Mike Winter doesn’t see riding on the Canadian event team at the Olympic Games in Athens as the pinnacle of his riding career; he sees it as a stepping stone to the next chapter of his life.

But then, Mike and Emma Winter haven’t reached the upper levels of eventing by reveling in successes along the way. Hard work and dedication have earned this husband-and-wife team dozens of wins and top placings, and their students have brought them acclaim as well.

In 2003, Mike represented Canada at the Pan American Championships (Md.), and in 2004 he rode at the Olympics, both times on Balista, an off-the-track Thoroughbred owned by Emeline Loughlin and purchased from fellow Canadian Peter Gray.

Mike also won the preliminary horse title at the American Eventing Championships (N.C.) on Wonderful Will, owned by Sher Schwartz, who was the novice champion at the AEC, besting more than 80 riders in her division.

“The sky’s the limit for [Mike]. He just has to get from really good to fabulous,” said Canadian team coach Jim Wofford.

Mike’s wife Emma also competes at the advanced level, currently campaign-ing her own Mahogany Chief, another horse that came from Gray. She finished 14th at Foxhall CCI*** (Ga.) last year and plans to compete in her first four-star this spring at Kentucky.

But it is not only competitive results that make this eventing duo notable: they do it all without major sponsorship, running a busy training stable in Newnan, Ga. Sure, the horses are owned by paying clients–and one horse, Kingpin, is even owned by a syndicate. But there are no big sponsors or patrons footing the bills for it all.

Outside of the barn, Mike, 30, and Emma, 31, make time for their 3-year-old daughter, Amelia. Often traipsing about at events with either of her parents or the staff from the barn, Amelia has become a regular fixture on the Southeastern eventing circuit, and her parents make sure that she features prominently in their lives.

Climbing To The Top

Emma, who comes from Great Britain, grew up around horses and excelled in Pony Club competitions. She moved to Georgia in the late 1990s to work for Kelli McMullen- Temple and Carl Bouckaert.

Mike comes from an urban Toronto upbringing, from a family with almost no background in horses–though his grandfather was in the Polish cav-alry. He got into horses after spending a summer at camp, where his parents hoped that he would find a hobby. He decided that he wanted riding lessons and essentially went into the equine business to get out of going to university full time. After completing a few equine courses at Humber College (Ont.), he worked for Canadian Nick Holmes-Smith and then for Amy Barrington in Arizona.

Later he trained with Gray, at the time that Emma was working for Bouckaert. They met in Florida over the winter and decided to get married six years ago.

After living in a horse trailer for a year and a half, galloping race horses at Kip Elser’s stables in Camden, S.C., they took a job training horses–including race horses–for Anne Shir-ley in 1997. They stayed there for two years, eventing their own horses at the same time.

The Winters agreed a few years ago that they would raise a family while running their business, and they wanted a little stability.

The lure of running an event barn drew them to Georgia in 2000, where they trained exclusively for one family. Within a year they de-cided to take on a place of their own, more conducive to having a training business.

Mike and Emma now train at Roy and Margaret Knox’s Swamp Fox Farm. In the beginning they had only eight horses in the 18-stall barn, hardly enough to pay the bills. They filled the barn with horses with “a combination of drive and determination and clear competitive and career goals,” said Mike, who also wanted to raise a family and be “happy, normal adults.”

The couple receives saddle and equipment sponsorship from Prestige Saddlery, and they have maintained a profitable bottom line in their own business.

The Olympic Boost

Mike’s Olympic experience has energized their clients, encouraging owners to strive for more with their horses. His parents, who live in Los Angeles now, have also become more supportive of his riding since the Olympics. He joked, “They still think I’m just ‘taking a year off’ from university!”

Mike, a rider representative on the High Performance Committee of Canada, appreciated the training available to him through the Canadian team with Wofford and Jane Savoie.

Of Wofford, he said, “He was extremely critical of me the first season that I rode with him, and I have taken his advice very seriously and stayed as close to the program as I can. I think that he played an integral part in getting me to the Pan Am and Olympic Games and giving the Canadian program real structure.”

Mike regrets that in Canada, there tends to be a culture of having one horse at the higher levels and then fizzling out from the international ranks. “So many people at the top of the sport have multiple horses, and I have been preaching it to the committee how important that is for the Canadians too,” he said. “It’s necessary not only as backup but for practice; look at Phillip Dutton and how many horses he rides around every course. There’s no substitute for that.”

Wofford has enjoyed seeing Mike learn to utilize his talents. “He has the unusual ability to think like a horse; he feels what helps a horse and what gets in his way. With kids growing up in the suburbs now, it’s getting harder and harder to find that in riders these days,” said Wofford. “You know he’s going to operate at his level [at a competition], which is un-usual. He competes better than he practices.”

A Winning System

Mike and Emma have around 30 students, and while Mike spends more time coaching upper level riders, Emma handles much of the instruction for adult amateurs.

Lucy Tutwiller and her daughter Elizabeth drive from Birmingham, Ala., to train with the Winters. After only a year of lessons Lucy went from riding in her first beginner novice event to competing in the training level championships at the American Eventing Championships.

Emma rides Lucy’s horse Secret Decision at preliminary level, but after he has more experience, Lucy, 50, hopes compete him herself.

“When I got to my first show I felt so prepared,” said Tutwiller. “I never could have done this without their encouragement.”

Mary Bess Horton from Athens, Ga., has been training with Mike and Emma for two years. The 26-year-old part-time student rides her Mojo Rising at the advanced level.

“Mike and Emma are true professionals and will help you do whatever it takes,” she said. “They changed my attitude a lot. I was very relaxed about the whole thing. Mike made me realize that I needed a plan to be successful. That takes a lot more than just riding–you have to be organized.”

She added that practicing difficult, technical courses at home makes it easier when she goes to shows. “I’ve progressed so fast,” she said. “Anyone who is willing to work hard, they’ll get you there.”

Maintaining a strong client base is important to the Winters, and they plan their competition schedule with their clients in mind.

“We try and really run it like any business,” said Mike. “We try and copy what our vendors, like the hay and tack vendors, do, sending out holiday cards and even gifts to bigger clients. At events we take time with our clients socially as well as instruction-wise. It’s the nature of the business.”

Shannon Kinsley, 22, has groomed for the Winters off and on since age 15, including at the Olympic Games.

“Mike and Emma are great,” said Kinsley, who owns one of Mike’s retired advanced horses, Twister. “They’re like family now. They have worked really hard, and it’s nice to be a part of that.”

Mike notes that they walk a fine line be-tween work and leisure time. “We have to en-joy what we’re doing because we don’t have another life,” he said. “We are fortunate to have clients that we enjoy time with. We spend approximately 30 weekends a year competing, and we see our clients a lot during the week too.”

For example, Loughlin, who owns Balista, has been supportive on many levels, helping out with Amelia and with the horses. “She goes beyond the call of duty,” he said.

Mike has another daughter, Cassandra, 14, who lives in Canada with her mother. She also rides and visits Mike and Emma during holidays and summers.

“She’s really a great girl and has started to spend more time with us, which is nice,” he said.

Balancing family life with business is a primary concern. “When we had Amelia we made the decision to make time for her,” he said.

Amelia goes to daycare in the morning while Mike, Emma and their staff ride; afternoons are spent at home until Mike and Emma return to the barn around 3 p.m. to teach. The couple shares equal responsibility for parenting, and the girls at the barn are used to babysitting as well.

“We haven’t done everything perfectly, but I think we find a good balance,” said Mike.

Balista Blossoms

Mike Winter finally landed in the international league of eventing thanks to an off-the-track Thoroughbred.

Dean and Fran Graham had gotten Balista off the track, and then he was bought by Dr. Terry Martin, who later sent him to Peter Gray to sell, because he was not a good match for Martin. “We had done business with Peter before when we traded a 3-year-old for Mahogany Chief,” said Mike. “Emeline was interested in purchasing a horse with four-star potential, but her budget did not allow for a horse already going advanced. Balista’s temperament was somewhat restrictive, but he was physically able.”

Brian Vickers had qualified Balista for a two-star, but Mike wanted the horse to be competitive with him from the start, so he spent several months building a partnership with him, competing at a few unrecognized preliminary events.

“He has done quite well and more than exceeded our expectations,” Mike said. “He’s not hot at all, but he has a temper and lashes out if you put the pressure on. He is actually quiet and lazy. But he is sweet and really tries. If you get him to the jumps, he really takes care of things.”

Balista thrives on a laid-back schedule, so Mike only schools him a couple of times a week, and his barn manager, Shannon Kinsley, rides him much of the time, doing light flat work and hacking him.

Canadian team coach Jim Wofford has great respect for Mike’s work with the horse. “He ought to be terribly proud of where he’s gotten with this horse,” said Wofford. “He’s an off-the-track Thoroughbred, with all that entails, and it’s taken a lot of skill [to get him to this point]. He’s not an easy ride.”