This is the story of a dream come true.

When I moved up to a large pony three years ago, I knew I had found my dream pony in Hillcrest McGyver, a 14.2-hand Welsh pony from North Carolina. He was beautiful, he was bold, he was talented. I dreamed that some day he and I would win a novice horse trial.

I never dreamed about the hard work that it would be to move up from a very small pony to a very large one.

McGyver and I became a team in March of 2002. At first it wasn’t really a team–we parted company more times than I want to remember.

So the first year that I rode McGyver, we both had a lot to learn. I had to learn how to handle a hotshot pony with not only a very big jump, but also a big attitude. He thought he was “the boss.” He had to learn to listen to a little girl whose leg didn’t wrap all the way around his side. He had to learn that I was calling the shots.

With help from my trainer, Debbie Place, we learned those lessons. She taught me how to teach him to listen. She taught me how to believe in my pony and myself. She taught us how to become a real team.

We rode in beginner novice at four events in that first year, and I began to believe in this bold pony. I got braver and braver. He got better and better.

By the next summer, we were ready to move up to novice at Snowfields (Maine). And, boy, did we move! (We finished under the optimum time in cross-country, and that’s a big, galloping course). We placed third in our division. I was so excited with our performance that I’d lost sight of my bigger dream. This felt like I was on top of the world.

And then I remembered “my dream.” It would have to wait until this year, our third year together.

I train all year long (we’re lucky to have a really nice indoor arena at Debbie’s Peppergrass Farm in Dixmont, Maine). My background in equitation was helpful, because stadium jumping is my strongest phase. McGyver’s background in eventing was helpful too, because cross-country is his favorite thing to do.

And Debbie’s great teaching would help us to ace dressage.

In April we went to Flora Lea Horse Trials (N.J.), and it all came together. Our first time out for the year, we won the novice division.

Wow! Dreams do come true. I was so proud of my dream pony. But that’s not the end of the story.

But Debbie had a bigger dream. She told me about the American Eventing Championships, held in the fall, in Southern Pines, N.C. To qualify for it, you have to place first or second at a USEA-recognized event, and we’d just done that.

So from April until September our whole plan was to keep McGyver sharp and keep me working hard on my dressage scores to be ready for the ride of our lives.

The Heat Is On
We got there early and helped McGyver to settle in after his very long ride from Maine. On Sunday we went for a long hack to loosen him up. Not many people were there yet. It was so hot that we decided to clip him. It had been a while since he’d worked in 90-degree heat in Maine.

We had a jumping lesson on Monday, and by then everyone was coming in. So many very big horses, not so many ponies.

Everybody who watched us thought McGyver was cute. I thought, “Just wait ’til you see him on course!”

Wednesday was it, the first day of the Big Dream. Debbie braided McGyver: 13 braids for good luck, sewn in. I usually do my own braiding, but I haven’t done the sewn-in ones yet.

I was excited, and a little nervous. But I knew we would be good. We’d worked really hard to get here, and we were ready.

Our warm-up was very together. And then the wind blew our ring down. We weren’t ready for that.

So we had to move to an-other ring and wait a long time before our ride. McGyver was still thinking about the wind when we went in, and he was a little “looky.” But by the time we got to the first canter, he was back on track, light in the bridle.

His second serpentine was “gorgeous,” according to Debbie, and the judges thought so too. Our ride earned a 34.5 and a tie for eighth place, out of 51 rides.

Bravery Required
McGyver got lots of treats after the ride (he especially loves peppermints and tortilla chips). Once he was cool and comfortable, we went to walk the cross-country course. Southern Pines didn’t look so small any more.

I remembered that he was a very brave and bold guy. I reminded myself that he had taught me to be brave too. But this time we needed to be really brave.

The jumps were beautiful. There was so much detail in each one. My favorite was the Halloween fence with spiders all over it and a scarecrow on the side. There were a couple of jumps we had never done before, but I knew he could do anything I asked him to.

By the third time we’d walked the course, on Wednesday morning, it looked much more rideable. We’d jumped bigger fences than most of these before.

And then, before I knew it, we were galloping out of the start box. Over the first fence, a big log. No problem. Next was a very wide bird feeder, with corn all over the ground. We didn’t even think about eating. We were on our way.

We leaped another wide table at fence 3, mane and tail flying. Into the water at 4A, and out over a brush jump, 4B. Fence 5 was the stonewall up-bank. This ride was beginning to be a lot of fun.

The steeplechase brush was the one we hadn’t done before, and McGyver took it just like a steeplechaser. I love this boy!

Another log, this one decorated with mushrooms and elves. We never even looked. Then the rolltop decorated with spiders. So long, scarecrow.

Up a bank. Two strides to another brush. Then we held our breath over the trakehner. (Well, I think he was breathing, but I wasn’t.) He jumped it as if he’d been doing them for weeks.

Did I mention that this was a long course?

Fence 12 was an ABC combination of bank up, log down, and a hay bale jump.

Another combination at 13 over a big log, then one stride into water. No problem for Brave Boy, who thinks water is fun. Then a coop. And another re-lated-distance bird feeder to a really skinny bird feeder. Are we there yet?

Fence 16 was a bench, and we galloped away from the last fence, a little tired but mostly happy to have gone clean and fast at our biggest event ever.

Lots Of Hugs
McGyver earned a cooling bath with Vetrolin from Debbie and lots of kisses from me. I earned a cool Smoothie, an early supper, and a good night’s sleep. Oh, yes, and lots of hugs from Mom.

I think she was as excited as I was. Well, almost. Because we had moved up from eighth place to fourth after cross-country. This dream was almost too good to be true.

Friday was stadium jumping day. Because McGyver is so clever, we almost never have a rail down, but I couldn’t even think about that.

My ride was in the afternoon, so I had a chance to watch how the course rode in the morning. It was a pretty course, with wide turns. But the distances were set for horse strides, so I would have to ask for a forward ride from my pony. But McGyver doesn’t know he’s small, and his heart is big.

I love stadium, because people get to see how nice McGyver can be. And he was the nicest he has ever been.

The course rode like a big equitation course. Lots of turns and bending lines. And then it was over. And again we were clean.

By now I was holding my breath for real. Horses were tired. Rails were coming down. Could it be that we might move up from fourth? When I thought fourth at the AEC was more than my best dream?

To second, reserve champions? It was my best dream ever, come true. And I think McGyver’s best dream was that victory gallop. The first time around, he almost caught up to Snowy, who was the champion. It was the lap when the champion is supposed to go alone, but I couldn’t stop him. And he wanted to do it again!

There really is no end to the story. Even though I’ve outgrown him and have moved up to a new horse this winter, he’ll always be the pony of my dreams.