Everyone in eventing knows the name Phillip Dutton - but, have you heard of the little pony that could named Phillip Buttons?
When Lilyanna Wood first saw the then 6-year-old German Riding Pony by Makuba, she knew the gelding was meant for her. Wood is no stranger to producing eventing mounts, but the start of her relationship with the pony she now affectionately calls Spike for his sassy personality was unique.
“Three years ago, I was horseless,” she explained. “I had sold my last mount and I had my eyes open for another, and was even working two jobs to make sure I could afford it. One day I came home and my mom had gotten several horses in; while they were all nice horses I saw him and just immediately fell in love.”
The two have formed an inseparable partnership in the years since. Although the gelding the gelding had been left sitting in a field for some time after having been originally broke and presented challenges for Wood along the way, she guided him through his first dressage work, jumping exercises, and cross-country experiences.
“For the longest time after I had acquired him, he would dump me several times a week,” she laughed. “He was definitely a bit of a handful but I love the challenge.”
The pair are currently competing at the Training level and swiftly moving up the divisions with his newfound skill in the dressage. According to Wood, Spike has always had a natural jumping ability but struggled with understanding and riding through the dressage phase. The two dedicated much time with dressage trainer Jenni Hogan in Nashville and are currently spending a year in Wellington, Fla. under the tutelage of dressage professional Laura Ashley Killian to lock in their knowledge before the eventing season begins.
However, if you ask Wood, she will tell you that the biggest breakthrough she feels they have had so far is successfully attending the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds at the Kentucky Horse Park this past year.
“I quite honestly was not sure we would ever get to go and compete at something of that caliber,” she explained. “When we first started training him, he was a bit uncontrollable. So to compete at such an event and to hold our own was really a testament to the work that both he and I have put in and to how our partnership has grown.”
She is especially grateful for the dedication of trainers Danny Moguel and Zully Castrejon whom she says never gave up on the pair despite some antics from Spike, and are the reason he is so successful today.
Spike owes his cleverly thought of name to Wood’s mother who got the play-on-words from a friend with a mount by the name of Boyd Marden, of course after eventing champion Boyd Martin.
“My mom just thought it was so funny when she heard about her friends' horse and so when she came up with this I just went along with it,” Wood laughed. “He does, however, live up to his name.”
Unfortunately, an untimely tire malfunction incident kept the pony from meeting his namesake at a clinic he was set to attend in 2021, but Wood is confident the opportunity will arise again when the time is right.
The young rider has big plans for the aptly named pony, whom she hopes to continue to produce up the eventing levels to at least Preliminary.
Does your horse or pony have an extra-special or unique show name? We want to hear all about them. Email Meagan DeLisle at [email protected] to tell us more and for a chance to be featured in our next What's In a Name column on useventing.com.
This month we’re going to begin a three-part series on how to create positive riding experiences by making sure the words you say to yourself and the thoughts you think to yourself are positive. Referred to as self-talk, internal dialogue, or brain babble; the words you say to yourself can have a huge impact on your performance. In fact, your thoughts and voice are actually considered behaviors, and just like how positive physical behaviors (i.e. a balanced transition) can create success, your verbal behaviors can also accomplish the very same thing. So let's spend the next few months talking about how to talk to yourself!
Being spontaneous has paid off for Kevin Keane and Sportsfield Candy. “I bought him on a Wednesday and showed him on a Thursday,” Keane recalls about his first event with his Irish Sport Horse gelding, then 9 years old, at Plantation Field Horse Trials (Unionville, Pennsylvania) in September 2016. “I owned him for part of a day, and the next morning I showed up at a CCI and jogged him up for a two-star, and we went clean and clean and clean.”
THANK YOU to everyone who has already entered the USEF/USEA Recognized CDCTA Spring Horse Trials scheduled for Sunday, April 9 in Berryville, VA. We will continue to take late entries through Friday, March 24 using USEA’s Xentry system. If you still want to come compete, please enter! The late fee has been waived through Friday, March 24.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation announces the appointment of long-term US Equestrian employee Hallye Griffin as Director of FEI Sport. Griffin will assume the duties of former Director of FEI/High-Performance Sport, Graeme Thom, who has chosen to step away from his role to attend to personal matters.