PrintA few good books and a brave horse have helped Kelly Sult reach the upper echelon of the eventing world at the young age of 21—all without any professional coaching or training and on a shoestring budget.
Sult and her Hollywood, an off-the-track-Thoroughbred, became the dark horse entry made good at
the 2007 Dansko Fair Hill International CCI*** (Md.), placing eighth and finishing as the highest-placed young rider.
“The key is that they have a good partnership, which is important at that level,” said Holly Hepp, who helped the pair in her role as Area VIII Young Riders coach. “I think as she goes along the levels, she’ll be able to fine-tune things. [Hollywood] trusts her, and he’s willing to take a crack at whatever she points him. For the training she’s had, she’s done a great job.”
Growing up in Erie, Pa., in the northwest corner of the state, Sult didn’t have much exposure to eventing trainers. She gained most of her riding instruction through Pony Club clinics and her father, Mark, who coached her from the ground. Mark, a truck driver, has no riding experience but reads training books and manuals and helps Sult through the information gleaned from authors such as Jimmy Wofford and Sally O’Connor.
“He’d just read the books and put them into my language, and that’s how we went,” Sult said. “We didn’t have all that much money to send me anywhere, so basically my dad, my family, my sister and I tried to do as much as we could. We put all of our skills together, and that got me where I went.”
Not A Hand-Me-Down
By the time Sult was born, her older sister, Michele, was already an avid rider. So, at the age of 2, Sult started following in her footsteps. The girls shared several ponies and horses, with Sult getting the hand-me-downs as Michele grew out of them.
“I wanted to be just like her when I was younger,” Sult said. As Michele outgrew ponies, and eventually horses, Sult inherited them.
Sult spent a fair amount of time in Pony Club, beginning at age 5, and achieved her C-3 rating by the time she decided to give it up at age 16. She gained some competition experience through games, show jumping and dressage rallies, but most importantly, she said that it gave her a solid flatwork and jumping background. Additionally, Sult said that Pony Club taught her the responsibilities of having horses and the importance of horse management.
When she was 14, Sult just happened to find Hollywood.
Then 8, “Reggie” was a racetrack reject who had failed at alternative careers. “They tried to make him into an A circuit hunter. He wasn’t exactly up for that,” Sult said. “He bucked the trainer off several times. So, they took him to a western barn, and they said he was crazy. The girl who owned him did nothing but lunge him for an hour and a half, and that’s all they’d do with him.”
Reggie had found his way to the same boarding barn where Sult rode. Since Sult frequently rode other horses in the barn, one day she found herself on Reggie. “He had been sitting around for several months, but we kind of clicked together. I had to sell the other horse I had to get him,” she explained.
Sult and her Hollywood, an off-the-track-Thoroughbred, became the dark horse entry made good at
the 2007 Dansko Fair Hill International CCI*** (Md.), placing eighth and finishing as the highest-placed young rider.
“The key is that they have a good partnership, which is important at that level,” said Holly Hepp, who helped the pair in her role as Area VIII Young Riders coach. “I think as she goes along the levels, she’ll be able to fine-tune things. [Hollywood] trusts her, and he’s willing to take a crack at whatever she points him. For the training she’s had, she’s done a great job.”
Growing up in Erie, Pa., in the northwest corner of the state, Sult didn’t have much exposure to eventing trainers. She gained most of her riding instruction through Pony Club clinics and her father, Mark, who coached her from the ground. Mark, a truck driver, has no riding experience but reads training books and manuals and helps Sult through the information gleaned from authors such as Jimmy Wofford and Sally O’Connor.
“He’d just read the books and put them into my language, and that’s how we went,” Sult said. “We didn’t have all that much money to send me anywhere, so basically my dad, my family, my sister and I tried to do as much as we could. We put all of our skills together, and that got me where I went.”
Not A Hand-Me-Down
By the time Sult was born, her older sister, Michele, was already an avid rider. So, at the age of 2, Sult started following in her footsteps. The girls shared several ponies and horses, with Sult getting the hand-me-downs as Michele grew out of them.
“I wanted to be just like her when I was younger,” Sult said. As Michele outgrew ponies, and eventually horses, Sult inherited them.
Sult spent a fair amount of time in Pony Club, beginning at age 5, and achieved her C-3 rating by the time she decided to give it up at age 16. She gained some competition experience through games, show jumping and dressage rallies, but most importantly, she said that it gave her a solid flatwork and jumping background. Additionally, Sult said that Pony Club taught her the responsibilities of having horses and the importance of horse management.
When she was 14, Sult just happened to find Hollywood.
Then 8, “Reggie” was a racetrack reject who had failed at alternative careers. “They tried to make him into an A circuit hunter. He wasn’t exactly up for that,” Sult said. “He bucked the trainer off several times. So, they took him to a western barn, and they said he was crazy. The girl who owned him did nothing but lunge him for an hour and a half, and that’s all they’d do with him.”
Reggie had found his way to the same boarding barn where Sult rode. Since Sult frequently rode other horses in the barn, one day she found herself on Reggie. “He had been sitting around for several months, but we kind of clicked together. I had to sell the other horse I had to get him,” she explained.
