United States Eventing Association

USEA Horse of the Month: Windfall II

As the 2019 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event has come to an end, it is now time to name the May USEA Horse of the Month. The legacy of Windfall II lived on at LRK3DE as the Trakehner stallion had two offspring finish in the top five, making him the USEA May Horse of the Month!

Windfall II, owned by Tim Holekamp, is a 27-year-old Trakehner stallion sired by Habicht and out of Wundermaedel. In 2004, Windfall II and Darren Chiacchia won the Kentucky Three-Day Event and went on to represent the United States in the 2004 Olympic Games to help secure team bronze. Accumulating 1,281.5 points over his eventing career, Windfall II is third on the list of USEA’s historical high point standings. Now retired at Tim and Cheryl Holekamp’s farm in Ocala, Florida, Windfall II enjoys chewed up carrots from Cheryl and relaxing hacks around the farm.

Windfall II had two sons competing at the 2019 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, and those two offspring were the USEF Champion and USEF Reserve Champion: Tsetserleg (Windfall II x Thabana) and Vandiver (Windfall II x Visions of Grandeur). Tsetserleg added nothing to his dressage score of 27.9 to finish in second place and Vandiver only added 0.4 cross-country time penalties to finish fifth.

Ridden by Boyd Martin, owned by Christine Turner, and bred by Tim Holekamp, Tsetserleg aka Thomas is a 12-year-old Trakhener gelding who graduated from the USEA Young Event Horse program in 2012. Described by Martin as a “real trier,” the pair was all class during the week of LRK3DE. After their double clear cross-country round, Martin explained, “He has a wonderful gallop, plenty of speed and he’s very, very fit. Throughout the course, he kept trying and trying and never looked for a way out.”

Ridden by Doug Payne and owned by Debi Crowley, Jessica Payne, and Doug Payne, Vandiver aka Quinn is a 15-year-old Trakehner gelding bred by Debi Crowley. “He was awesome, and I’m very, very lucky to have this horse,” Payne said of Quinn after their standout performance at LRK3DE.

A “superb cross-country horse” with an extroverted personality – get to know Windfall II through his owner, Tim.

About Windfall II:

• Barn Name?

“His barn name is Windfall. In his youth the Germans called him ‘Whinny,’ but that ended when he came to the U.S. in 2000. For a short time, the barn kids called him ‘the Beast’, but that was a sort of joke as he is docile in the barn. He does have a habit when led off a trailer at an event of every time rearing and screaming for a minute or two, checking to see if he needs to ‘kill’ any rival stallion, but it is all for show.”

• Favorite treat?

“Carrots, but he now has some dental problems that are not solvable and cannot chew hard stuff. Every morning, Cheryl [Holekamp] chews up a piece of carrot and gives it to him.”

• Favorite phase in eventing?

“[It’s] hard to say, as he was a superb cross-country horse who was eager to come out of his stall on Saturdays, but several professional jumpers also offered to compete him. He was in the money at HITS at level six with Darren. But I guess his true forte was dressage. He held the record score at Rolex for five years, 78+%, until Ringwood Cockatoo beat that score there as his retirement performance under Bettina Hoy. Even so, as far as we can determine, there is no other horse in the world other than Windfall who won a CCI4* later scored credibly (60% or above) at Grand Prix. Cheryl trained him in dressage after he retired from eventing.”

• Personality traits (introvert or extrovert)?

“Very balanced, see [newspringfarm.com] from when he was competing. [Windfall] is all stallion, there is no introvert in him. By the same token, 14-year-old girls have hacked him safely in the woods behind our barn, and our friend Lisa Johnson has ridden him regularly the last two winters. At 27 years old, he is now starting to show his age. But he still throws his head into the bridle.”

• Likes:

Mares.

• Dislikes:

Other Stallions.

• Any other fun facts that you’d like to add about Windfall?

“His son, Project Runway, the little Tobiano gelding that Maxance McManamy bought from us when he was coming four and was the youngest rider and youngest horse short-listed for the U.S. team for the Pan-American Games in 2011. [Unfortunately, they] didn’t go because Max broke her foot.”

For more information on Windfall II visit the website, newspringfarm.com.

About the USEA Horse of the Month

New in 2019, the USEA is recognizing an event horse each month on the USEA website and social media. The USEA Horse of the Month is determined based on statistics and event results and announced at the beginning of every month. The May Horse of the Month was selected based on the performance of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event and Windfall II had two offspring in the top five which earned him the title of USEA Horse of the Month in May 2019!