I: How and when did you get started riding horses.

S: I grew up around horses. My mom was a trainer and riding instructor. I don't know when I started. Horses were always part of my life. My mom bought me my first pony when I was three.

I: How did you feel when you first started riding?

S: I don't know how I originally felt. It has been always been part of my life, almost like you guys waking up and watching TV. Horses have always been a big part of my whole family.

I:What Shows and Competitions did you first go to?

S: My mom used to put me in little pony club stuff. I was in Pony club when I was in England, I did Games, a little Events, some Show jumping and so.

I:What event did you start in?

S: I don't even know. I was so small. I can't tell you exactly. It wasn't a conscious decision to start riding, my mom just put me on a pony and I just loved it.

I:Who do you think trained you the best and why?

S:Jimmy Wofford, he is my Coach. He worked with me since I was 15, he knows me very well. I get really nervous when I ride in front of new people. He has known me since I was very little and he was on the United States team himself for thirty years. He is always right behind me, but he doesn't get in my face. He's just really a good coach.

I: How old were you when you competed in your first competition?

S:Five or so.

I:What is your favorite event?

S: I do 3-day eventing. My favorite is definitely the Cross country-phase of that.

I:What is your favorite breed of horse?

S: Thoroughbred.

I:When did you get your first horse and what was his /her name?

S: My first Pony was a welsh Pony, his name was Eeyore.

I:What do you think is the best way to train a horse?

S: You have to make sure you have the patience and you take your time. Lot's of people tend to take out their frustrations on the horses. You need to know what you are doing. And to do that you need the help of someone that has been around horses for years and years.

How long have you been riding?

S: For 19 years

I: What competitions do you have to win in order to be on the Olympic team?

S: You don't necessarily have to win any competitions, its more a consistent level of consistently good performance. For example you won Rollex one year and you have your horses all set to go for the olympic year But the next two shows you fall off they do not necessarily want you there, if you can't give a consistant performance. Let's say another person comes off on their third or fourth, but you constantly come in with the same sort of decent record you still make it. You don't have to win, but more importantly you have to have a sound horse. Most of the time the best riders and horses don't make it to the Olympics because their horses go lame. This year the team is definitely not the team originally, there are just lame horses all over the place. Our Bronze medal team is really the third string of horses.

I: What special qualities do you look for when you want to train and bring a horse to the Olympics?

S: A big heart, it has to go well for you and be a good combination for you. For my sport, for the eventing, I look for a Thoroughbred. The reason I look for a Thoroughbred is the endurance, they can run fast and stay together. The heavy horses tend to be slower and they don't recover well

I:What was your highest score competition wise?

S: In a big Competition, I think it was 45.

I: Did you train your horse or did someone else do it for you?

S: I trained my own horse but always under supervision of my mom. She is a very experienced horse woman and also Jimmy Wofford.

What was the highest width of a jump you have ever jumped?

S: 11 ft. I suppose.

I: As far as you know what happens to an Olympic horse after it is retired?

S: Most of the times our Olympic horses are with their rider for a long time and they are very special. They most likely end up staying in their barn.

I:What was your most favorite horse you ever had? S: My most favorite horse I had and still have is Oggie, that's his name. He was the first horse I did several events on and he took me to 3-star Rollex and I took him over to England to compete in London Horse trials. He is just a special Horse. I got him off the track when he was a young horse, and it is the first horse I ever trained by myself.

I: Could you tell us how someone from a beginning Rider on gets to the Olympics? What kind of levels and competitions are there in between?

S: It is best to start out with the pony club. In pony club you start out at level "D" and you can go to level "A". Level A is equal to (or ought to be) Novice or Preliminary level Rider. The Pony club then usually feeds into the Young Rider's program, there you go through different levels and competitions. That again feeds into the United States Equestrian Team.
Once you get to the Preliminary Level, you train and compete for years until you get to the Intermediate and then Advanced Rider level.
There are Horse trials you prove yourself in.
Eventually you get to the Selection trials like:
ROLLEX in Kentucky,
or Foxhall Cup
Badminton
From there 50 top riders are selected. Out of that pool of Top riders the teams for the World championship and the Olympics are formed. Sometimes the original team doesn't go, because there might be lame horses and many other occurrences, then some of the other people get to go.
It is best to have seven or eight horses available to ride. The more horses you ride the better.
In order to get to the Olympics you need to be hard working and patient. It takes a long time.
There is a system in the United States and there are lots of training sessions. The United States Olympic Committee and the US-Equestrian Team work together to make - and that is not just for the Olympics, that's also for the PAN-AMS, for the WORLD GAMES anything to do as a team together - that starts very early in time. As soon as you become an advanced rider they take a look at you and you go into training sessions and you start working with them and their Coach.

I: Who qualifies as Advanced Rider?

S: They are going to advanced horse trials. That means they have gone through all the levels. The first sort of harder level would be the Preliminary level. Your have to go through horse trials to qualify for that. Then you have to go to Intermediate Horse trials to qualify for the intermediate level. At advanced horse trials you qualify for the advanced level. As you see, you spent years doing that. You spend years going just to the preliminary level. I got to the preliminary level when I was 16. And then you move on from there.