114 SIDELINES MARCH 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Don Juan does hunters and grand prix jumpers, shown here with
Tori in the first round of the 2013 Upperville Jumper Classic.
Photo By Lauren R. Giannini
Frenchie (Monsieur du Reverdy) relaxes, Tori enjoys a
good laugh.
Photo by Linda Luster
the first to win (in one year) Best Child Rider on a Horse, the
Ronnie Mutch Equitation Championship and the Junior Jumper
Championship. She earned three consecutive Best Child Rider
titles and two consecutive Junior Jumper titles at Devon.
About riding horses like Dedication, Ovation, Canadian Blue
and Way Cool, Tori said: “Betsee has done so much for me – she
has let me ride the nicest hunters in the USA and now she has
even leased me two equitation horses. I cannot repay what she
does for me, but more importantly she really loves her horses and
ponies and gives them a forever home, a real forever home. She
is genuinely an amazing and truly nice person and owner.”
Tori also loves horses, but being crazy about them isn’t enough.
She has worked hard to earn success. She’s a good sport, always
puts the horses first and has an amazing attitude. “If I don’t win,
I have to do better next time,” said Tori. “I’m still building on my
horsemanship skills. I’m learning more every day.” She attends
Number One Education Place when she’s not traveling on the
circuit. She stays incredibly busy, riding at least seven horses,
sometimes more, every day. She likes to play tennis, but mostly
Tori rides.
Both her parents are horse people. Jim is a farrier and Brigid
was a dressage trainer. It took time before they realized that they
might have a riding prodigy. Tori hasn’t always been fearless.
A pony bolted with her when she was two-and-a-half. Tori
instinctively grabbed mane, pulling out a thick handful when she
finally got tossed. She seemed unscathed, but when Brigid tried
to get Tori back on the pony, her refusal to ride lasted for three
years – until Debbie Stephens and Gene Mische gave the Colvins
a pony named Buster Brown.
“I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I was petrified
and I would not get on a horse,” said Tori. “I had Buster Brown
(before I turned six). He was the only pony I would get on – he’s
still alive, he’s 34 now – I trusted him. If you have fear, you have to
find a good pony and keep riding. It can be really hard to find the
right one, but someone offered Buster Brown to me and he was a
saint of a pony.”
In 2005 Buster Brown and Tori did short stirrups and were
Littlewood Circuit Champions, which pretty much launched Tori’s
career. She was riding for the love of it, not for money. She
still favors her first “real” pony, Ballou, a quirky and demanding
schoolmaster. “I love all the ponies I rode, but he was my first and
a brat when I started riding him,” said Tori. “I showed him for two
or three years and he pretty much taught me everything. He was
very spooky and didn’t want to go over the jumps.”
Tori started Ballou from scratch and thinks he was the hardest
pony she ever rode. “He would never do lead changes. He would
run me into a lake before he would do a lead change – he did
that once, threw me into a lake,” she said. “We were turning a
corner and I asked for the change, but he stopped and spun and I
went flying into the water. He’s easy now, so much better. Betsee
owns him and he lives at her farm in Florida. He hasn’t shown in
months, because we didn’t have a rider for him, but I think once
we find a rider, Ballou will start showing again.”
During her extraordinary pony career, Tori rode up to a dozen
daily and won just about every major title on the circuit. She
showed several ponies for Betsee: partnering with Vanity Fair to
win the 2009 Large Pony Hunter Championship at Pennsylvania
National and piloting For The Laughter to consecutive Grand
Championships at Pony Finals in 2009 and 2010.
When she was 12, Tori started doing the high junior jumpers. In
2011 she made her grand prix debut with Monsieur du Reverdy –
and won it. The duo put in two clear rounds with the fastest jump-
off time at the $25,000 Spring 6 Grand Prix in Wellington. The
13-year-old first-time rookie bested a field of 32, including Margie
Engle, Kent Farrington, and Jimmy and Danielle Torano.
Tori has three jumpers and they keep her on the go between
hunter and jumper rings at shows. She owns Monsieur du
Reverdy (Frenchie) and Chicolina. Don Juan shows under the
dual ownership of Karen Long Dwight and Brigid Colvin. Betsee
owns 99 percent of Tori’s hunters and equitation horses. The
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