56 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
e
AshleeBondClarke
FromHollywood to the
MillionDollar GrandPrix
ByDorisDegner Foster
Ashlee’s career has followed an
interesting path, and it seems ap-
propriate that it began inHollywood.
Many people would think it was
exciting to live in a gated commu-
nity with celebrities as neighbors,
but it was just a normal thing for
Ashlee. She was more impressed
with horses. “My parents are not
Hollywood partying-type people,”
Ashlee said. “They’re in the indus-
try, but they don’t act like they’re in
the industry. Iwas raisedverymuch
in the horseworld.”
Because both of Ashlee’s par-
entshadabackgroundwithhorses,
she began her career in the ring
early. Her dad is a former soap op-
era star who currently trains young
horses at the family’s Little Valley
Farm, and hermom is amovie pro-
ducerwhohas riddenwesternplea-
sure. Ashlee first sat on a horse as
a baby and by age 3 she’d discov-
ered her love for jumping. She of-
ten trotted her pony over crossrails
even before she started lessons at
6 years of agewith the Karrizzissis
family at their FairWest Farm. Ash-
lee continued to take lessons and
her hard work paid off in the show
ring. “IwonfiveNational PonyHunt-
er Championships by the time I was
11 and a fewMedal Finals before I
progressed to the jumper ringwhen
I was 12,” Ashlee said. “I won my
first Grand Prix and was Rookie of
theYear when I was 16.”
Ashlee remembers her dad’s ad-
vice about being nervous before a
class. “He always told me to call it
adrenalin because it was kind of a
bad connotation to call it nerves,”
she said. “It’s cool to have a dad
whocanunderstandabout thepres-
sures of performing, so we have
that in common.”
Even with great support, the fa-
tigue of showing caught upwith her
when she was 18. She’d hurt her
back trying some young horses in
Mexico, andAshleesayssheused it
as anexcuse to stepaway from rid-
ing. She felt burnt out from compet-
inganddidn’t thinkshe’d rideagain.
The happiness she enjoyed as a
childwithher ponieshadgotten lost
over the years of competitions and
pressure. Ashlee explained, “I think
whenyoustart that early, it canhap-
AshleeBondClarke
Photo byBret St. Clair
Quiet Moment: Ashlee andSage
Photo by Love& LemonadePhotography,
AshleeBondClarke ishaving agreat
year. During theHITSThermal Grand
Prixclasses thiswinter, shequalified
for theAIGMillionDollar Prix inTher-
mal, California. Shewon it ridingLittle
ValleyFarm’sChelaLS, which then
qualifiedher for the 2014WorldCup in
Lyon, France, inApril.
