62 SIDELINESMAY 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
e
WorldEquestrianGames
The Ride Of
Her Life
ByDarleneRicker
Therearen’t many riderswho compete successfully in the
international arena inone discipline, let alone two. But then
again, 30-year-old LaineyAshker of Richmond, Virginia, is one of
a kind. When she’s pilotingAnthonyPatch (“Al”), her advanced
event horse, her scope is set onplaces like the cross-country
course at LePin, where she hopes to compete for theU.S. at
theAlltechFEIWorldEquestrianGames 2014 inNormandy,
France.When she’s onSantiago del Escarvido (“Diego”), the
Andalusian dressagehorse shewill competeat PrixSt. Georges
this season, her visions are of cantering down the centerlineat
the2016Olympics inRio de Janeiro, Brazil.Wherever the ride
of her life takes Lainey, her ultimate thrill would be to compete
for theUnitedStates.
Ona recent Saturdaymorning at a dressage show inOcala,
Florida, with twoFourth Level tests on her plate in a fewhours
and aprep session for Rolex a coupledays later, Lainey stopped
to talkwith
Sidelines
about life, liberty and the pursuit of a gallop
intohistory as aTeam rider.
Lainey, as she is known (her real name is Laine, pronounced
“Lane”), got her first taste of what it wouldbe like to represent
her country in 2007, when shewas selected to ride for theU.S.
in theOlympic test event inHongKong. The next year, shewas
named to the team’swinter training list and its developing rider
list “— the closest I’ve been tomyOlympic dream,” she said.
Her first tasteof riding for a team came as a teenager, when
shemedaled three times as amember of theArea 2 team in the
NorthAmerican Junior/YoungRidersChampionship.
While riding for theU.S. inFrancewouldmake 2014an
incredible year, Lainey always keeps her eyes on the real prize:
keepingher horses sound, mentally and physically. “Horses are
fragile creatures,” she said. “I take it one day at a timewithAl. I
can’t over-runor under-run him.” Her careful approach paid off
last year, when sheandAl won theAdequanGoldCup at the
AmericanEventingChampionships inTexas.As for this year,
she said, “Our season has been very carefullymappedout.
We’re going toTheFork andRolex becausewe have to place
well there to get toNormandy.”
Likeeveryone else, Lainey is curious about how the cross-
country coursewill ride inFrance. “I think some of theearly
U.S. events this seasonmay havegivenus a peek at what we
may encounter at LePin,” she said after her fifth-place finish in
theCIC*** inMarch at theRedHills International HorseTrials.
Al took home theChampionTIPaward for thehighest-placing
Thoroughbredat RedHills and qualified for Rolex, a keyU.S.
team selection trial for Normandy.
“Thebiggest thing I’ve noticed this season is apush toward
creating courses likePeterMichelet,” she said, referring to the
cross-country course designer for the2014WorldEquestrian
Games and the2016Olympics. “While I haven’t had the privilege
of riding one of Mr. Michelet’s courses, my understanding is that
if youhaven’t competedat Pau or one of his other courses, it’s a
very different feel.”
If RedHillswas any indication –which it very likelywas – the
Normandy course is going to look and ridea lot different than it
did in the 2010Games course in Lexington. Inparticular, Lainey
noticed that at RedHills, “the distanceswereabit gappy and
long. I added a stride to two of my lines –not my style, but when
you get in long, you have to do something to get out.” In addition,
she foundRedHills to be a very technical coursewithmany
longdistances between combinations that “forced the horse and
rider to really commit toa line,” Lainey said.Whilea few years
ago, courses tended to featureopen corners, the trendheading
intoNormandy points toward awkward-angled brushes going in
and out of water. “It’s very challenging, but it’s also the kind of
course that if you ride it well, youare handsomely rewarded,”
saidLainey.
Whether or not shegets to rideat LePin, her strong belief is
that even being considered for the team is an honor.With this
year’s strong fieldof contenders for spots on theLandRover
U.S. EventingTeam, it won’t be easy tomake it toNormandy, but
Lainey has never been one to let theodds stopher.After a near-
fatal accident at Rolex in2008, which drew speculation as to
whether she’d ever beable to rideagain, she hit the comeback
road as soonas shegot amedical clearance and thegreen
light from her longtime coach, BuckDavidson. However, it didn’t
happenas quickly as Lainey hadhoped.
“I’m very competitive and self-motivated. It has always been
that if I fall off, I don’t care if I’mhalf dead – I have to get right
Lainey Ashker...
