By Amber Heintzberger
Portraits by Alex Scribner
Balancing school and riding has become a fact of life for Cassie Sanger. As the 18-year-old from Lakeville, Connecticut, looks forward to starting college in Richmond, Virginia, this fall, she seems unfazed by the balancing act necessary to keep her two upper-level event horses in training and competing. It’s that work ethic and drive that helped Cassie win the top Young Rider Award and finish third overall in the CCI3*-L USEF National Championship at the Maryland 5-Star last October riding Fernhill Zoro, a 14-year-old Anglo-European gelding (Verdi x Oronia 2/Voltaire) that she started leasing from Alice Roosevelt in 2021 and purchased in 2022.
That win was pivotal in Cassie and Zoro’s selection to the U.S. Eventing European Development Tour for the summer of 2023. Cassie was part of the U.S. team that competed at the FEI Eventing Nations Cup Poland CCIO4*-NC-S in Strzegom, under the direction of USEF Eventing Emerging and Development Coach Leslie Law. The team, which included Cassie, Jenny Caras, Andrew McConnon and Caroline Pamukcu (nee Martin), brought home second place.
How It All Started
Cassie started taking lessons at Riga Meadow Equestrian Center in Millbrook, New York, about 10 minutes from her home in 
Connecticut, when she was in second grade. “There was a trainer there named Linda Bushnell, and I rode with her for about five years,” said Cassie. “My grandmother was the one who actually suggested I try riding, and it took a little bit of convincing my parents as my mom used to ride and knew how consuming it could become, but once I had my first lesson I’ve never looked back.”
About a year into taking lessons, for her 9th birthday, she was given the half lease of a pony named Echo. “He was about 12 hands and was such a saint,” she recalled. “I did everything on him from Small Pony Hunters at HITS to my first Intro level event when I was 10 years old. Because he was pretty small and I grew quickly at that time, I eventually had to look for a new pony. That’s when I found Truffle, who was a gray mare and she was pretty mean. She refused to go forward for months. She would stand still and run backwards, rear and buck me off. Linda and I tried everything to get her to come around! Eventually she did, and I ended up taking her to my first recognized Beginner Novice.”
A little less than a year after that first Beginner Novice event, Truffle injured a suspensory ligament. That door closing opened the window to Cassie finding her first “real” event pony, Ultra Violet, and ultimately brought her to Darrah Alexander, the trainer who shaped Cassie into the rider she is today. Violet was owned by Darrah, and Cassie began leasing the mare. Linda didn’t travel to many competitions because her business at home was so big, so when Cassie decided that eventing was really what she wanted to do, she switched to riding full time with Darrah.
“Aside from the fundamentals of riding, the biggest lesson Darrah taught me was what hard work and dedication can do,” Cassie said. “Violet was a crazy pony and we spent countless hours doing simple exercises to make her and me better. Darrah really taught me how to persevere through difficult times, and to appreciate small amounts of improvement.”
Moving Up to Horses
Cassie has seriously upgraded her horses since the challenging ponies that she now credits with developing her determined attitude at a young age. Her first horse was Danger Mouse, an upper-level eventer whom she started riding in 2021 and leased from Caroline Pamukcu for about two years.
“I was looking for a horse with some experience that I could learn from and when we were trying horses at her farm, Caroline said she had been thinking about moving Mouse on, as they had accomplished so much together,” Cassie said. “Before I even knew that I was going to get to try him, if anyone had asked me who my dream horse was, I would’ve said Mouse. I felt so lucky that Caroline handed the reins over to me, because they had a very special partnership. He was definitely a tricky type to ride, but I had so much fun being able to ride a horse with that much experience. I did a ton of Prelims on him and some CCI2*s, and we were Reserve Champion at the 2021 American Eventing Championships in Kentucky.”
Cassie’s relationship with Fernhill Zoro, whom she bought from Alice Roosevelt, has grown and she was thrilled to take him to Europe. “When I started riding Zoro, I was lucky because we both instantly clicked and the transition to riding and competing with him felt seamless, which is definitely due to all of the work that Alice and Darrah put into him. He’s incredibly smart and athletic, and has an amazing work ethic. He’s pretty little, but he has such a big heart that it feels like he can do anything, and most importantly he always has kept me and Alice safe. I’ve had many firsts riding Zoro, especially this year with our first Nations Cup, and I’m so thankful that I did it with him because he has become like a best friend to me.”
Cassie also owns Redfield Fyre, a 9-year-old KWPN gelding she purchased in 2020 at the beginning of his eventing career in the U.S. “We call him Yogi in the barn, and he has the funniest personality,” she said. “In the stall, he can be really angry and grumpy but the second the bridle is on him, he is the sweetest horse. I’ve had him since the start of his eventing career in the U.S., so we know each other inside out, which I find is a good thing and sometimes bad thing with him. We’ve kind of grown up together and my bad habits are his bad habits, and Darrah, who has known him since I got him, always said that we are kind of like siblings. Although he can be tricky, he has a heart bigger than himself and he truly has a love for cross-country.”
Cassie recently graduated from the Berkshire School in Massachusetts, where she was a day student, and throughout school she kept her horse at Caroline Merison’s Shekomeko Creek Farm in Pine Plains, New York, where she also worked with Darrah. Cassie’s family recently moved from Connecticut to Delaware, and Cassie moved her horses to Caitlin Silliman’s farm near Unionville, Pennsylvania, to have them closer to her family’s home base. She’ll travel back and forth between there and Richmond, where she’ll be attending the University of Richmond, and in the winter the horses will be in Ocala, Florida.
“It has been a joy to have Cassie and her horses in our barn,” Caroline said. “It has been exciting to watch her amazing journey and a bonus to have Nina, her mother and head groom, to help us in all sorts of ways. We’re all thrilled to watch her step onto the international stage. She is super talented and very dedicated and we wish her all the best.”
Prepping for Europe
Cassie said that after Maryland last year, her horses had a vacation and at the start of January she moved them to Ocala to Leslie Law’s farm so that she could train with him over the winter, as Leslie traveled with the team for the European tour. In January she also participated in a U25 training camp at the Florida Horse Park in Ocala.
“Leslie’s given me a lot of guidance on the team aspect,” Cassie said. “He’s the one who advised me on applying for the U25 pathway. I love riding with Leslie, and the Laws took great care of my horses. Over the winter, I flew back and forth a lot and I had to skip a bit of school. I did my first Advanced at Rocking Horse in Florida, my second one at Chatt Hills in Georgia, and then my first CCI4*-S at TerraNova in Florida. I found out about the European tour right after that.”
While her parents are not as horse-obsessed as their daughter, Cassie said that they are both enthusiastic supporters. Her mom competed in hunter-jumpers as a teenager, and she has family still involved in horses on Long Island. “I feel incredibly grateful that Cassie has been able to experience, at a young age, the invaluable lessons of hard work, commitment and making challenging choices—especially while balancing school and riding,” her mom, Nina, said. “I also have a deep appreciation for the coaches: Darrah since Cassie was 12 years old, the Laws and Caitlin, who have gone above and beyond to help her to this point. And, Alice for entrusting Cassie with Zoro—and most importantly, for Zoro. They have had special chemistry from the start and I know enough to feel immense love for their partnership.”
With her focus still heavily on horses, Cassie plans to study something business-related in college, but hasn’t settled on a future career plan just yet. “I’d love to be a professional and have a string of horses; whether I do something on the side to make money is still a question,” she said. “I’ve always thought real estate might be interesting. I want to be at the top of the sport of eventing, but I need to think about how I can financially make that work, as I’m not sure managing a large barn of horses will be the way I do it. I’ve talked to my parents about it, because I’m very protective against burning out, which I know can happen when going to college and riding and trying to start an upper-level career. They didn’t put pressure on me to go to college, but I made the choice that I want to have a balance. They’ve been very supportive and I think they’ll continue to support me into the future.”
Follow Cassie on Instagram @kcsanger.eventing
Photos by Alex Scribner, www.MipsyMedia.com, and on Instagram @mipsymedia
