Amateur rider Cloe Hymowitz has purchased Reed Kessler’s 2012 London Olympic Games mount Cylana.
Kessler announced the sale on her Facebook page: “It’s with tears in my eyes that I announce Cylana will be moving on to the next chapter of her career. Cylana has been the horse of a lifetime for me. She made me into the rider I am today for which I am forever grateful. It is a very bittersweet moment for me, no doubt the hardest decision of my life.”
“I’m very, very excited,” said Hymowitz, 20, who trains with Brianne Goutal. “It kind of doesn’t feel real honestly. My plans right now for her are hopefully with me to get into some of the bigger classes. I’ve been doing the high amateurs and a few smaller grand prix [classes] now for two years. So I’m hoping to get into some of the bigger grand prix classes. She’s obviously an incredible horse.”
Hymowitz, of New York City, plans to let Cylana have a break once she’s shipped over from Kessler’s base in the Netherlands and then start showing her during the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.). Hymowitz is currently a student at Duke University (N.C.).
“I’ve been watching her obviously since I was little. I think she and Reed have been a pair that everyone watches and is always amazed by,” Hymowitz said. “Riding her, it was definitely surreal. I couldn’t believe I was actually riding this horse that I really admired from afar. The second you get on her, you know she’s experienced. I think that a big part trying horses is trust and that instant connection. And when I rode her, she is very consistent. You can tell she loves what she’s doing.
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“And trotting around, even flatting, she has a great attitude,” she continued. “She has so much power behind her—I’ve never ridden a horse with that much scope and power. And she is so ready to go so fast and jump from really any distance. It’s really exciting.”
Kessler has owned Cylana, a 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Skippy II—Verona van de Ruitershoeve, Darco) since 2011, and together they tied for the win in the 2012 USEF National Show Jumping Championships, which were selection trials for the short list for the 2012 Olympic Games team. Then 18, Kessler was named to the team for the London Games with Cylana.
Cylana and Kessler won the 2012 President’s Cup CSI-W at the Washington International (D.C.) and placed 10th in the 2013 Rolex FEI World Cup Final (Sweden). Kessler and Cylana’s last wins together were in two of the $180,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cups (Fla.) in February and March.
“Cylana is and forever will be a part of me. But I am happy that she can go on to do the same for Cloe Hymowitz. I had no intention of selling Cylana, but I have been friends with Brianne Goutal, Cloe’s trainer, for my entire life, and I would not have considered selling Cylana to anyone else. I know in her program Cylana will be treated with the ultimate respect and that she will be as loved and cared for as she was in my stable. I’m so thankful that the Hymowitz family adamantly agreed for Cylana to return to me to retire after her sporting career with Cloe. It’s not goodbye, just see you in a little while,” Kessler’s statement continued.
