a lot lower.” So, we will both be writing in the attempt that one of us will have a “Victory!” blog at the end. Well, she is shooting for victory, I am shooting for a sound and safe completion. But I will get to that in a bit.

I started riding at the age of three in the backcountry of Louisiana. I went to hunter shows in pink cowboy boots and black lace tights, and would go into the ring and just keep doing the inside and outside lines until my trainer marched in and removed me. I never won. Or placed. I got an unbroken Arabian when I was 9, and needless to say that involved a lot of falls and zero completed events. When I was 15 I left LA for New Mexico, and was a working student for the summer at Goosedown farm. It was an amazing experience, and I was hooked.

I found Trance in the local classified ads when I was a freshman in college. He was a 16.2 TB that they were trying to barrel race, so it was a relief for both of us when we found each other. I figured I could sell him as a hunter to afford a “real” event prospect. After a year or so, I signed him up for a clinic with Jim Graham. We were in the beginner novice class, and I couldn’t get him over a log. Literally. Jim kept raving he “was a world class horse!” and the whole clinic—myself included—thought he was insane. At the end of the day he asked if I would be a working student. I thought it was a horrible decision on his part, but I was eager to capitalize on his lack of foresight. I took a break in college at LSU and went for a year to Florence, Alabama.

From late May 2004, to May 2005, we progressed from a disastrous first novice event (the dressage judge asked me if I had a trainer after our test….seriously) to getting fourth in the Virginia CCI*. Trance was a jumping machine, and I was happy to be on board. We did Young Rider’s in 2005, getting a team bronze and feeling on top of the world. I went home right after for a break, when things took a sharp turn downhill. We had just gotten back to Baton Rouge when hurricane Katrina came and Trance got seriously injured. He almost shredded his back left deep digital flexor, and I was told he had to be retired. He spent almost a year and a half on stall rest before he could even handle being hand walked. I went back to school full time and finished by degree in history at LSU.

I moved to Arlington, VA, to be with my now-husband in August of 2008. I started my Ph.D. at Georgetown (something I still work on) and began my own tutoring company. In May of 2010 I had my new vet, Dr. Nolan of Piedmont Equine, check Trance to see if he could be a trail horse for my husband. To my shock, Dr. Nolan insisted Trance was fine and should return to work. I was super skeptical, but put him back in work and did our first event in five years at Fair Hill last May at Training level.

He stayed sound, so I entered Loch Moy at Training, then the following weekend at Preliminary. While I was super rusty (hellooooo TE for not waiting for the show jumping bell), Trance was a monster on course. He couldn’t be happier…or sounder…so we just kept going. We had a major setback when he hung his leg at a bank and we both fell (first time ever), but we recovered well (after sorting out his new-found fear of water), and before long were headed to Aiken for the winter with the Angelica Run crew. I had started working with Skyeler and Angelica Run when I brought Trance back. They have an amazing program, and at the end of the day we always have fun as a team, so I thought it was the perfect fit. I was back in the game to do what I love while also being a full time student and running a business. It has been a very different experience than that of a working student…but I have to say I love being a true adult amateur.

This year Trance came out with a couple Preliminaries, then we moved up to Intermediate at Poplar. He was amazing, packing me around when I was injured, so we just kept going. We did The Fork, which was the most terrifying thing I have ever done, but we survived with a single run out when I made about 93947893492 mistakes in 5 seconds to the corner combination at fence 4. I left him with no canter and no distance, and there was consequently no jump. I am really working on being there for him in those moments. He rocked the Fair Hill CIC**, and just won the Intermediate at Virginia, so we are excited for Bromont.

With Trance, I feel so blessed to just be able to ride this horse again. I have had him for almost 10 years. We did our first Novice together, and everything else since then. He was an amazing long format horse, but we have struggled with dressage since our return to eventing. The sport has changed dramatically, and double clears don’t guarantee top placings anymore. I have worked with Sallie Spenard on our dressage, and in a short time she has fundamentally changed my riding and Trance’s flatwork. At the end of the day, however, I am still on a horse that refuses to walk in the ring (hello rearing in the extended walk from being a psycho fit Thoroughbred), but goes cross-country in a rubber snaffle. I could get frustrated, and do, that we can’t seem to bring the quality of work at home into the dressage ring, but then I remember everything we have been through. He has saved my life more than once, and I owe this horse everything. At the end of the day, he can really do whatever he wants in dressage, because I am so lucky to ride a horse that can jump like he does. While I often want to sell him for $1 after our test, he always finishes safe and strong and is my best friend of almost a decade.

I am so excited to go to the Bromont CCI** and just to be doing it on Trance and experiencing such a fabulous event. While we aren’t really “in it to win it,” nothing could make me prouder of this horse than just crossing the finish flags safe and sound. It takes a team to get any horse to any event, and Dr. Nolan of Piedmont Equine has been key. I also want to thank Angelica Run, Skyeler Icke Voss, Sallie Spenard, Jan Bynny, and my farrier Brian Grady for taking part in giving me the gift of eventing all over again. I might be a mess some days (or most days), but they keep me going and I keep them laughing