She and Cadett 7 return from a triumphant summer European tour for victory in California.

There’s just no stopping Ashlee Bond.

After she and Cadett 7 topped last season’s FEI World Cup U.S. West Coast League standings, competed in their first Rolex FEI World Cup Final, and then stormed across Europe on the Super League Nations Cup tour, you’d think Bond would rest a while.

Not so—she and Cadett have gotten a jump on qualifying for the 2010 FEI World Cup Final by winning back-to-back CSI-W classes. On Aug. 29, they won the $50,000 Grand Prix of Showpark CSI-W (Calif.) then followed that up with the top check in the $50,000 L.A. International Grand Prix CSI-W (Calif.) on Sept. 19.

In the L.A. International, Bond was more than a second faster than second-placed Lane Clark on Kiss The Sky.

“He’s a monster,” Bond said of Cadett. “I went pretty fast. I did some really tight turns, but I didn’t go all-out crazy. I knew that if I was decently fast and tidy, I’d have a good shot. It worked out.”

Last year at this time, Bond was just starting a remarkable winning streak that would put her atop the World Cup standings and earn her a team jacket, when she cut her international teeth on the winning U.S. team at the Buenos Aires CSIO (Argentina) Nations Cup in November.

Setting The World Afire

Bond and Cadett notched a remarkable accomplishment with the U.S. team on the Meydan FEI Nations Cup (formerly the Super League) tour this summer. They jumped three consecutive double-clean rounds in top-level Nations Cup competition—at La Baule (France), Rome (Italy) and St. Gallen (Switzerland)—in their first European tour.

It was an unprecedented streak, and Bond felt the weight of it.

“It wasn’t nerve-wracking on the days of showing, but it was nerve-wracking on the days off, when I had the time to think about it,” she said. “I expect a lot from myself and during the downtime I would be hard on myself, thinking, ‘You’ve got to keep this going.’ ”

Bond’s father, Steve, was with her on the European tour. They work together at their Little Valley Farm in Hidden Hills, Calif. Steve, a lifelong horseman with experience in show jumping, polo and cutting horses, is an essential part of Ashlee’s training program.

“I’m sort of like the mechanic, and she’s the driver,” Steve said.

Steve recalled that Ashlee created quite a stir in Europe. “They had no idea who she was. They kept asking George Morris, ‘Who is this Ashlee Bond?’ ” he recalled.

Ashlee’s cool ability to remain centered impressed Steve.

“If you get caught up in the insanity of the moment, what you should be focusing on falls by the wayside. I think that’s been a quality Ashlee’s had for her whole career; she’s able to be at a top level and still focus on the little details and what her task is at the moment,” he said.

By the time the Aachen CHIO (Germany) rolled around at the beginning of July, the Europeans knew enough about Ashlee to know she was a force to be reckoned with. She didn’t compete on the U.S. Nations Cup team at Aachen but won the Warsteiner Prize class and was the highest-placed U.S. rider in the $487,687 Rolex Grand Prix Of Aachen, in seventh.

As Ashlee and Cadett turned in clear round after clear round in Europe, their partnership solidified even more.

“I just felt his confidence grow,” she said. “The more we got to know each other, the more in sync we became and the more I just felt him give it his all.”

More Than They Expected

Even though Ashlee and Cadett had a great record in grand prix classes in California prior to their international debut, Cadett wasn’t proven at the 1.60-meter level.

“When I went to the World Cup Finals, I didn’t know if he’d be able to do it, because I’d never asked that of him,” she said. “Then, when he did do it and he did it very easily, I think it made both of us realize, ‘He can do this,’ ” said Ashlee.

They finished 26th at the World Cup Finals, with 4 faults in each round.

“For my first World Cup Finals [that] isn’t terrible, but for me it definitely could have been better,” said Ashlee. “My horse wanted to jump clean, and I made one small error in each round. And when the jumps are that big, you don’t have room for error. Looking back now, I know what mistakes I made, and I learned from them and moved on. I was happy because of the experience I gained. I’d never competed against the Europeans at that level. To be able to jump those courses definitely prepared me for what was to come in Europe.”

After the roller-coaster ride that has been her year, Ashlee still has big goals. She’s headed to Wellington, Fla., in February to show at the Winter Equestrian Festival in preparation for the selection trials for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“I can’t wait to go to Florida this year,” she said. “I showed there in 2003, but I had two junior jumpers at the time and I didn’t do the big stuff. It was a great experience, but I think it’ll be a little different this time.”

Ashlee is looking forward to proving that her golden streak in Europe was no fluke.

“When you’re a young rider first coming up, you have to prove yourself and fight that rookie label. I have no problem being a rookie, but I want to be legitimate and in the sport for a long time. This has been an amazing way to start, but I hope this is a start to a career, not just, ‘She had a great summer once upon a time,’ ” said Ashlee.

Ashlee admitted that a year ago she wouldn’t even have dreamed of her current success. “No, for sure not,” she said. “But I’m lucky to have, at a young age, gotten a horse like Cadett.

“I’ve talked to other riders, and they say it’s rare to get a horse like him, especially at my age. To have him now is a dream come true. It was totally meant to be, because we weren’t looking for a horse. He kind of fell into our laps, and nobody really knew what he was capable of. He’d only done the 1.50-meter and the smaller divisions. He definitely has exceeded all of our expectations. It’s one thing to go to the WEG trials with the goal of ‘I just want to get around.’ But it’s a whole other thing to actually feel like I belong there and have a legitimate shot at making the team. That feeling is the most incredible feeling.”

For Steve, all the clear rounds and blue ribbons pale in comparison to Ashlee’s true accomplishment.

“What I’m really proud of is how hard Ashlee has worked and how diligent she’s been and how much she’s put into this,” he said. “We’ve been in the horse world forever, and we realize how special this is. We don’t take it for granted.”