United States Eventing Association

USEA Events A-Z: Mile High Horse Ranch Horse Trials

Eventing is on an upswing in Area IX with the addition of Mile High Horse Ranch Horse Trials in Parker, Colorado. The inaugural event will run from July 6-7 this summer.

Started and organized by Mile High Horse Ranch owner Vanda Werner, the event will feature Starter through Training levels.

Werner grew up on a ranch and rode western before switching to hunters and jumpers. When she was competing in the 1960s and 1970s on Thoroughbreds, warmbloods were still an anomaly in the sport horse world and eventing hadn’t yet taken off in the western United States.

When the sport finally did gain a foothold in Colorado, Werner was eager to try it and fell in love.

After her husband died in a skiing accident in Switzerland, Werner quit her job as a French teacher and dove full time into the horse world. Her mare, Mile High, became the inspiration for the name of her new 100-acre farm which she bought in 1976.

Werner became one of the first people to start importing warmbloods, and she was drawn to the Trakehner breed especially. She imported some mares and her first stallion, Pregelstrand (Morgenglanz x Pelerissa vom Schimmelhof).

“I was looking through The Chronicle of the Horse and saw a picture of a Trakehner stallion and thought, oh my god, that’s it. Never heard of a warmblood, didn’t know what they were,” she said.

Her niece, Leslie Webb, won Pan American Games individual and team silver in 1995 in Argentina aboard Werner’s homebred Hannibal.

By the 1990s, Werner was ready for a change. She turned Mile High into a boarding facility, which it still is today.

Inspired by new events in Colorado, like Redefined Equestrian Horse Trials in Fort Collins, Werner saw a need for another place for riders in Area 9 to enjoy.

“I thought, why can’t we put one on too? We’ll see if it works!” she said.

The team at Mile High has put on schooling shows and derbies over the past few years and has an established cross-country course featuring water, ditches, and a mound.

“We did a derby or two every summer,” said Werner. “I’ve taken over a lot of the jobs that should have gone to other people, but I guess that’s OK because I’m used to doing everything by myself! When money was getting tough, people weren’t going to schooling shows much anymore, so we started doing what we called a Double Down, which is jumping and dressage on the same day. You could enter either or both. That went really well for about a year, then I got this idea [to start a recognized event.]”

While Colorado just had two feet of snow in early March, Werner is excited to have course designer John Williams come out in May once the mud has subsided so they can plan.

Growing up the daughter of an engineer, Werner’s always designed jumps and has a few new ones she's excited to share which feature the Denver Broncos football team and an American flag. She even built one with a mask and face on it during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When I was little, the only paper I had to play on was graph paper. I still have the graph paper, and I would design the jumps on the graph paper and have the guys build them,” she said.

Dressage and show jumping will run on footing at the July event, and each level will run all phases in one day due to a lack of stabling. Werner’s also brought in several sponsors like Devoucoux and County Saddlery, as well as local equine businesses, to ensure great prizes for competitors.

“From people I’ve talked with, they’re so excited to have another venue. I think we’ll probably be full each day,” said Werner.

For more information on Mile High, check out their website. Entries open May 21 and close June 18. For the USEA omnibus listing, click here.