46 SIDELINES AUGUST 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Peter Leone
With Carrie Wirth
The Olympic Games were a personal and family dream come
true. It was something that we—my brothers, parents and our
entire family—had targeted for 30 years.
You only come across an Olympic horse once in a lifetime—
maybe two, if you’re really lucky. I had such a horse in Legato.
He was the right age, in the right health, in the right form, in the
right year. With my family’s help, we were able to develop this
very talented horse. I bought him as a four year old and he was
ready to perform for our country in Atlanta in 1996.
The frst two out of a total of eight trials were in Wellington in
early April. They were held in the International Arena, which was
grass, at the time. The third trial was at Michael Matz’s facility in
Pennsylvania, the fourth and ffth were two-rounds on the same
day at Old Salem in North Salem, New York, then another two-
rounds at Devon on the same day, with the fnal Olympic trial at
Gladstone, New Jersey.
The frst two trials went really well. I was sitting in good
ranking at number three or number four. Then, 48 hours before
trial number three, I was jumping a young horse in a preliminary
jumper class—they don’t even use that terminology anymore—
when I had a bad fall and shattered my collarbone.
It was just like the movie, For the Love of the Game when Kevin
Costner gets hurt, “I need to get to Dr. So-and-So. He’s the most
important person in my life right now!”
I told my wife, “You’ve got to get me to Florida. You’ve got to get
me to Dr. Virgin.”
A Miami Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Charles E. Virgin’s philosophy
is to get you back on the playing feld -- so that you don’t even
think about your injury -- so you are functioning at 100%. That’s
exactly what he had done for me, when I had previously broken
some bones in my hand. I few down to Florida to see Dr. Virgin.
So, instead of competing in trial number three, I spent the day in
surgery in Miami.
Two weeks later, was the next trial. My brother, Mark, kept my
horse going. My brother, Armand, who is a doctor, worked with
me in the gym, doing very strategic rehabilitation, getting range of
motion and strength back in my arm.
With broken collarbone and all, I was ready to compete in trial
e
Olympics
Peter Leone Shares his
Story of Competing
in the 1996 Atlanta
Olympic Games
Peter Leone and his 1996 Olympic teammate Legato appear on
the cover of Leone’s new book, “Peter Leone’s Show Jumping
Clinic: Success Strategies for Equestrian Athletes.” Courtesy of
Storey Publishing.
Photo by Arnd Bronkhorst
“Proud Sponsor of Peter and Lionshare
Farm. Congratulations to Peter on the
release of his new book!” - SmartPak
Peter Leone and Lincourt Gino in the G&C Farms
Jumper Derby at the 2012 FTI Winter Equestrian
Festival.
Photo by Carrie Wirth