Page 54 - 2208_full

52 SIDELINES AUGUST 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE E V E N T I N G

Sara Kozumplik and Somerset in his frst four-star, 2009 Kentucky Rolex, when they zoomed from 43-tied to 16th overall on the strength of his clean cross-country and stadium round

Photo by Lauren R Giannini

Five Questions for

Sara Kozumplik

By Lauren R. Giannini

Sara Kozumplik hopes to have another go at Kentucky Rolex in 2012 with Somerset, owned by Edy and Sean Rameika and Ocala Horse Properties LLC. An “A” pony clubber and 2000 individual and team gold Young Rider, she spent the frst 12 years of her life in England. Her record includes Rolex, Badminton, Burghley, Blenheim, and The World Cup Final. Sara teaches and competes out of Overlook Farm (Berryville, VA).

Sidelines: Who has helped you to achieve your goals?

SK: Edy Rameika has been my sponsor since just before Young Riders in 2000. She’s young, kind, and adores the horses. What she enjoys more than anything else is coming to her farm to see the horses and hearing all about them. She’s totally into the process, not the result. It would have been impossible to do what I’ve done without her. She’s absolutely wonderful.

Sidelines: What was one of your biggest lessons?

SK: As You Like It, a Thoroughbred off the track, did Rolex six times and Blenheim and Burghley twice, and fnished his career at Badminton (2005). I didn’t have any concept of how amazing that horse was. I brought Somerset along too fast and we went to Blenheim even though Jimmy said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ We crashed at the frst water jump: fortunately, the frangible pin broke or I would have had a rotational fall. I learned a really big lesson: when things go wrong, riders have to be totally honest with themselves. It bothers me when they say ‘oh, the course designer’ or ‘the footing’ or ‘my horse did this or that.’ I think 99% of the time these big accidents can be avoided: somebody made a mistake along the way. I rode Somerset into that fence okay, but I had rushed his training. It’s okay if you learn from it, but it is rider responsibility, not making excuses and fnding fault outside of yourself.

Sidelines: What about your up-and-coming horses?

SK: Manolo Blahnik just did his frst advanced at The Fork. He’s a fantastic jumping horse, small and nippy, totally different from Somerset, but he’s been good for my riding. Let’s Misbehave, for the Cole Porter song, is one of the nicest horses I’ve ever had. I bought her from Bryan McDonald who started her. She’s seven, did a little racing and foxhunting with an old friend of Bryan’s, and placed second with me at her frst Novice at Rubicon. I think she’s a superstar.

Sidelines: How do you instill confdence in students?

SK: I love having my younger kids on very experienced horses. They don’t have to be world-beaters, just older, wiser and knowledgeable horses who can teach you how to ride well cross-country. It makes things a lot safer. I would prefer that you have a young horse after that and bring it all the way up, because you learn from that, too.

I don’t think being scared of cross-country is a bad thing: it means you haven’t been given the proper tools to do it safely. That’s a big part of my job.

Sidelines: Who infuenced you the most?

SK: My mother Carole, a dressage rider, and Jimmy Wofford who was like a father to me. I didn’t think I was brave enough to do three-day eventing. Before I went to take my “A” rating in pony club, I was 16 and I wanted to do one three-day event and then I would do dressage like my mum which, thank God I didn’t, because I’m not that good at it. My Pony Club instructor, Gretchen Verbonic, said ‘there’s this man down the road who does a bit of jumping, we can go over and watch’ and we drove into Jimmy Wofford’s farm. Jimmy makes things as safe as he can make them. He listens, but lets you make your own mistakes. There’s no BS with Jimmy. He’s an incredibly kind and honest horseman. He’ll take you to a certain point and send you off to work with someone else for a bit. He’s a ‘big picture’ man and has thousands of exercises that all serve a purpose. Jimmy’s the reason why I event.