Ashlee Bond Is Blazing Her Way To The Top

After breakout performances in the past six months, this young California rider is emerging as a serious Rolex FEI World Cup Final contender.

Ashlee Bond had perfectly realistic expectations when she shipped her horses from Southern California up to the Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, Alta., last September.
   
The 23-year-old never dreamed she’d score two big-money wins with her homebred mare, place second amongst a field of international greats with her brand new grand prix mount and qualify for the $937,867 CN International with her veteran horse.
   
But what surprised Bond most of all was what came immediately after those performances—an impromptu meeting and pop quiz from U.S. team Chef d’Equipe George Morris.
   
“Right after I had come out of the ring at Spruce he said, ‘There’s three things that I need to ask you,’ ” Bond recalled. “He said, ‘First of all, where do you want to go in this sport?’ ”
   
Having been on horses since she was 6 months old, the Hidden Hills, Calif., rider was quick to convey that she was aiming for the top. In her youth, Bond had once been named best child rider at the HITS Indio Desert Circuit (Calif.) six consecutive weeks with a different panel of judges each time. She rode in her first grand prix at age 16—where she placed first and second—and completed the 2004 Olympic selection trials three years later.
   
By her early 20s, Bond had developed a reputation for being a gutsy young talent, and her breakout performances at Spruce Meadows didn’t escape Morris’ notice. Unfortunately, her hairstyle didn’t either.
   
“He said, ‘OK, my second question is, can you put your hair up in your helmet?’ ” Bond continued, alluding to her lifelong lackadaisical habit of leaving her long, blonde ponytail untucked in the show ring. “And I said, ‘Yes! Yes, I can do that!’ ”
   
Bond answered Morris’ third and final question—whether she could braid her own horse—with an eager promise to learn. And with that, she had officially earned her U.S. Equestrian Team red coat.
   
“She stood out in the big ring against the big boys,” Morris said. “I spotted her in top company because she was aggressive, accurate and competitive. And she answered yes to all three of my questions, so I gave her a wild card bid to Argentina.”
   
Bond and three other developing riders from across the country comprised the Nations Cup team which, under Morris’ tutelage, went on to earn gold at the Buenos Aires CSIO last November. And if the transformation Bond’s career has undergone in the past six months is any indication, she’ll be representing the United States for years to come.

A Beneficial Break

In the past two years, Bond has settled into her position as co-proprietor of her family’s farm, Little Valley. Her father Steve Bond oversees the breeding and training side of the operation, while Ashlee handles the competition. As the daughter of two horse- and Hollywood-loving parents, her predisposition to showmanship has always seemed natural.
   
“My dad grew up in Israel until he was 12, and he used to steal donkeys from caves of the Arabs and ride them around and then set them loose—the little terror,” Ashlee said, laughing. “I think horses have been a love of his since he was a little boy.”
   
Steve moved to Los Angeles and pursued a career in acting, most notably starring on General Hospital in the 1980s. But over the years he also managed to find time to rodeo, riding broncs and bulls, and compete successfully in cutting. He worked at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, in Burbank, played polo and eventually took up grand prix show jumping at age 40. His wife, Cindy, who is the COO of a film production and distribution company, also shares his passion for western and English riding.
   
“The horses were pretty much it,” Ashlee said of her childhood. “My parents really saw the riding as something I would do forever I think, so they put that as my No. 1. School was obviously important, but the riding was it for me.”
   
Ashlee started lessons at age 3 and soon began showing ponies with the Karazissis family at Far West Farms. She continued to move up the ranks until 2001, when she competed at the North American Young Riders Championships (Ill.), anchoring her fourth-placed team on a horse named Pablo and winning the non-championship division with Fabius 45.
   
That summer she also placed first and second in her first grand prix, the $50,000 Cosequin Grand Prix at HITS Tahoe (Nev.). She continued full steam ahead for the next three years, training mostly with her father, and tied for 25th overall in the 2004 Olympic selection trials with Fabius 45.
   
Completing the trials was the greatest learning experience she’d had up until that point, but doubt had already begun brewing in Ashlee’s mind. Like many teenage riders, she was beginning to feel burnt out, and she’d also injured her back that year while trying some young horses in Mexico.
   
“That was an excuse to be able to quit,” she admitted. “And I felt like I just didn’t have any more goals at that point. It was just life telling me to put it down for a minute and see if it was something that I really wanted. And it was the best thing I ever did for myself, because if I had forced myself to stick with it, I really would have quit for the long run.”