United States Eventing Association

Emily Hamel didn’t initially set out to complete all the North American five-star events with Corvett. After finishing the two U.S. and two British five-stars she realized she only had two to go, but it wasn’t a huge goal of hers. But last year, fate took her to her fifth five-star location.

Hamel hadn’t planned on competing at the Luhmühlen CCI5*-L (Germany) last summer, but after one of the Nations Cups she was supposed to contest as part of the U.S. Eventing European Development Tour got canceled, she rerouted to Luhmühlen. With five of the six completed, her plans changed.

“That wasn’t really on my radar but then once I’d done Luhmühlen I was like, well, why not? I only had one more to do,” she said. “So that’s kind of how we got here. I already had in my mind last year that I wanted to come to Pau this year. Things can happen, and you never know if you’re going to make it, but luckily the stars kind of aligned, and ‘Barry’ had a good year, and he feels great, so I was able to make the trip.”

With a 14th-place finish at the Pau CCI5*-L (France), held Oct. 23-26, Hamel and Barry became the second horse-and-rider pair to complete all six North American five-stars. Great Britain’s David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed, who finished their five-star sextet by completing the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill in 2024, were the first to do so. (Prior to the inaugural Maryland 5 Star in 2021, U.S rider Colleen Rutledge rode Shiraz in the five North American five-stars to exist at the time, completing the quintet in 2013.)

Hamel was thrilled with the 18-year-old Holsteiner (Corrido x Tina XII) owned by the Black Flag Option, LLC. They put in a personal-best dressage score of 35.0, and then it was onto the jumping phases where the gray gelding’s gravity-defying jumping style helped them climb up the leaderboard. They added just 7.2 time penalties on cross-country and then put in a signature clean round in show jumping with 1.2 time penalties there to move up 28 places from 42nd after dressage to 14th.

“He felt great and really happy to be doing the job,” she said. “He just always has so much fun out on course, and I know that it seems really strange to say that about a horse, but he just really enjoys it. And it makes it more enjoyable to me.”

To make the trip happen, Hamel, who is based in Aiken, South Carolina, put together Team Barry, where she offered 10 memberships. For a one-time buy-in, members received behind-the-scenes access and Team Barry gear. A few members made the trip to France, where they sported their Team Barry gear and enjoyed the spectator-friendly event.

Hamel described Pau’s cross-country as unlike anything she’d ridden before. The galloping lanes are roped quite tight, and because the course is confined to parkland and the racetrack, it’s a twistier course than Defender Kentucky or Badminton and Burghley in England.

“It’s great for spectators because they can see a lot of fences because we do go back and forth so much, but it feels a bit different as a rider,” she said.

Hamel made her five-star debut at Kentucky in 2021 with Barry, and they went on to complete Maryland that fall. They completed Badminton and Burghley the following year, before taking another turn around the U.S. five-stars in 2023. Hamel said Kentucky will always hold a special place in her heart after attending for the first time with her 4-H group and declaring she wanted to do that level one day. Right behind Kentucky though was completing the “Big Bs” in England.

“I will say Badminton and Burghley were also really special,” she said. “It’s just a completely different thing there. Horses are such a big part of the culture in the UK that the events host 100,000 people, probably more than that. It’s just huge, and you feel like it’s a really big deal. When you get to gallop by the Badminton House and the Burghley House it feels a little surreal when you’re on course. I’ve enjoyed all of them, but they sure do have their own unique style and feel about them.”

Hamel started riding Barry when he came to Phillip Dutton’s True Prospect Farm in Pennsylvania to be sold. Dr. Kevin Keane did the pre-purchase exam for her, and while Barry passed with flying colors, Keane warned her that his extravagant jumping style might limit his long-term career. But at 18, Barry has defied that prediction.

“I’ve been really lucky. My vets actually always joke that I should clone him,” she said. “This horse is unbelievable because he’s got great conformation; he’s got great feet, which I think really helps keep him sound, touch wood.”

Coming into Pau, Hamel was thinking that Pau might be Barry’s last five-star run and that afterwards they’d do some showcase-type events and dabble more in the jump ring, but after his performance in France, she hasn’t closed the door on another five-star.

“He didn’t really feel like he wants to be done, so we’ll see,’ she said.

She’s had numerous people reach out about making a trip to Australia for Adelaide CCI5*-L, so she and Barry can be the only pair to do all of the world’s five-stars. She hasn’t completely ruled out the idea, especially if people band together to help support the down under adventure, but making that kind of trip is much more complicated than going to Europe. She’s also considering doing one last hurrah at Kentucky, since that’s where their five-star journey began, but ultimately the choice lies with Barry.

“One step at a time. I can’t get too ahead of myself,” she said. “He owes me literally nothing, so I’m going to keep his best interest in mind.”