In Great Britain it’s not uncommon for the top eventers to have four or more international horses in their barn. Unfortunately that’s not been the case across the pond in the United States, but Amy Tryon, of Duvall, Wash., just added another elite horse to her string when she acquired the ride on Le Samurai.
Robyn Fisher, Topanga, Calif., competed the 11-year-old Holsteiner-Thoroughbred cross through the advanced level, winning three CIC*** with him and competing in the FEI World Cup Final in 2005 in Malmo, Sweden.
Fisher, who has an up-and-coming two-star horse, decided this spring that it was time for “Sparky” to find a home with another upper level rider.
When word spread that Sparky was on the market, U.S. Equestrian Federation Eventing Chef d’ Equipe Capt. Mark Phillips suggested that the horse might be a good match for Tryon and assisted her in finding three generous sponsors to help her purchase him.
The pair ran one intermediate horse trials at Inavale Farm (Ore.) where they placed fifth. Tryon then packed up her horses and headed to England for the Maybach Barbury CIC***.
Tryon, who’s been named to the eventing short list for the 2006 World Equestrian Games with both Poggio and Woodstock, gained special permission to skip the mandatory outing in New Jersey on July 18 and run at Barbury instead.
Because her horses were in Washington, attending the mandatory outing would have meant two stressful plane trips instead of one. So she headed overseas and competed both Poggio and Sparky at Barbury instead.
She placed 48th with Poggio after riding a clean but slow (on purpose) cross-country course. She had a run-out with Sparky cross-country but was thrilled with him. Although she doesn’t plan to attend the FEI World Cup Final in August, where he is qualified to compete, she hopes to ride him in one more British event before returning home.
