58 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
Champion at Spruce Meadows two times, which has been an-
other highlight forme.
“SpruceMeadows is alsowhereGeorge spotted us and asked
the ‘three questions,’ and then gaveme a wild card spot to jump
onmy first Nations Cup team in Buenos Aires,” she added. U.S.
teamChef d’EquipeGeorgeMorris had sought her out as she left
the ring. He said he had three things to ask her. First, where did
shewant togo in the sport? (To the top!) Second, can sheput her
hair up under her helmet? (Yes, she could do that), and finally,
could she braid her horse? (She would learn!) With those ea-
ger answers, George gave her a place on the Nations Cup team
where theywon the team goldmedal.
The following winter, Ashlee and Cadett won four Grand Prix
classes on the HITS circuit and Ashlee won the Catena Lead-
ing LadyGrand Prix Rider award. With each competition, Ashlee
marveled at the growing partnership between herself andCadett.
They were achievingmore than she could’ve imagined, but later
there were some setbacks, including a suspensory injury. “Start-
ing from 2008, I was on fire and everything was going well, but I
didn’t havea stringbeneathme,” Ashlee said. “Without a string to
supportmy tophorse, onceCadet got hurt, I was kindof out of it.”
The setbacks with Cadett were invaluable because she learned
perseverance and appreciation when she did work her way back
to the top of the sport.
Ashlee isawareof thedangersof lettingsuccessgo toherhead.
“I look toRichardSpooner on that,” shesaid, “becausehe’soneof
themost humbleguys you canmeet withoneof thebest careers,
and I look tohim [as the example] to keepmyself humble.”
Ashlee’s ability to deal with setbacks was again put to the test
whenshewassidelinedwithaconcussion followingacrashing fall
at the Los Angeles National last November. Within a fewweeks,
however, she won the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at HITS
Thermal aboard Chela LS, a mare she bought last July. Ashlee
said that although the mare has some big shoes to fill when
comparedwithCadett 7, she has developed a similar partnership
and isagainheaded toEuropeand theWorldCup inLyon,France.
After that, maybe the 2014World EquestrianGames, or perhaps
theOlympicGames?Ashleehasa relaxed,wait-and-seeattitude.
She wants to remain flexible and not overdo things with Chela,
who’s a younger, less experiencedmare.
Ashlee has a bright future ahead, which includes her new
husband Sage Clarke, a professional horse shoer and sixth
generation horseman. The couple married last October. “Yeah,
I’m an old married lady now,” Ashlee joked. “It’s kind of a weird
thing, getting older. It takes some time toget used to that.”
At 28, Ashlee hardly
seems old, but she has
acquired as many life
lessons as someonemuch
older. Among those are: 1.
Nerves are just adrenalin,
2. She’s more than just a
rider, and 3. It’s best to put
her hair up.
Georgewould approve.
About the writer: Doris Degner-
Foster rides with Harvard Fox
Hounds in Oklahoma when she’s
not interviewing interesting indi-
viduals in thehorsesport.Shealso
enjoys writing fiction and is work-
ing on amiddle-grade book series
about teenagers who ride horses
and solve mysteries. Look for Do-
ris’sblog “NotesFrom theField” on
the
Sidelines
Magazinewebsite.
Ashley andCadette 7at SpruceMeadows. “I holdSpruce
Meadows very dear tomy heart. It’swhereCadett and I started
andwon our first GrandPrix together,” Ashlee said.
PhotobyMikeSturk andSpruceMeadowsMedia
She’sNumber 1: Ashlee celebrates
her win.
PhotobyBret St. Clair
I interactedwith bigexecutives.”
As exciting as that job sounds, for Ashlee, it was only amatter
of time before she came back to riding. She explained a major
turning point. “I went withmy mom and her production company
when theyweremakingamovie inNewZealand. Iwasboredand
decided togo ridingoneof thedaysMomwasworking. Iwent ona
three-hour trail ridewith thisNewZealand kidas aguide. Hewas
my age, andwe just went galloping around the countryside. I fell
back in lovewith riding and rememberedwhy I loved it as a kid.”
Shesaysof her timeaway from theshow ring, “Thatwasproba-
blyoneof thebest things that could’vehappenedbecause I found
out who I was through all of that, and I wasn’t identified by the
horses. I mean, riding was something that I do and I love, but it
wasn’t just all that I was.”
Ashlee returned to riding and showing, determined tomaintain
her love for the sport. She regularly takes her show horses on
relaxing trail rides. “I try to keep it fun for the horses and do other
things instead of just riding in the ring every day,” she said. “If I’m
bored, theymust be really,
really
bored. My parents’ facility, Little
Valley Farm, backs up to the SantaMonicaMountains and there
are hundreds of acres of trailswe can go riding on in there.”
A major point in her comeback was when she won first and
second place in the $25,000ClassicGrand Prix at BlenheimEq-
uisports in 2007. It was especially exciting because she rode two
of her family’s homebred horses, SouthernGirl and TommyGun.
Thewingaveher confidenceamajor boost. It was alsoa real ac-
complishment for her family’s horses and breeding program.
The following summer, Ashlee began the partnership with her
“horse of a lifetime,” the Holsteiner gelding Cadett 7. She had
been impressedwith the geldingwhen she’d seen him at a clinic,
andwhen she found out that hewas available just before leaving
for Spruce Meadows, she tried him and felt like he was a per-
fect fit, so she took him along. It turned out to be a wise choice.
Ashlee said, “I hold Spruce Meadows very dear tomy heart. It’s
whereCadett and I started andwon our first GrandPrix together,
the $75,000 Sun Life Financial in 2008. I’ve also been Canadian
