By Sarah Welk Baynum
Portraits by Sara Farrell
From the time she was 11 years old, Kate Sand knew she wanted to compete at the Advanced level of eventing.
While Kate didn’t come from a family involved with horses, her draw to horses was unwavering. Kate was 5 or 6 when her mom—knowing nothing about horses—took her to a trail barn near Bowling Green, Kentucky, thinking it’d be a one-time ride. “After that, I really wanted to learn to ride,” Kate said.
Soon after, her mom found Penny Royal Farm, where Kate met LeeAnn Tatum, the trainer who introduced her to eventing. “That moment shaped everything,” Kate said.
At 11, Kate found a horse with LeeAnn’s help—a 16.3-hand flea-bitten gray Appendix named Sweet Lips. “He looked imported and was bombproof, but he was out of our budget. I remember sobbing—it felt devastating.”
Days later, Kate’s mom picked her up from school with riding clothes in the car, although it wasn’t her day to ride. “LeeAnn asked me to help unload horses when we got to the barn,” Kate said. “There on the trailer was Sweet Lips—he became my first event horse and made me fall in love with eventing.”
Progressing Through the Levels
As Kate advanced, LeeAnn introduced her to Louisville-based trainer Martha Lambert, and their hard work continued to pay off. “Sweet Lips took me to my first American Eventing Championships (AECs), and we moved up to Training level, but Prelim wasn’t for him,” Kate said. “I sold him to a wonderful girl named Abby when I was 14.”
While searching for her next horse, Kate’s mom found Bailey—a green gelding with a bit of a buck. “But I felt that same unexplainable connection I’d had with Sweet Lips,” Kate said.
Bailey and Kate competed through the Intermediate level, and with Martha’s help, Kate also landed working student positions. But midway through college, Bailey was diagnosed with EPM. Though treatment brought him back to competing at the Preliminary level, the disease relapsed—and things quickly took a turn.
“Dr. Reed at Rood & Riddle and Duncan Peters did everything they could,” Kate said. “The vet told me something I’ll never forget. He said, ‘It’s better when it’s harder for us and easier for them, than the other way around.’ He asked, ‘Are you keeping him for you—or him?’ That’s when I knew it was the right decision.”
Bailey was humanely euthanized, and post-mortem confirmed him to be a wobbler. “He never owed me anything,” Kate said. “That horse opened so many doors for me—he was spectacular.”
When Bailey’s health declined, Kate convinced her dad with a spreadsheet outlining the costs and resale potential of a second horse. He agreed to a lower price point than she proposed, but Kate soon found a 4-year-old unraced Thoroughbred.
Kate took the young Thoroughbred on trial for cross-country schooling at Flying Cross—but he immediately bucked her off. “I had to get on him in a stall,” she said. “But once I was on again, he did everything—ditches, banks, water, logs—so I bought him.”
As part of their deal, her dad named him Bourbon. “He was my first full Thoroughbred and hotter than Bailey and Sweet Lips—it was a big learning curve,” Kate said.
Around that time, five-star rider Allie Knowles moved to Kentucky, and Kate began training with her—a supportive, lasting partnership. “Allie’s an incredible coach and mentor,” Kate said.
The Fall That Changed Everything
After college, in 2012, Kate worked at a show jumping barn while competing Bourbon at the Preliminary level—when an unexpected setback changed everything. “From a distance, there was a log that looked like a bounce pole in front of a cross-country jump. My gut said something was off—but I didn’t speak up,” Kate said. “That was the moment I learned always to ask the questions.”
While Bourbon cleared the jump, Kate fell off, shattering her collarbone. “It was my second big injury—the first was in 2011 when a horse double-barreled me in the spleen—but this was worse.”
Kate’s surgery lasted four hours instead of the planned 90 minutes, as doctors removed bone shards from her muscle, inserting a plate with nine screws. Weeks later, Kate’s body rejected the plate—screws became visible under her skin. “I had a second surgery with a different metal and a longer plate with 11 screws,” she said. “It’s still there, but fortunately doesn’t bother me.”
The time off from her injury and burnout from work at the show jumping barn led Kate to reassess her future. In early 2013, Kate then moved to Lexington and landed a front desk job at a chiropractic office. “The hours were great—it let me keep riding and showing—and I loved it.”
Despite the work-life balance, she had a feeling something was missing—Kate knew her heart belonged in the equine world. She applied to USEF and landed a role in rules and regulations, where her boss, Emily Pratt, encouraged her to pursue her goals, and Kate later became director of competitions.
After spending nearly a decade at USEF and then marrying her husband, Travis, in 2018, they set out to make a shared longtime dream a reality. “Travis grew up on a 200-plus acre farm and did team penning and ranch sorting. He also knew I wanted to work with horses full time,” Kate said. “We found 25 acres and built the house, barn and arena.”
Kate even competed Bourbon to the three-star level, but soon faced a tough choice: keep him and stay at that level or sell him to chase her upper-level goals. “I listed him—but cried for two weeks,” she said.
Chasing Advanced-Level Dreams
At Travis’s suggestion, Kate leased Bourbon instead and began looking for another Thoroughbred, when Kate’s friend, Melissa Trelfa, discovered a young OTTB through Rosie Napravnik. “Blanton was only 3, but the moment I got on, I had that same gut feeling—he was an old soul,” Kate said. “At first, I wasn’t sure he’d be an upper-level horse. Allie wasn’t impressed with his free-jumping video—but I still had this feeling about him,” she said.
Kate took things slow with Blanton, later entering him in the Retired Racehorse Project. Competing under the name Top Shelf, he was unlike any horse she’d owned. “He’s 17.1 hands, narrow, all legs—completely different from my stockier horses like Bourbon and Bailey. Honestly, he’s not what I thought I wanted.”
Though Kate never rushed him, Blanton progressed quickly—moving up to the Preliminary two-star level as a 6- and 7-year-old. In 2023, during his 8-year-old year, he did several three-star competitions and finished the year on the CCI2*-L. “He’s never said no, but I’ve never felt pressure to stay on a timeline,” she said. “That’s what I value about Allie—she’ll tell you if you’re not ready, so when she says you are, you believe it.”
Then they set their sights on qualifying for a CCI4*-L. “The goal was to start by completing my first CCI3*-L,” Kate said. “He ran a CCI3*-L in April 2023, then got some time off before Bromont in June. After that, he had another month off, came back for the jumpers, and competed at the 2023 AECs at the Intermediate level—it was a dream come true. He just keeps showing up—and reminds me why I believed in him.”
If You’re Not Winning, You’re Learning
Allie told Kate she and Blanton were finally ready to move up to the Advanced level of eventing. “I started riding with Ian Stark, too—he’s phenomenal—and with Sharon White,” Kate said. “I’ve been lucky to have incredible people in my corner.
In September 2024, Kate aimed for her first CCI4* at Stable View, in Aiken—just as Hurricane Helene rolled in. “Allie wasn’t going, and looking back, the universe was telling me to back off—a hurricane, no coach, no power—but I was determined,” Kate said.
They ran the entire CCI4*-S in one day. “Blanton was great through dressage and show jumping and was cruising cross-country—until I didn’t ride the third-to-last fence correctly due to my greenness at that level and fell off. It was one of those days where if you’re not winning, you’re learning—and I learned a lot.”
Kate gave Blanton the rest of the season off. “He’d done so much for me—I pulled his shoes and let him rest,” she said. “I was OK ending the year on a fall because I still had young horses going.”
In February 2025, they returned to Aiken. “Blanton and I competed Intermediate at the first Pine Top, then decided to move back up to Advanced,” Kate said. “That’s when we finally completed our first Advanced Level competition together—it was surreal.”
What made the moment even more special was having her mom there. “She’s my ‘ride or die,’” Kate said. “When I was younger and coming up the levels, she would hide and say the rosary because watching me ride cross-country used to terrify her. So, crossing that finish line with her there meant everything.”
But when competing at the Advanced level at The Carolina International, things didn’t go as planned. “Blanton jumped into the water fine but left a stride out at the bounce bank—something he’s never done,” Kate said. “He completed the bounce bank rather perfectly, and I also completed the bounce bank by going through all the flags—just not attached to my horse.”
With two falls and one successful Advanced run, Kate began to doubt herself. “Riding had always come naturally—this was the first time it felt hard,” she said. “Not because of Blanton—he’s amazing—but because I started doubting myself.”
With her confidence shaken, Kate wanted to reset and get back on course. “I went to Chattahoochee Hills to run Advanced/Intermediate and clear my head—just ride without overthinking.”
Kate walked the cross-country course with Sharon White and shared about her recent fall. “Sharon asked if my horse made it to the flags, and when I said yes, she told me I should’ve stayed with him. She also told me to run red flags like they’re blue—and blue like they’re red. It was a hard truth—but one I needed.”
Kate regained her confidence with a strong run at Chatt Hills but withdrew from the next competition, the CCI4*-S in Ocala, after walking the course. “I felt like the ground was too hard for Blanton to run,” she said. “Blanton’s only 10 and won’t say no—so it’s my job to protect him.”
Kate headed to Tryon International for the CCI4*-S next, ready to apply what she’d learned. “Sharon was there again and reminded me not to overthink it—just trust my instincts. So I did,” Kate said.
Blanton, the only Thoroughbred in the division, finished seventh, and the pair was one of only a few competitors to jump clear on cross-country. “It was a tough course, but in true Thoroughbred fashion, he rose to the occasion. Tryon was my first four-star completion,” Kate said.
What It’s Really About
Even after another strong CCI4*-S, Kate remains cautious with Blanton’s competition schedule. “He’s only 10, so we’re being very strategic,” she said.
Kate’s other rising star is Kevin, a now-5-year-old Thoroughbred. “I pulled him out of a field at 3 unraced, and now he’s running Training level barefoot,” she said.
Each Thoroughbred she’s brought along has only deepened Kate’s appreciation for the breed. “It’s solidified my love for Thoroughbreds,” she said. “Now my barn’s full of them, most of my clients ride them, and I just think they’re phenomenal horses.”
While competing at the CCI5*-L level is still a goal, Kate remains focused on the journey. “I’d love to run a five-star, and people think Blanton could do it,” she said. “But I’ve always loved the process—you miss a lot if you’re only chasing the finish line.”
With a barn full of horses and students at her barn, Shamrock Eventing, Kate finds joy in the everyday moments. “I want to be a good horsewoman first—my goals will never come before my horses,” she said. “I also want the barn to be a fun, positive place to learn—that’s what it’s all about.”
For more information, follow Shamrock Eventing on Facebook or on Instagram and TikTok @Shamrock.Eventing
Photos by Sara Farrell, www.threeredheadsandamoose.com
