In June of 1982, Kim Walnes, a mother of two young children, stunned the eventing world by winning the Rolex Kentucky Advanced Three-Day Event on a gray gelding she had bought in Ireland and trained herself. The young mother, who hadn’t started eventing until the age of twenty-eight, was suddenly National Champion. Three months later, at the World Three-Day Championships in Luhmühlen, Germany, Kim and The Gray Goose earned the individual and U.S. team bronze medals.
Kim Walnes and The Gray Goose on the Advanced course of the 1981 Blue Ridge Horse Trials / Elizabeth Preznikoff photo
In 1983 I made my dream of competing in the Three-Day Event at Badminton a reality by writing letters for donations, holding bake sales, and soliciting sponsorships. We arrived in England several weeks early to get used to the different climate and footing; England in April was very different from Connecticut in that month!
Gallops in the Earl of Bathurst’s Park, preparing for Badminton, Gloucestershire, 1983 / Kim Walnes photo (with her travelling disposable)
I had hacked to the Earl of Bathurst’s Park near where we were staying at Philip Wilmett’s polo stables. The wide avenues and hills were perfect for conditioning, and I was pretty much the only person out there. This was a boon with The Gray Goose, who always had to be in the front of any other horses nearby.
We came to a grassy crossroads on top of one of the hills and stopped to take in the beauty of the scene. In the distance I heard hounds baying and knew a foxhunt was in progress and headed in our direction. Both our hearts began to beat more rapidly. The Gray knew about hunting, having done it twice in Ireland. [Unmanageable when frightened], I figured that my best bet at survival was to stay put where he could see everything as it progressed. I dismounted to walk him around a bit, as well as to judge his mood. If he erupted and dumped me it would be a very long walk home!
Suddenly, the fox / Kim Walnes photo (with her traveling disposable)
To my surprise and relief, Gray seemed content to just take it all in. I remounted, and to my utter delight, the fox trotted into our clearing and calmly sat down in the middle of the crossroad! We three acknowledged one another…I was barely breathing in the wonder of the moment. Since the hounds were getting closer, I figured that he must have laid them a puzzle to solve and knew he had time to rest. Then he trotted off.
The Gray and I continued to wait, and sure enough a bit later the fox streaked back into the clearing. I cheered him on, then we sat calmly while the horns and hounds came ever closer and finally were there.
“Did you see the fox?” asked the Master. I nodded my head. Then the question I knew was coming…”Which way did he go?” I hesitated briefly before giving a muddled response…my heart was with that fox.
The hunt moves off, and The Gray Goose decides he’s an eventer, after all. / Kim Walnes photo (with her traveling disposable)
Off they all went, and Gray amazed me when he was content to remain behind. At thirteen, with this his fourth airplane trip to Europe to compete, he showed me just how much he had matured, and how deeply he had accepted Eventing in all its aspects as his life.
Posted December 7, 2020