Exciting news!! We have one more French redhead to add to the team at S.H.E. (As if our barn didn’t have enough “character” already!)
I’ve taught a few clinics up in Massachusetts at Apple Knoll Farm, one of Adrienne Iorio’s training facilities. Adrienne is a top notch trainer and competitor. She’s competed through the four-star level, ridden in Europe and at the highest competitions stateside. She’s done everything from training with Mark Phillips to spending winters riding with George Morris.
Anyone who’s met Adrienne can attest to the amazing amount of bad luck she’s been dealt and the amazing way she’s persevered. She can tell you a story that would break you, and she’ll laugh while she tells it at the same time, holding her youngest in one arm and having one eye on her 3-year-old, who’s likely to be getting up to all the wild things kids can get up to.
I’ve often pondered about what would happen to my top horses if I were to get hurt—if I’d be able to watch someone else ride them or if I’d bench them along with myself.
This past winter Adrienne pulled out one of her favorite horses, Outfoxed, after years of being semi-benched while Adrienne dealt with “life” (which included having two boys!) in the hopes of campaigning him at the upper levels. That was the goal she’d had for “Foxy” since picking him out as a 4-year-old. In 2005 she campaigned him at advanced, but he hasn’t returned to that level since.
I got an email from Adrienne a few months later saying she was contemplating selling Foxy because she was pregnant with her third boy! At the time, I mentally filed the information away, but when I turned up to teach a clinic at the beginning of the month, Foxy quickly came back into the picture.
Adrienne had me scheduled to jump him so he could have a good school, since he hadn’t been doing much. Out walked a stunning 17.2-hand (Adrienne smiled and said 16.3… No way!) chestnut with a face to die for and the body to match! After only five minutes, I was hooked.
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We put the jumps up, and I felt I could have jumped a house on him. I looked at Adrienne and said, “He is amazing,” and she looked at me with a slight sigh and said, “I know.” I then realized how difficult it must be to have this athlete and not be in his tack.
We went for ice cream after the day was done, and I asked Adrienne what she envisioned for Foxy. She said, “I want him to do what I’ve always known he was meant to be doing… Competing at the top.” She said it with the same familiar sigh.
We chatted for a bit, and I told her I’d love the opportunity to compete such an animal if she thought it was a good match. She and I agreed to give it a go, and I have to say I am simply thrilled.
I picked up Foxy last week, and he’s been an absolute pleasure. I know it’s bittersweet for Adrienne, but I’ll do my best to do right by the horse and by her.
We’re aiming for the Fair Hill CCI** (Md.) this fall so we can get to know each other. Foxy also has quite the fan club in Massachusetts. I’m sure anyone who has met him even once is a fan… I certainly am!
Sinead
