span style=”font-style: italic;”> The riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voice of friends and to say to one’s self: “The work is done.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Few amateur riders tell stories about competing at a World Equestrian Games or Pan American Games the way 63-year-old Kathryn Downs can. She and her long-time partner, Pygmalion, have become a force to be reckoned with and challenge many preconceptions of age limitations and notions of horse development. Together, they’ve become one of the most successful and well-respected endurance partnerships in the country.

But even before Pygmalion, Downs took to endurance competition, as we know it today, in the late ’70s like a fish to water. She’s walked, trotted, cantered and galloped across more than 10,000 miles and 70 100-mile competitions since. Before finding modern endurance, Downs competed in competitive trail riding, timed competitions where horses were restricted to compete at a prescribed pace and scored based on level of soundness from first to last vet-check. Downs likened a competitive trail ride to a horse show for endurance horses.

Because she picked up endurance riding in its juvenile stages, specialized coaching and published information were scarce. So she learned the sport on her own through ideas she found in long distance running magazines and applied them to her endurance riding technique.

But after tens of thousands of competition miles and many unforgettable horses, her partnership with Pygmalion, or “Harley,” as she knows him best, takes the limelight.

Harley and Downs began competing together in 2001 and have taken on 20 100-mile races and completed more than 3,000 miles altogether, and they’re still going strong. Harley earned the American Endurance Ride Conference best condition horse award in 2004 at Biltmore (N.C.) and has also won the AERC 100-Mile National Horse Award.

“When I ride a race, I ride thinking of trying to win best condition, not trying to win the race,” said Downs. “In the end, it keeps me from getting carried away, and in the long run that’s what will allow you to have a horse for seven years who’s done 20 100-mile races and looks like he can do another 20.”

That same year the pair represented the United States at the Pan American Championship in Trout Lake, Wash., and finished 16th out of 90 competitors.

Even as an emergency room nurse at Maine General Hospital, Downs puts quality time with Harley high on her priority list.

Of course more time for riding is always welcomed, but she admittedly enjoys the tight schedule. “Having to juggle everything makes it more exciting. Everyone dreams of being rich, but when it comes right down to it, I say just be happy,” said Downs.

Downs also owns and rides another 100-miler named Blew Away, but she’s always enjoyed the hands-on experience of owning and training just a few horses. “I certainly wouldn’t mind having more horses, but this way I know I just have to pay attention and know that I have the right horses,” said Downs. “But I love that I could walk outside and see Harley right now.”

And the better their bond, the better their ride. “I think he reads my mind,” said Downs. “He knows how I feel, and I know how he feels. Sometimes I don’t even have to give a command, he just feels it.”

Conditioning over Maine’s tough terrain is no walk in the park, said Downs. Yet, never failing to find the bright side, she pointed out that the rocky, muddy and swampy lands keep them sharp whether competing in Florida–where Downs lives during winter–or Aachen, Germany, the venue that hosted the 2006 WEG.

“I think what also helps a lot is that I winter in Florida with him. It’s like cross-training because you get the two different types of terrain–flat sand in the winter and rocky hard ground in the summer,” said Downs.


An Unforgettable Finish
Representing the United States at the WEG was unforgettable for Downs to say the least. She had no doubt that Harley could challenge top international competition. As the pair campaigned for selection, she presumed the actual travel to Germany would be the easy part. It was the selection trials that nearly got the best of her.

“The selection process is a grueling one. There were many times when I thought to myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ But I’m glad I persevered. And I thank my husband very much for sticking by me when things looked like no fun,” said Downs.

Down’s husband, Stanley, used to compete in endurance races as well but is now happy crewing for her and riding for pleasure. They married in 1966. And of course, he accompanied her to WEG this year.

Downs approached the WEG the way she would any other race–intending to ride for best condition. She was awestruck by the level of competition and difficult terrain Aachen featured. What’s more, torrential downpours soaked the grounds during the final loop.

“It was the kind of trail where paying attention to your horse definitely paid off. There were a lot of pulls,” said Downs, including two of her own teammates, Joe Mattingly and Christoph Schork. “There was a lot of slipping and sliding, and I think that could have easily caused muscle pulls and lameness.”

But Harley never faltered. As he carried Downs toward the finish, she felt him sensing the finale. He picked up his pace and the pair prepared themselves for the experience of a lifetime.

“They had bales of hay on either side to guide us in. We went weaving through the venues, and my horse was feeling good and seemed to know this was the end. I was just praying, ‘Don’t stop short,’ because there were so many curves, and we couldn’t really see around them at the speed we were going,” Downs described.

“Then all of a sudden we opened up into the big arena with the crowd and the noise–it was incredible!” she added. “I was so pleased that we’d never stopped, never faulted. And at the last minute when I could see the finish line I saw someone right off my right knee, and I thought she was going to pass me. So I gave Harley a big kick, and he jumped right out in front of her. It was such an exciting finish I just had to let out this big whoop!”

Though the competition included more than 125 combinations from approximately 30 countries, Downs rode with teammates (Meg Sleeper, Steve Rojek, Mattingly and Schork) when possible. They kept tabs on each other’s horses and persevered together.

“It made a big difference in how you could strategize and pull each other through,” said Downs. She and Harley were the first U.S. finishers, placing 15th overall.

Sleeper has known Downs since 1985 and shared many trails with her, including the WEG. They conditioned together before Aachen and traversed most of the last two loops together. “It was nice to have a friend to ride with. The last two loops start to get hard, but we were able to encourage each other on,” said Sleeper, who finished 22nd.

“She’s very competitive and good at what she does. But she’s a great friend too. She’s really got a good grasp on how to condition horses,” added Sleeper.

Sleeper said she truly respects Downs for her modesty and character as a true equestrian. “She’s a great example of hard work and dedication to her horses and the sport of endurance riding itself,” she noted.


First Impressions
Few would guess today that Harley flat-out refused to be ridden seven years ago when Downs found him as a 3-year-old. She bought the opinionated, adolescent Arabian gelding from a friend who initially bought him sight unseen.

After she saw him trot she couldn’t deny her intuition. But he was less than polite after arriving at the Downs’ barn in Somerville, Maine.

“It was very interesting trying to socialize him when he came home to us,” said Downs. The aloof horse shot dirty looks when Downs sat on a bucket in his stall during his dinnertime.

She found the dirt more often than she liked through their initial bonding tribulations. Needless to say, it seemed Harley would rather not allow anyone aboard. That is, until he met Kevin Crane–a natural horsemanship trainer based in Albion, Maine, who Downs described as a “horse whisperer.” Crane managed to speak Harley’s language.

“He’s a very talented man who really knows the finer points of horse behavior and thinking,” said Downs. “Harley was mad at him at the beginning because this guy was smarter than him.”

Within the first two hours of their first session, Crane helped Downs learn Harley’s buttons and the pair were finally performing in harmony–no attitude, no bucking. Downs said Crane offered some unique tools and techniques–which she still uses today–to help communicate with Harley.

She still summons Crane’s expertise now and again for refresher courses. “When [Harley] gets too big for his breeches, we go for another visit just to bring him back in line,” said Downs.

“There isn’t a magic formula. It’s a gut feeling a lot of the time. You just have to feel that maybe today is not the day to go and run, rather just have a little fun with your horse. You just have to feel your horse. That intuition, I think, is what separates a lot of riders,” Downs explained.

Endurance riding affords Downs ample time to enjoy her partner, especially when 17-hour 100-mile rides are the norm. “And I still feel good when I’m done. I’m not tired at all,” she said. “I guess that’s why I keep doing it. It just excites me when I think about going for a ride.

“I always ask myself, ‘How much longer?’ ” Downs said laughing. “But I guess I’ll just keep going forward having fun and not worry about it too much.”


Joshua A. Walker