Amy Tryon Balances Olympic Medals, Losing Le Samurai, and Paradise in the North West.

Amy Tryon was the littlest bit quiet when we first started our conversation, but then I noticed her infectious laugh that, sometimes, was practically a giggle. And she laughed a lot. She was enthusiastic when she spoke of her horses, the incredible support from her husband, Greg Tryon, and growing up in Seattle, Washington. There can be no doubt how much she loves the area, her horses, and her husband. She has a staggering list of laurels that includes a Team Bronze medal from the 2004 Olympics and a Team Gold from the 2002 World Equestrian Games. Then there's the seemingly endless firsts at major competitions, the acclaim of highest placed American rider at the 2002 Badminton CCI ****, and winning Jersey Fresh in 2008. I loved learning more about her and hope you do too!

Q. What do you like about eventing on the West Coast?

A. The best part is the fact that I feel like you can develop a young horse at a pace that suits the horse. I can take a five or six or seven year old and do the events they need. I can see them progressing and developing.

Above: Amy on Poggio

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. Once ready what do you do?

A. I come out East once a year in Spring time and usually take the young horses as well as older horses so I have something to do every day. I work them into the appropriate division and try to go with what best suits their level. They get exposed to some of the bigger competitions.

Q. Why do you love eventing?

A. The biggest thing I love is the relationship you build with the horses. I’ve been lucky to have long careers with the horses and I usually get them off the racetrack. They don’t all get to be 4 star horses but just getting the satisfaction of seeing them go on to be good hunter or whatever-- it’s just fun!

Q. What’s important about you that you want your fans to know?

A. I think the hard thing is we all get so busy at events it appears we go from one horse to the next and there isn’t a lot of emotion; it’s hard to stop and chat. People derive a certain expectation that they see of your personality. I love it when people come up to me and I like to be approachable. People can come up to me and ask to walk a course--I love to help them do it.

Above: Poggio and a wild Jethro The Miniature Donkey

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. What do you most value in others?

A. Definitely honesty. That’s the number one thing. Dealing with folks in business and trying to be honest with the owners--I think a lot of people have had a bad experience in equestrian sports where things haven’t been represented in an honest way. That’s a huge part of what we need to change about our sport.

Q. What has been the hardest moment you’ve ever had in eventing?

A. By far the hardest thing was losing Le Samurai at Kentucky. We actually don’t know what happened other than he took a bad step at the last fence. He ruptured the suspensory in the left front. We made the decision to put him down. He was a horse that was never happy in his stall; he never would have enjoyed life a year in the stall. The owner, Becky Broussard was fantastic and willing to do whatever we needed to do. She said whatever is best for the horse—we’ll do it.

Q. Your husband is Greg Tryon. How would you describe him?

A. He’s very good at helping me. He’s not a horse person but he is an amazing amount of support. I travel a ton and he never once put his foot down and said he can’t do it anymore. I’m gone 3-4 months a year and he stays at home, pays the bills, goes to work every day, runs the barn. We’ve gone on team trips and if anyone needs anything you just ask Greg to do it. He’s been a pillar to me in good and bad times.

Above: Team Tryon (Greg Tryon second from Left)

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. Do you guys live on the farm?

A. We run my business, Maple Leaf/Amy Tryon Eventing and we live at the farm. We’ve been there about seven and a half years. Dee, the owner, rides and I help her with her horses. She’s very busy so we take over the management.

Q. What’s it like around your barn? Busy? Peaceful? Neat?

A. It’s a fabulous facility. We designed it from the ground up; it was a neat process. we’ve been in lots of barns all over the world. We have twenty stalls. About ten are my business and ten are boarders. I have three girls that help me in the barn with everything including cleaning stalls. We all do it all. It’s great, we’ve got a lot of turn-out pastures; they all spend at least 12 hours outdoors. I’m lucky to take care of my horses how I want to.

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. We do. Two terriers: Razzle and Jasmine. Razzle is a Border Terrier that we got in Pennsylvania when she was a puppy. She had a rendezvous with one of Karen O’Connor's dogs, unplanned, and so we got four puppies. They’ve gone to two of my students and my mom has one and we have one. She is Border Terrier and half Black and Tan.

photo courtesy of Samantha Bergin

Q. What was your childhood like?

A. It was fantastic. I grew up in Seattle. My mom wanted horses and never could have one. She got a pony for me and my sister when I was one and she was three. We grew up on a farm and did 4H and Pony Club, Western, English, and bare back. I started eventing when I was eight and went from there.

Q. What about what you do with your time out of the saddle?

A. Greg and I love to go to the movies. We just enjoy our time at home together. Everyone asks me where I want to go on vacation and I always say I want to be at home for two weeks! Just hanging out together.

Q. What about the weather in the North West?

A. It’s actually pretty nice because it doesn’t get too hot or too cold. We do get a fair amount of rain in the winter. It’s a great area to have horses and to keep them fit and healthy and live outside if they need to.

Q. Any favorite musicians or authors?

A. One of my favorite movies is Good Will Hunting and I only read non-fiction; I’m a weirdo. I just finished reading Mary King’s autobiography. I enjoy history. My husband was in the military growing up so I enjoy military history; I enjoy reading things that are true.

Q. You are on the road a lot traveling. What do you always bring with you?

A. I always have my dogs with me. It’s funny, every trip we do is different, it’s kind of goofy. I pretty much live in my trailer whenever I’m on the road and that’s great. I usually take one person with me to help with the horses. For the most part it’s a little bit of a break in the routine but nevertheless it’s a seven day a week thing. It’s hard, Greg comes and visits now and then.

Part II with Amy Tryon will post soon. In the mean time don't hesitate to leave your thoughts below or visit us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with the eventing scoop. Don't you love Jethro-the-miniature donkey? Do any of your horses have little buddies?

Jim Wofford Part I: A Pony Named Merrylegs and a Tale of Suspense.

Jim Wofford is hard to describe. Not because there isn't much to say. Rather, it's because there's so very much to say. He's an historian, fly-fisherman, writer, friend to Labradors, a family man and devoted husband. It's practically a side note that he also happens to be an eventing legend. As in: a three-time Olympian, medalist in two World Championships, and five-time winner of the National Championships. It's no wonder he's a member of the United States Equestrian Hall of Fame . But why stop there? He has also served as president to the AHSA (now USA Equestrian), as vice-president of the United States Equestrian Team, and secretary of the USCTA (now United States Eventing Association). With all of that it's hard to even see where to begin. So we start at the beginning:

Q. Who was your first horse or pony?

A. Merrylegs, a black and white Sheltand pony. She taught two brothers and one sister to ride; she was the family pony. I started riding her when I was three and quit when I was eight.

Q. What was your life like when you were growing up?

A. I grew up on a horse farm in Kansas. My father retired from the military and he and my mother purchased a farm they turned into a horse farm. He was the Class of 1920 at West Point and was in the army all his life. Fort Riley was the Middleburg of the horse world then. The Calvary Training School was there. All the recruits were brought there and taught to ride; all the officers were given advanced riding instruction. It was where the Army Olympic team trained; it was the center of horse sports. You have to remember before 1952 all of the horse sports were military in nature.

U.S. Army photo

1932 US Army Olympic Team. Capt. John W. Wofford 3rd from right

Q. What is the history of horses in your family?

A. My father was born and raised on a farm in High Point, NC and then went to West Point, and at that time learned how to ride. He must have been horse crazy since horses were in our family from then on. He graduated in 1920 and by 1930 was on the Army Team. He rode in the Olympics in 1932; he was a show jumper. Then 20 years later, in 1952, he was the first president of the USET, which was formed to train, field, and equip Olympic and international teams in the equestrian discipline as successor to the army. In 1949 the US army mechanized and no longer had horses to provide young officers to ride so they needed some organization to fill that function. My father coached both show jumping and eventing teams in Helsinki in 1952; both teams got a medal. My brother JEB Wofford was a member of the eventing team then.

Wofford family picture

John W. Wofford, portrait

Q. What made you decide to attend the Culver Military Academy?

A. Culver had horses. That’s all that mattered. Like most young men, I had a hard time with discipline at first. However, the military was part of my life, so I soon settled into the routine and enjoyed my four years at Culver.

Q. When did you move to Virginia?

A. We moved to Virginia, my wife and I, in 1971 when I got out of the army. I was in the army from 1967-1970 and we moved back here in 1971 because of horses.

Q. What does the view out your window look like?

A. I’m looking west out my window. My farm is on the Eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Upperville, VA. And looking away to the southwest, as I am now, you’re looking down the Blue Ridge Mountains. It still very much is country out here. Large horse and cattle farms. We were lucky enough to buy 100 acres 35 years ago when things were not as expensive as they are now. We could not buy ten acres now for what we paid for 100 acres back then. We bought the land in 1973 and have lived here on Fox Covert Farm ever since. There is a silent t for “covert”. In England “covert” is pronounced “cover” which is where a fox lives. It also means private, and we are private people. It suited us and suited the farm as there is a fox den on the farm.

Q. How did you meet your wife?

A. In ‘58 my brother had a string of horses out in Colorado Springs. I was thirteen and in between grade school and Culver. My father had passed away in 1955 so my mother sent me to Colorado Springs to ride with my brother. I met my wife, Gail, there. We are a strange story. I knew the moment I saw her that was the girl I was going to marry. And it came true and we still are. We’ve been together 51 years. We dated all through high school and college. We got married June 11, 1966 in Colorado Springs. Both of us were attending the University of Colorado. Right after my senior year we got married.

Wofford family picture

Gail Wofford on Perfect, bird hunting

Q. How would your wife describe you?

A. Difficult, absent-minded, stubborn, and sense of humor.

Q. Tell me about Pop.

A. Pop, or Carowich, was a 16.3 7/8 Thoroughbred, Irish Sport Horse. He was by a point-to-point stallion named Scratchy...isn’t that a horrible name? Scratchy was well known in the early 70’s in Ireland for breeding distance horses. All of the farmers used Scratchy if they wanted to produce a four-mile horse. was out of an unknown mare.

I first saw him in March of 1977. I had students at Badminton that I had been training and I was standing watching the vet check. I had been looking for a horse for myself to ride in the ‘78 championships. I was standing by my coach, Lars Sederholm (he coached me around my first Badminton and we had remained friends) and we were shoulder to shoulder watching the horses walk around the courtyard of the Duke of Beaufort’s hunting stables, which looks like a castle to you and I. We were waiting for the vet check to start and Lars was talking to someone to his left.

This big brown horse was walking by and he stopped and looked right at me. I got goosebumps. It was a bit of out of body experience. Horses don’t look in your eye, they look at shapes and sizes, but not in your eye. And he was looking at me in my eye. The groom kind of tugged on him. And he didn’t move. He kept looking at me. Then she really tugged and he went on and he had the most wonderful flowing walk. I grabbed Lars and asked who that was. He said, “That’s Carawich. He’s a wonderful horse but you’ll never be able to buy him”.

I watched him go with a girl called Aly Pattinson. And he was a cross-country machine. He had already won Burghley. It was the spring of 1977. Throughout that spring and summer I kept looking for a horse. Along by December I had pretty much given up. At that time the rules for competition required both the horse and rider to be of the same nationality before the first of the year of the competition. I don’t know why, that was the rule. So if I didn’t find a horse by January 1 of 1978 I was not going to ride in the World Games.

Does Wofford compete at the World Games? Does he ever ride Carawich?

Check back soon to find out.