Dear Rita,

After making the decision to stay in Europe and not pursue a spot on the U.S. team last summer, I set about dealing with some issues that came up with Mane Stream Hotmail while I was still in Europe.

If you recall his unusual history, I had purchased Hotmail, aka Scottsdale, in 2012 as a 10-year-old third level dressage horse, hoping to advance him to Prix St. Georges and sell him in Florida within a short time.

Dear Rita,

This is going to be a long story, Rita, so brew a fresh pot of coffee and dig in for Part 1.

I learned something last spring from a client and good friend of mine. When I was agonizing over the decision whether to go to Europe straight from Florida at the beginning of April, she said to me, “That’s the nature of the game. When you have the horse and you have the opportunity, you have to drop everything and go.” 

Dear Rita,

I became known in Germany for my breeding horses long before anyone recognized me as a competitive rider.

In 1997 I bought my first broodmare from a well-established breeder of both Oldenburg and Hanoverian horses, Ewald Grotelueschen in Wardenburg, Germany. He had a famous mare line originating from the old blood Efendi and Goldstern that he had crossed with Figaro, a descendent of the famous Furioso II.

Dear Rita,

Please don’t be insulted that you found out I went to Europe with Hotmail via social media. It was a snap decision, and there was no time amid massive and frenetic logistical planning to call even my closest friends. My own mother did not know until today!

Dear Rita,

The last time I wrote, I had a story to tell about the morphing of Mane Stream Hotmail into a Grand Prix horse. We were mid-season at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Fla., and I knew that his career was about to take off.