PrintThese saintly horses are often overlooked, but without them, intercollegiate horse showing wouldn’t be possible.
The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association format makes it easy to leave out the horses. After all, riders seldom show the same horse twice, and their biggest wins often come on horses they’ll never see again.
But the coaches and students know that without the horses, IHSA wouldn’t be possible, and most every team has a special veteran who deserves recognition.
For Vanessa Bartsch, head coach of the Stanford University Equestrian Team (Calif.), the standout on her team is Bullwinkle, who was donated by the Gans family. Although he’s only been a team member for three years, he’s already made a huge impression.
“When the mother of one of our students called and offered us an 18.3-hand warmblood with stringhalt, sight unseen from the East Coast, I thought she was crazy,” admitted Bartsch. “But it turned out that one of my freshmen, Anders Jones, was going to be at the New England Equitation Finals where this horse was showing.”
Bartsch charged her student to find out more about the overlarge animal. He called her from the show to say that “Mosby” was sweet, but very big.
“I said that we have a lot of big horses here, so I wasn’t worried about that,” Bartsch recalled. “But Anders replied, ‘No, he’s really, really, really big. Like I can’t even see over his withers.’ Now this was something as the student is 6'2"!”
Bartsch agreed to take a chance on the 18-year-old Westphalian on the assurances of her student who claimed he was “a saint.” He arrived in Stanford, Calif., a month later.
“He stepped off of the trailer after a three-day trailer ride, and he was just about the biggest horse I have ever seen,” said Bartsch. “He was walking toward me with the most exaggerated high-step I’ve ever seen in a horse with shivers. The girls on the team who were at the barn said he looked like a dinosaur!”
Although it wasn’t a promising beginning, Mosby soon distinguished himself as an absolute sweetheart, which was good since his head was bigger than many of the students’ torsos.
“It’s like sitting in the treetops from way up there, but Mosby is the perfect schoolmaster,” said Bartsch. “He makes every course look easy, and he’ll easily step up and cover the gap from a long spot, or sit back and make it look like every add was meant to be. I’ve never seen a horse that covers a 14-foot stride just as easily as he collects to a 9-foot step. He has been the first jumping horse for many of our lower level riders, yet he can just as easily get out there and let our open riders practice at height.”
His large barrel requires a 56-inch girth with extenders, and some of the shorter riders need a stepladder to
groom him. He required a custom stall and oversized turnout to accommodate his bulk.
The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association format makes it easy to leave out the horses. After all, riders seldom show the same horse twice, and their biggest wins often come on horses they’ll never see again.
But the coaches and students know that without the horses, IHSA wouldn’t be possible, and most every team has a special veteran who deserves recognition.
For Vanessa Bartsch, head coach of the Stanford University Equestrian Team (Calif.), the standout on her team is Bullwinkle, who was donated by the Gans family. Although he’s only been a team member for three years, he’s already made a huge impression.“When the mother of one of our students called and offered us an 18.3-hand warmblood with stringhalt, sight unseen from the East Coast, I thought she was crazy,” admitted Bartsch. “But it turned out that one of my freshmen, Anders Jones, was going to be at the New England Equitation Finals where this horse was showing.”
Bartsch charged her student to find out more about the overlarge animal. He called her from the show to say that “Mosby” was sweet, but very big.
“I said that we have a lot of big horses here, so I wasn’t worried about that,” Bartsch recalled. “But Anders replied, ‘No, he’s really, really, really big. Like I can’t even see over his withers.’ Now this was something as the student is 6'2"!”
Bartsch agreed to take a chance on the 18-year-old Westphalian on the assurances of her student who claimed he was “a saint.” He arrived in Stanford, Calif., a month later.
“He stepped off of the trailer after a three-day trailer ride, and he was just about the biggest horse I have ever seen,” said Bartsch. “He was walking toward me with the most exaggerated high-step I’ve ever seen in a horse with shivers. The girls on the team who were at the barn said he looked like a dinosaur!”
Although it wasn’t a promising beginning, Mosby soon distinguished himself as an absolute sweetheart, which was good since his head was bigger than many of the students’ torsos.
“It’s like sitting in the treetops from way up there, but Mosby is the perfect schoolmaster,” said Bartsch. “He makes every course look easy, and he’ll easily step up and cover the gap from a long spot, or sit back and make it look like every add was meant to be. I’ve never seen a horse that covers a 14-foot stride just as easily as he collects to a 9-foot step. He has been the first jumping horse for many of our lower level riders, yet he can just as easily get out there and let our open riders practice at height.”
His large barrel requires a 56-inch girth with extenders, and some of the shorter riders need a stepladder to
groom him. He required a custom stall and oversized turnout to accommodate his bulk.
