A career change from the jumpers to the hunter ring? That’s not all that unusual. But a former decorated hunter of Kelley Farmer’s turned grand prix show jumper? That’s something you don’t see every day, and exactly what a mare named Unspoken has done this fall. 

Andy Kocher has taken over the ride on the Glefke/Kensel LLC owned Unspoken after Larry Glefke, Farmer’s partner, sent to him to Kocher and professional rider Jenny Jones. And at the Tryon Fall 4 show (N.C.) in early October, Unspoken earned ribbons in both her jobs, placing fifth in the $25,000 Nutrena Grand Prix and second in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby just days apart.

Unspoken and Andy Kocher flying to fifth in the $25,000 Nutrena Grand Prix. Photo by Sportfot

Unspoken and Andy Kocher in the hunter ring the same week. Photo by Sportfot

“This, this is a great story,” Glefke said of Unspoken’s unusual career path. “When we originally got her, she had been doing the young jumpers with Mclain Ward, showing in a bunch of classes down in Florida with him.”

Shown under the name Olivia (which Glefke and Farmer kept as her barn name), the Hanoverian mare of unrecorded breeding was owned by Ward and spent the winter of 2013 showing in the 1.30- to 1.35-meter classes before an illness knocked her out of the show ring.

When Olivia was ready to get back in the groove of things in August of 2013, Ward decided to change things up and handed the reins to hunter professional Jimmy Torano. Torano showed her in the first year green division a few times before entering Olivia in her first USHJA International Hunter derby in November of 2013, which she won. That’s when she got Glefke’s attention, and Olivia moved to Lane Change Farm shortly thereafter.

In the year that followed, Farmer piloted the super careful mare (think at least 6 inches of clearance over every fence) to top finishes in the second year green working hunters, along with a pair of USHJA International Hunter derby wins at the Showplace Spring Spectacular Final (Ill.) and Summer in the Rockies V (Colo.).

But just as Olivia was making a name for herself in the hunter ring, a bad collarbone break in August 2014 put Olivia on the back burner.

“When Kelley got hurt, the horse didn’t really do anything,” Glefke said. “She was kind of just at the farm, and then Brigid Colvin came to me and said she had a kid looking for a horse to do some lower jumper stuff, and she wasn’t doing anything at the farm, so she went and did that for a little bit.”

In the beginning of 2015, Olivia showed in the low juniors and low children’s divisions with riders Lindsay Levine and Lili Halterman. as well as a few 1.30-meter classes with Tori Colvin. When she returned from the lease, Glefke had a decision to make as to the mare’s future career. 

“Kelley didn’t really need another four-foot horse, and Olivia is great, but she’s not Mindful,” Glefke said. “We always knew she could be really fast, and was really careful, and wanted to win blue ribbons, so I called up Jenny Jones and asked her if she wanted to take her and do her in the jumpers.”

That’s how Kocher, who works together with Jones, found himself with the opportunity to test out Olivia’s jumper chops in September.

“We showed her in some low classes, 1.15-meter, 1.20-meter, and we thought, ‘Wow, she’s really good at this,’ but we weren’t sure how much higher she wanted to go,” Kocher said. “Then we gave her a week off, and we went to Tryon [International Equestrian Center (N.C.)]. It was just pouring down rain, and everyday she was winning—she won like four classes in a row. There weren’t very many people in them, but the jumps were big enough.”

To be precise, the mare won four 1.35-meter classes during her two weeks with Kocher at Tryon, placing second in two 1.40-meter classes as well.

Next on Olivia’s jumper to-do list was a grand prix appearance, and Kocher decided to enter her in the $25,000 Gallop in the Glen (Tenn.) in early October. Of course, no Kocher story is complete without a little chaos—he nearly didn’t make it to the show grounds in time for the class when the diesel gauge on his truck broke.

“I’m like 15 minutes from the show on these back roads off the highway, the gauge is reading a quarter of a tank, and the freaking thing runs out of diesel,” Kocher said. “And the class was starting in like an hour.”

Luckily, Kocher and his team were able to call for help and a ride to the show, and they arrived in time for Kocher and Olivia to snag a second place finish in the prix (Penny Brennan and Japan took the win).

“The horse jumped amazing; she jumped like she’d done this a million times. She would have won, it was just a little bit rainy and muddy and I left the door open a little bit, but that mare couldn’t have really gone any better for her first class like that. She’s an awesome horse,” Kocher said.

Olivia shows with Kocher in a loose ring snaffle, just one of the things she brought with her from her past hunter life.

“The best part about her from her being a hunter is no matter what you’re aiming her at, she’s not spooky. She’s a really careful horse, but she doesn’t even blink at whatever the jump is. All those international derby classes, they’ve started to make all those crazy jumps, so it’s no big deal for her.”

Glefke still owns the Olivia with Kensel LLC, but plans on leaving her with Kocher and Jones to sell as a jumper—it was a long and unusual path she took to the grand prix ring, but she seems to have found her niche.

“Let me put it to you this way, between McLain Ward, Kelley Farmer and now Andy, the mare hasn’t had too many bad rides,” Glefke said with a laugh. “She’s answered all the questions up to this point, and I hope she continues to do well. I think she’s in the right spot.”