Equitation Greats: Horses 1995 - present

Score = wins + ribbons won + longevity + number of different riders + number of winning riders

​

Commentary:

​

While many of the top riders won on a variety of different mounts, proof-positive of their premiere abilities, there are also horses in every generation who stand out for their ability to perform at the highest levels time and time again with multiple riders.

A lot is demanded of the equitation horse both physically and mentally, and what makes the following horses so special is their longevity combined with their results.  Although we did not research the specific owners and trainers who managed the care of these horses except for our top 5, it's clear that these mounts were not only well cared for, but also consistently matched with riders that brought out their talents year-in and year-out.

The greatest equitation horse of this era is Grappa, a 16.2-hand Hanoverian gelding. He earned 17 equitation finals ribbons during the span from 1996-2003, which includes his incredible seven equitation championships. He accomplished this with five different riders, four of whom won a final. Lauren Bass kicked off his career with two finals wins, Sarah Willeman earned three finals wins, Brian Walker and Maggie Jayne each won one final, and lastly Sophie Coppedge earned a final ribbon.

Equitation trainer Missy Clark originally purchased Grappa from California after seeing him competing in the jumpers as a 9 year-old and put him on a new career path. Starting with Lauren Bass, who soon purchased him, Grappa quickly excelled as an equitation horse and Clark would oversee his training for the remainder of his career. Clark recalled, “Everyone always said he was easy, but you had to be a real rider with him. I think he dumped everyone who rode him. He would buck you off at home. He would spook a lot, and he always had a lot of energy. He was a handful, but he was very unique, and I think that is what made him so good. You had to let him gallop up to the jumps, and he really caught your attention. He was a character, but he was just a great horse. He was really special.”1

His longtime owner, Willeman, shared, "When he focused his impressive mental energy on doing his job, there was no feeling like it—his bright gallop and perfect balance, fingertip-lightness in the bridle and fine-tuned response to the leg. He taught me smooth, bold riding; he required it."1 After winning the Maclay with him, Brian Walker stated, "When you go into the ring on him, you feel so confident. You know he can do anything."3

Grappa not only won finals, but also many championship classes throughout his career at Wellington, Devon, Lake Placid, and the Hampton Classic, among others. Fittingly, he capped off the long and storied history of the ASPCA Maclay Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City: he was the last horse to win the finals there. Grappa is well remembered within the equitation community. He was given a beautiful retirement ceremony at the Washington International Horse Show in 2006 and his name graces the best horse trophy at the USEF Talent Search East Finals.

Grappa was also one of the first "equi-celebrities" of the internet era. His career occurred during the early days the internet; it's no coincidence that his feats were spread far and wide by chat rooms and discussion forums - including ours, the original Bigeq Bulletin Board circa 1999. Prior to this, a top equitation horse may have received an occasional mention in a print article, but most were known only to a relatively small group of trainers and competitors who participated in and followed the division closely and mostly in person. With Grappa, online results and news coverage disseminated his results widely and immediately with every win - and with Grappa they kept piling up, building the legend with rider after rider.

Broader recognition of this great horse happened in a way that had previously been impossible prior to the rise of digital media, and there couldn't have been a better horse to carry the mantle. Grappa's online presence continued to charm his fans, as Willeman posted updates from his retirement on her aptly named blog "Grappa Lane" and  social media accounts. He passed away in 2020 at age 34.

At #2 on the list of greatest equitation horses is Class Action. Born in May 1999, Class Action is a 16.1-hand gray Danish Warmblood by Carano. In 2008, the gelding began his American showing career in the baby green hunters with California trainer Cameron Smith. Renowned equitation trainer Karen Healey soon spotted him and purchased him from Smith for her equitation student Navona Gallegos.

​

The pair competed in the finals that fall. Another junior rider, Katherine Newman, was offered Class Action for the Washington class since Gallegos hadn't qualified for it. Healey told Newman's trainers, "Look, I have this horse. He has never done it, but I guarantee you he is going to march in there and be perfect, I just know it." Class Action indeed won the Final with Newman. Healey recalled that the pairing was "a match made in heaven. We certainly did not think we were going to win, but he just cantered around like a machine. That was just the way he was from day one.”4

Following a strong showing at the 2009 Talent Search West, finishing fourth, Gallegos sold the gelding to Jessica Springsteen at the recommendation of her trainer, Stacia Madden. Springsteen immediately rode him to the reserve championship in the Talent Search East in 2009 - making him the only horse that has won two ribbons at the same "final" in one year! Springsteen described him as the "nicest horse I have ever ridden."5 High praise having ridden her own top mount, Papillon 136, to much success. Alluding to one of his nicknames, "Puff," later rider Lucy Deslauriers likened him to a cloud: "he's floating almost, his canter is super smooth, and he just looks like a cloud."6

Class Action also carried Allison Toffolon, Megan MacPherson, Coco Fath and Sophie Gochman to ribbons at equitation finals. In total, he won one final, earned twenty-one finals ribbons, and did so with eight - EIGHT - different riders. In reflecting upon his career, Healey marveled how well he "perform[ed] for every rider that has had him. That horse has never done anything other than try to please. You can absolutely depend on him in any ring, in any circumstance, over any jump. I think he goes down truly as one of the great ones."7 We agree. And so does the math!

At #3 is San Remo VDL, a Latvian Warmblood born in March of 2000 (by Sudanas out of Jasa).  Owner Elizabeth Benson purchased the gelding in early 2010 and shifted his focus from jumpers to equitation with the aid of her trainer Stacia Madden. From the get-go, the talented gelding was a little eccentric. In 2011, after winning the George Morris Excellence in Equitation class in Wellington, Benson noted "Usually he gets really antsy and kind of strong, so he does not like to wait at the ring."10 Remo's anxiety also made him tough during the halt or trot fences in tests. Year later, reflecting on his younger days, Madden recalled, "San Remo is an interesting bird because he is very antisocial. When we first got him, he didn’t want to be in the paddock. He only wanted to be in a stall and it was like solitary confinement. He kind of stood in a corner.”11

Years of training has eased some of his quirks, and Benson spent three years honing her partnership with Remo, culminating with a fantastic 2012 finals season, earning ribbons at both the Medal and Maclay, and taking the victory in the Washington final. Remo had been injured the previous finals season, so the victory was sweet. Benson's high scores of 89 and 91 in the two phases on Remo (along with a 90 on another equitation horse great, #6 Patrick) secured the win.

Remo would continue to earn top ribbons with Gabrielle Bausano and Katherine Strauss. The latter won the 2016 North American Championship with him. In 2017, Madison Goetzmann partnered with the gelding, who no longer showed all year. Turned out in a herd at John and Beezie Madden's farm in New York, Remo spent his time relaxing and socializing and returned to work just for finals season. With Goetzmann, he had another banner year, winning the Maclay and earning ribbons at the other three indoor finals together.

After their Maclay win, Goetzmann expressed her gratitude for her mount, "San Remo VDL is a very special horse. It’s hard for me to take credit for all of this because really he is the one who helped me get where I am right now... He is really a championship horse and I am glad I could give him the win he deserves."12 In 2018, Goetzmann partnered with Remo again and rode to the reserve championship at the North American and sixth place in the Washington. He is now retired.

#4 goes to Ivy, the bright chestnut born on Valentine's Day in 1994. The 16.1-hand Dutch Warmblood gelding won many hearts over his ten-year career. Owned and trained by Missy Clark, Ivy emerged onto the equitation scene in the late 1990s. In 1999, Clark's working student Kristin Mauks piloted the precocious five year-old to ribbons in the Medal, Maclay and Washington finals. Vanessa Haas took over in 2000, and earned ribbons at the Maclay and Washington finals. Over the next several years, two Jayne family members had success with the gelding. First, Charlie Jayne rode to three top-3 finishes in 2001-2002, including reserve champion at the 2001 Medal Finals. Haylie Jayne earned good ribbons during the 2005-2006 finals seasons, including reserve champion in the 2006 Washington class.

In 2008, Ivy paired up with Zazou Hoffman in what would become the defining and final partnership of his career. The duo finished seventh at the Medal Finals, and improved upon that finishing with a third place ribbon in the Maclay. In 2009, Hoffman and Ivy returned and earned two tricolors: the reserve championship in the Medal and champion in the Maclay. Following the Maclay, Hoffman described the gelding, "Ivy is just amazing. He’s the coolest horse I’ve ever ridden. Missy owns him and he’s a little older, but he still feels amazing and perfect. He has such a great canter and the best rhythm. I get along with him great. He’s a little bit more sensitive, and he doesn’t need much leg. He’s really soft and has a great jump."8

The following spring, the show community was saddened to learn that Ivy had passed away suddenly, due to a ruptured tumor on his kidney. Only months before, Ivy was still at the top of the sport, winning in Wellington with his latest rider, Laura Pfeiffer. At the time of the news, Hoffman wrote of Ivy, "I feel so privileged to have had the experience of competing on him and I know that his many other riders feel the same. He had a heart the size of the universe and gave his all in every competition. I miss him already."9 In all, Ivy won one final and earned sixteen total ribbons with five different riders over eleven years.

The Ideal Equitation Horse?

We would love to write more detailing each horse (maybe someday!), but for the time being we went through and compiled data on the physical characteristics of the top equitation horses from 1995-2017 to see what the "ideal" equitation horse type might be:

​

Age:

Most horses won their first finals ribbon at an average age of 7.91 years, the youngest being 5 (Gulliver, Ivy) and the oldest being 12 (Pioneer). No horse on our top list had a "career" shorter than four years (defined as the time from when they won their first finals ribbon to their last), the average was 6.8 years, and five of these horses earned ribbons at finals for spans of a decade or longer. These top horses averaged 3.5 different riders who won ribbons on them, and just under half of them (12) won finals with two or more different riders.

​

Breed:

All but four were warmbloods of some variety, with Dutch Warmbloods (8) accounting for the biggest sub-category of those. The remaining non-Warmbloods were Thoroughbreds or Thoroughbred/Warmblood crosses (Gulliver, Brother, Editorial, and Flamingo). Other warmblood sub-breeds represented were: Hanoverian, Danish, Latvian, Holsteiner, Oldenburg, Irish, and Bavarian.

Sex:

Geldings are the rule. Only one mare made the list!

Height:

It seems there's popular opinion that big horses make the best equitation horses, but this contradicts the height data we were able to obtain on twenty of the top horses from their USEF records - the majority of the horses were medium sized: 16.1-16.3, with the average being 16.2 hands, the smallest being 15.3 and the largest being 17.1-hands. In terms of coloring, bays accounted for about half (14), followed by chestnut (10), gray (3) and black (3).

So if you're looking for your next equitation champion, buy an intelligent, seven year-old, 16.2-hand, bay Dutch Warmblood gelding. ;)

​

​

​

Equitation Greats: Horses 1995 - present

Current year updates in red.