A thoroughbred bought for $1, who is making his Defender Burghley Horse Trials debut, will be one to watch on cross-country day at the 2024 five-star.
Mia Farley and Phelps were the only combination to make the cross-country time at Maryland 5 Star last year – their first attempt at this level – where they finished fifth. They were 13th at Kentucky this spring, again with a clean sheet across country, and have now made their first trip to a five-star across the pond.
“I’m excited to give it a shot. It’s an event I’ve always wanted to go to, so I’m excited to have a horse like him to do it on. I’ve walked around and it looks fun, so we’ll give it our best try,” said Mia, who works for Phelps’s owner, 2000 Olympic eventing champion David O’Connor.
“He is a good boy across country. He’s 11 now. I’ve been riding him since he was four, I’ve brought him up the levels – we’ve known each other a long time. We’re best friends who are just travelling together and trying new things.
“I always joke that he’s someone that you’d sit on the couch with and just talk to. He is so special – he’s a human, pretty much. He’s just nice to be around.”
Dreams of five-star hadn’t really entered the picture for this affable gelding ahead of his sparkling debut at Maryland.
“It’s special, because we didn’t really know if he’d fight for it or not – well we kind of knew, but we just had to see what would happen – and he proved that he is a fighter and he loves what he does.”
The partnership produced a first phase score of 33.7 on Thursday (5 September), which puts them around the middle of the leaderboard ahead of the cross-country.
“I was pleased with that. He went in there, and he was such a professional,” said Mia. “I think he wanted to graze the whole time, but he got to at the end – it’s beautiful grass for him.”
Phelps, a H&H cover star in February this year, was in training but unraced before starting his second career. Maryland event director Joanie Morris sent the horse to David to be sold, but he managed to stick around.
“He was a very inexpensive buy and hasn’t been that expensive to keep – until he came here!” said Mia, who has been fundraising to afford the trip from the States with Phelps.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster. I wasn’t committed to coming here until like three weeks ago. Obviously, we did all the prep and everything, but I just wasn’t sure if I’d fundraise. And then I talked to Jenny Brannigan, who I travelled with, and she said, ‘you’re going’. So we made it work.”
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