Tuscon, Ariz.—Feb. 21  

“When they announced I’d won, I just started crying because I didn’t think I’d done it,” Ashley Stannard said of her win in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix on Feb. 21 at the Tucson Winter Classic.

“I’m not a super emotional person, so it was a bit overwhelming. When I walked out of the ring, my groom, Antonio [Valenzuela], who has been working for me for five years and is incredible, was standing there tearing up. I told him, ‘I finally won one for you, Antonio!’ He was so excited,” Stannard said.

It was a bit of an “underdog beats the world” kind of result for Stannard, 31, who conquered the class on Fierte Violet, a 16-hand mare with an unknown past and a minimal price tag. “I still kind of can’t quite believe it. This was very much my first grand prix win,” Stannard said.

Out of the starting order of 15, Stannard jumped off against three other horses. “Bjorn Ikast, who always has quite a slew of horses in the class and is a wonderful person, had two in the jump-off, and then Janet Hischer and me,” said Stannard. “Bjorn went on both of his horses and rode very fast. Then Janet went and was incredibly fast also, but Bjorn was still winning.

“I kind of thought, ‘Oh good, I’ll get a check for fourth place.” Ronnie Freeman, who coaches me, has been saying recently, ‘Stop just being excited to be here. Now let’s try to actually do something.’ Because I’m always saying, ‘I’m just happy I got around.’

“He told me I was ready and the mare was jumping amazingly. And I guess I went faster than I even intended, and I stayed on a good track and really ran down to the last jump, which was kind of a long gallop. I don’t know how she got herself out of the way, but she did. It was rewarding and gratifying because people don’t usually expect that kind of result from me. I had so much support from people—from phone calls to text messages to Facebook messages—it’s been amazing that people have congratulated me.”

Fierte Violet and Ashley Stannard on their way to the top of the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix at the Tucson Winter Classic. Photo by Jess Montgomery

The win affirmed the faith Stannard has had in Fierte Violet, a Holsteiner mare with a bit of a blank slate background. Stannard bought her from a local trainer during the HITS Arizona Winter Circuit last year. “I didn’t know what she was going to be. I had no idea what she’d competed in, I had no idea how old she was. I just knew she had a Holsteiner brand,” Stannard said.

“I bought her for a very small amount of money. I had just happened to sell a horse the week before, so I had some money. I went to try her and thought, ‘Oh, she’ll be a 1.20-meter horse and I can play in those classes a little bit.’” Stannard had just retired her first grand prix horse, Whisper VC. She named the mare Fierte Violet in tribute to her favorite football team, the Minnesota Vikings—the mare’s name is “purple pride” in French. She has no idea of the 16-hand mare’s breeding or history, but the equine dentist has estimated her age to be in the 9-year-old range.

But as Stannard and Freeman worked with “Violet,” they realized she had unplumbed depths. “She just continued to surprise me and Ronnie has really taught her how to jump and use herself. She’s very smart and careful, but she didn’t really start out that way,” she said.

“We tried to slow her mind down, because she’s such a smart, sharp mare. Ronnie loves to put a pole down two steps out from the jump that’s a little short [in the distance] so the horse can take a breath and think about where their body is. And that worked well for her. We just did a lot of verticals and combinations. Ronnie would be out there with his tape measure setting distances; he’s so smart about how much to do and how to present it. We didn’t know what she’d done or hadn’t done, but she continued to get smarter and more clever. Everything Ronnie does is so methodical. I put my faith in him to coach me and I hope I learn some things along the way. He’s a horseman and he knows how to get the most out of a horse.”

Stannard and Violet moved up to the 1.30- and 1.35-meter classes in the summer of 2015 and finished that year with ribbons in two 1.35-meter grand prix classes in Scottsdale, Ariz.

They started this year in 1.30- and 1.35-classes at HITS Desert Circuit (Calif.), where Stannard showed for two weeks. “I didn’t do any grand prix classes there—it’s so big and technical there. But I think it helped prepare me for the Arizona grand prix classes. Macella O’Neill helped me in Thermal, and that helped me, too,” she said.

Stannard runs a busy training and sales business at her Ashbrook Farm in Tucson, and competing at the upper levels of the sport is a real goal for her. Along with Violet in the barn, she has a 6-year-old daughter of another special mare in her life, Fiona. That 6-year-old, Fiesta, was first and second in the 1.25-meter Young Jumper Championship 6-year-old qualifiers at HITS Desert Circuit.

“I’ve never had two horses to show at this level before. It’s made a huge difference in my riding because I’m getting that much more mileage and time in the ring,” Stannard said. “This is the best I’ve ever ridden and the most competitively I’ve ever ridden. I think it’s because of the confidence I’ve gotten from bringing them along. It’s not like either of them came to me with experience.  That gives me a boost that I can do it and be competitive with these more experienced riders.”