Amy Tryon on Poggio's True Character and Getting Ready for Rolex

We continue Amy Tryon's interview with a bunch of stories about her experiences at the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event. Which is timely since it's coming right up! Plus she talks about Poggio's willingness to always try his hardest despite not being a natural to 3-Day eventing. It's hard to believe given their impressive career together!

Q. You retired Poggio last year at Rolex. How would you describe him?

A. He’s quite a charcter. I got him when he was five and he’s been a very interesting horse to train and have. Contrary to popular belief he was easy to train. He always tried his hardest. He was not natural at this sport and he’s incredibly long. He did it because of attitude instead of aptitude. He’s wonderful in the barn and wonderful to travel. He was had his own idea about doing things on cross-country and I had to get used to that. But he never thought of running out or stopping or not doing what was asked of him. He’s still at the house. I was so worried he would get kicked so we decided to buy him a donkey. He’s a very generous horse.

Above: Amy Tryon at the Athens Olympics

photo courtesy Dean Rutz/ The Seattle Times

Q. Did he like any kind of treat in particular?

A. He likes his ears scratched, the inside of the ears. He’ll like anything you feed him.

Q. What preparations do you make for Rolex?

A. You know when you’re on the way there! I have two young horses, Cold Creek and Leyland. Leyland did two 4-stars including Burghley. Cold Creek had most of the season off with a leg injury. They both had a little time off in the fall and started back working and did their first event at Galway [Downs]. They cantered quietly around intermediate to get their feet wet for first of season. I try to be up on fitness levels when I travel since I don’t know if the facilities will room to gallop. I did a lot of work at home before we left. Now they’ll do a couple horse trials not with the idea of going quickly or trying to win just trying to prepare for [Rolex] Kentucky.

Amy Tryon with Poggio and the girls

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. Do you have any favorite parts of the Rolex course from the past years?

A. It has a great atmosphere to it. Jeanie Atkinson does an excellent job. For us it sets the tone so we always like to do well; it decides if you will qualify for a championship or not so it’s a little stressful. The crowds and great.

Q. What was it like the first time you competed at Rolex?

A. It was interesting. It was my first season I went and so this is when they still had the three-star. It was something I felt very prepared to do and the horse that I was riding was a very generous horse called My Beau. I knew if I rode him he would go well. It was great to do that and think how I could do better next year.

Poggio and his buddy, Jethro, all bundled up

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. Anything you would like to add?

A. Thank you to all my owners and sponsors who support me and who enable me to do this sport because it’s not something we could do by ourselves. I’m very lucky to have a great group of supporters.

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