Devon, Pa.—May 29

Eleven years ago, Mindful galloped around the Dixon Oval at the 2014 Devon Horse Show for the first time. At the beginning of that week, the 15.3-hand black gelding’s name was unfamiliar to many, but by the end of it, he’d definitively said, “I’m here, and you should pay attention,” to judges, spectators and fellow competitors alike.

In his Devon debut, Mindful jumped to the top of the high performance hunter division before going on to win the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby with raw scores of 95 in the handy from both panels of judges with Kelley Farmer aboard. Though Devon wasn’t the beginning of his hunter career—Callie Schott had started showing him in the hunters in September 2013—the storied horse show was where his name first graced headlines, so it was a fitting site for his retirement.

Following this year’s $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, the 21-year-old Hanoverian (Graf Gannus—Baronesse, Bold Indian) was ridden into the Dixon Oval one last time by Jennifer Hannan, who’s competed him since 2017. Joining them on foot was Farmer, owner Selma Garber and groom Alan Morales.

“I got lucky enough to ride Mindful almost 10 years ago, and he was 11 coming to me, so he was already very experienced,” said Hannan. “And five years into I thought, well, when is he going to retire? And he never really gave me that feeling. Even now he feels great. So we’ve sort of been planning this for many years, and it was always Selma’s wishes for it to be here. And it was a special day. It was so nice that everybody came to watch. And he’s a really special horse.”

As a tribute video played on the scoreboard atop the committee stand, Mindful stood quietly, the picture of a professional showman as Hannan patted and rubbed his neck. It wasn’t a short wait—after all, his list of accolades was quite long—but he’s had plenty of practice.

Born in Germany, Mindful’s early career took place in the jumper ring. Then named Grappa, he competed up to the five-star level with Canadian jumper rider Jay Duke, before Schott introduced him to the hunter world. One fateful day Evan Coluccio placed a late-night call to Farmer and her partner Larry Glefke. He’d emailed them a video of Mindful, and he said they needed to watch it now.

Thus began a partnership between Mindful and Farmer that included two division championships at Devon, three at the Pennsylvania National, two at Washington International (D.C.) and one at the National Horse Show (Kentucky). In 2015, he was second in the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship (Kentucky). Mindful was a two-time USEF Horse of the Year, and in 2014 he was named the Chronicle’s Show Hunter of the Year. He was grand hunter champion at Devon and Washington and won the coveted Protocol Trophy.

Then Hannan got the ride, and while he had already earned a name as a derby horse, under Hannan’s saddle, Mindful became a derby specialist, winning at Upperville (Virginia) in 2023, which she called a favorite moment, and topping five derbies at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida). As he aged, Hannan carefully managed his schedule, keeping him a frequent winner. In the 81 derbies he contested, he won 33 times.

“[I’m] just grateful for an incredible experience with him,” Hannan said. “I was really blown away when Selma asked me to ride him, and he has changed my whole career.

“He changed me as a rider, as a trainer, as a horsewoman,” she added. “He taught me [how] it was going to go; I was going to learn from him. And I think we all need to look inside of our horses and what we’re riding and really figure out what makes everything tick.”

Hannan wiped away tears as she hopped off center ring. Mindful’s saddle was removed and exchanged for a Devon blue cooler and a blanket of white roses, and his bridle was adorned with one last championship ribbon. After this, he’ll return to Hannan’s Rhode Island farm and will share a field with another of her former derby horses, Olympic Fire.

“He is irreplaceable,” Garber said in the tribute video. “I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity and to have placed him in such good hands. He’s had a marvelous career and ended on a high note and was taken care of beautifully. And he and Jen are a pair. They really are quite a power couple.”