FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES JUNE 2013 21
D-Niro and
Jacqueline showing
off the work ethic
and style that
earned them
third place in the
Grand Prix Special
CDI5* at the 2013
World Dressage
Masters.
Photo by Allen
MacMillan/MacMillan
Photography
A relaxed Jacqueline
Brooks and “Goose”
under the Florida
sun in the jog at the
2013 World Dressage
Masters competition.
Photo by Kim MacMillan/
MacMillan Photography
to summer camp and was allowed to go. Then, when I was 17 and
could drive, I was allowed to take a weekly lesson. But, I was not
allowed to have a horse until I graduated from university.
What traits do you look for in a horse?
I don’t love a really spooky horse. D-Niro is energetic and he’s
forward, but he is solid. He has a solid brain. I love to buy the
brain.
What is your philosophy on riding?
I will not cross that line with my horses, even if it means losing.
I don’t kick them… if they are piaffng a little quiet, they can go
ahead and piaffe a little bit quiet; they are still piaffng. Maybe I’m
not competitive enough, but it’s who I am. It’s how I like to live my
days with my horses. I like them to like me at the end of the day.
If you could interview anyone, who would it be?
My interview would either be Ellen [DeGeneres] or Oprah
[Winfrey], because they are both very successful women. They’ve
taken something that they are good at and they’ve allowed a
tremendous number of people to enjoy it with them.
What’s the best advice you have been given?
I don’t know how this thought got in my head and I can’t tell you
who would be responsible for it, but the last thing I say to myself
when I hear the whistle and they open the gate is, ‘Don’t ask him
to be more than he is.’
W
hat is your idea of happiness?
When I go in and I know it’s a real partnership and that nothing
is forced. I had it at Devon and at the Olympics. Those are the
ones that you take back home and you say, ‘OK, everything is
headed in the right direction’. They don’t come very often, but
often enough maybe.
About the Writer: A graduate of Purdue University with degrees in Agriculture
Journalism and Animal Science, Kim MacMillan has been writing about horses and
equestrian competition, science, agriculture, history and travel for over 30 years.
Also an accomplished photographer, she and her husband Allen own MacMillan
Photography & Media Services. They live on an 84-acre farm in Northeastern Indiana
where they raise Warmblood horses and sport ponies.