Ashlee Bond’s favorite memory from her summer European tour didn’t happen in the show ring.
        “Our first day riding the horses in Europe, I was with Kaylen and Richard Spooner and my dad. We were in La Baule, France, and La Baule is right next to the beach, so we took Cristallo and Paco and Casira Z and Cadett to the beach. We went galloping in the ocean, and it was the most amazing experience. We went out quite far in the water because it stays shallow, and we were out there for about an hour. It was the most fun,” she said.

•    Ashlee Bond has been a winner since her pony days. In 1996, she rode Beaujolais to the small pony hunter championships at the West Coast Pony Finals, the Pennsylvania National, Capital Challenge (Md.) and the Washington International (Md.).
        Her father Steve Bond recalled that an East Coast trainer told Ashlee at the in-gate not to be upset if Beaujolais stopped at their first indoor show.
        “Ashlee’s eyes got red, and she was furious. She won that over fences class, and that pony was champion. She had that fire in her even back then,” Steve said.

•    Ashlee has two up-and-coming grand prix horses along with Cadett 7: Casira Z and Chivas Z, both Cumano offspring.
        “It gives her a top-of-the-line three-horse string, so we can pick and choose where to show them,” Steve said. Should Ashlee qualify for the 2010 FEI World Cup Finals, she tentatively plans to compete Casira Z.