14 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2011
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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Five Questions for Lillian Heard
By Lauren R. Giannini
Lillian Heard grew up with riding sisters and her mother,
Jaqueline, was District Commissioner for Seneca Valley
Pony Club (MD). Lill got her “B” rating, moved to Surefre
(VA) to train with Jan Byyny and then became Boyd Martin’s
right-hand person. In the aftermath of the tragic fre that
claimed the lives of six horses, including Lill’s Ariel, Phillip
Dutton and Boyd sent her off to Ireland to Carol Gee, owner
of Fernhill Sport Horses. Lill tried a lot of horses and got to
know Carol, who offered her a job. She wasn’t sure she
wanted to leave True Prospect Farm’s eventing community,
led by Phillip and Evie, but Boyd convinced Lill, 25, to take
advantage of the golden opportunity. She’s competing,
learning by leaps and bounds even when young horses
buck her off, and says: “This is going to make me as a
rider.”
Sidelines:
Will you go foxhunting while you’re in Ireland?
LJH:
Carol was telling me the other day that if I learn how
to ride around the country, then I can ride any horse around
without falling off because they jump some crazy stuff. I
hunted a little in Pony Club, and I would love to try it here if
offered the opportunity.
Sidelines:
Why is Pony Club so important?
LJH:
It teaches you to be responsible and respect for the
horse while having fun. We weren’t just out there going
crazy with our ponies; Pony Club taught you all the lessons
in horse care. Even now, I use the knowledge I gained
from Pony Club every single day.
Sidelines:
Do you wish you had done anything differently?
LJH:
Carol says all the time: don’t regret the things you do,
regret the things you don’t do. Being good at this sport is
about being able to handle the good stuff, make mistakes
and learn from things going wrong. I worked with Jan Byyny
for years. She’s so instrumental in my becoming who I am.
She pushed me and made me do it all through college.
I went to school, rode full-time and went to Aiken on the
weekends. She pushed and pushed:
come on, you can
be better
. I wouldn’t trade that. Then, I moved to Boyd’s
and learned from him and all the people at True Prospect.
I wouldn’t change anything.
Sidelines:
What’s the best way to move up through the
levels?
LJH:
I’m a huge fan of young and amateur riders buying
older, very experienced horses and learning on them, even
though maybe that horse won’t win the dressage or has
special shoes or you have to inject that ankle. It might not
be your ideal horse, but this horse will take care of you
and teach you how to jump the big jumps and give you
confdence. If I ever have kids, my kids will have horses
that have been there and done that. I had a very lucky
situation. My sister’s fve years older, and every time she
got to the end of a horse, I would get it and she would
get a new one. The frst time I inherited my sister’s one-
star horse: I was maybe 14 or 15 when I frst started going
preliminary and this horse carried me around. She was
phenomenal. She was older, not very good on the fat, but
she made me love it, because she made it so easy to jump around
a preliminary track.
When my sister fnished college, she decided to give up riding
and I inherited the horse she trained up to two-star. The horse
wasn’t super-sound, so I never wanted to do a two-star. I rode
that horse for two years and got to run around every Intermediate
track on the east coast. The horse was a machine and would
jump anything I put in front of it. Once again I got confdence. I
was lucky.
Sidelines:
What advice do you have for aspiring event riders?
LJH:
When you’re working your way up, you have to ride the
horse you love to ride. If it’s not fun and it scares you, sell it or stop
leasing it. Find a horse that makes you love what you’re doing
so that you come off the course and the adrenaline’s pumping
through you and you’re so excited you’re about to cry. That’s the
horse you need to ride. You’ll learn to fy.
Lillian Heard and Share Option were 6th at the CCI*** 2010
Jersey Fresh. “Whitey” was at a friend’s farm, recovering from
an injury, when Lill lost Ariel in the fre at Boyd’s
Photo by Mike McNally