Cassie Sanger is the youngest rider at this year’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event – and we’ll be seeing more of this promising talent in Britain later this year.
The 20-year-old US rider is a recipient of this year’s Wilton Fair Grant and will soon be coming over to the other side of the Atlantic to be based with Ros Canter. The Wilton Fair Fund, given by David and Cheryl Lenaburg in memory of their great event horse Wilton Fair, allows up to $100,000 (about £75,000) in grants to be given each year for educational opportunities for riders ages 29 and under who have not yet ridden for a senior team.
Cassie’s ride at Kentucky is the 12-year-old Redfield Fyre.
She said: “I’ve had him since I was 15 and I took him to his first event in the States. I’ve had him for pretty much exactly five years. He’s like a sibling to me; we’ve really grown up together. It’s cool to be here with a horse that I know so well, inside and out, and I think he knows me just as well.
“I just have loved getting to know him through every single level. Every experience that he’s had has been one that I’ve had with him. So that’s been a really key part to building such a strong partnership.”
Cassie Sanger and Redfield Fyre scored 38.6 in the first phase.
“That was probably one of the best tests he’s done in quite a while. I was really happy with him,” said Cassie.
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“He got a little bit tense in the warm-up today and he had been so chill all week, so I did get a little on edge in the last five minutes. But he went in there and really tried to stay with me the whole way, which is just the most important thing. That’s all I could hope for. So I’m really proud of him today.”
Cassie said Redfield Fyre is “a tricky horse, especially on the flat, and on the ground he’s pretty emotional”. Over the past year, since he stepped up to four-star level, she has been working out the best routine for him.
“This whole week I’ve been riding him twice a day, but for shorter rides because he doesn’t have a ton of gas in the tank to keep working on the flat. It’s very hard for him. So I’m like, give me 15 minutes of your time and that’s it and we’ll be good,” she said.
Cassie is also a full-time student at the University of Richmond, studying journalism.
She explained: “We got a farm this past fall in Ocala which has been super exciting, so I’ve been there since December. When I’m not in Ocala at the farm, I’m at school and then the horses will sometimes come up north with me. So we’re all over and it’s a ton of moving parts.”
The rider has been trained by British 2004 Olympic champion Leslie Law for the past three years and also paid tribute to Darrah Alexander, who trained her for six years before Leslie.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
