Abby Gibbon

Fairburn, Ga., Sept. 10

Anna Kjellstrom bought her Nutrena/USEA American Eventing Championships training amateur champion Blue Stockings as a yearling, but he wasn’t always destined for the cross-country course.

“ ‘Barney’ started out as a research horse,” said Kjellstrom, Versailles, Ky., whose husband, Joe Pagan, is the president of Kentucky Equine Research, a feed and supplement development company.

Fairburn, Ga., Sept. 9

After an elegant dressage test to top the open intermediate division of the Nutrena/U.S. Eventing Association American Eventing Championships yesterday, Kadi Eykamp and Double Rivers Really Cool cruised around the Ritch Temple-designed cross-country course, cementing a nearly 9-point lead.

“Cross-country is just his thing,” said Eykamp of her 6-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding. “I had to slow him down a little so that we didn’t go too fast, but it’s just such a lovely galloping course that making time is something you can do.”

In the first three installments of our horse shopping series, we investigated communication, trials and follow-ups. In our fourth and final installment, we delve into the process of negotiating your offer.

In London, 1961, authorities announced the discovery of a clandestine Soviet spy ring. In Liverpool, little-known skiffle group the Beatles first gigged in the Cavern Club’s cellar. And in Leeds, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease left sportsmen dismayed that the annual three-day event at Harewood House, home to the Earl of Harewood, would likely be canceled.

The first two articles in our Etiquette Of Horse Shopping series examined communication and fair trials. In the third installment, we explore options for additional evaluation and the pre-purchase exam.

Stand beside the finish line of any racetrack in the world and dare yourself to remain unflapped. I’ve tried; it’s futile. The pack rounds the turn, and involuntarily your pulse quickens, eyes darting from hooves to outstretched necks to flying manes and tails as the hijinks of the bettors beside you intensify, the final moments igniting in a blaze of speed so fast it almost takes your breath away. You ask yourself: horsepower? Have I just felt the physical effects?

In the first installment of our Etiquette Of Horse Shopping series, we examined the intricacies of setting up and preparing for the first trial ride. After you’ve selected a suitable prospect and set the trial date, it’s time to plan ahead for the trial appointment itself.

If you’ve been in the market for a horse recently, odds are you’ve taken your search online. From website classifieds to social media, Internet advertising makes horse shopping infinitely more convenient than in decades gone by; the thousands of prospects at our fingertips are often accompanied by flashy photo galleries and video clips.

But the informality of web shopping can also be misleading; it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of potentials and lose focus on important details.

Jim Wofford grew up on a farm in Milford, Kan., the youngest son of a storied equestrian family: His father, Col. John W. Wofford, was a member of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic show jumping team and later the founding president of the U.S. Equestrian Team, and his brothers, J.E.B. and Warren, were both USET riders. After graduating from the Culver Military Academy (Ind.) and the University of Colorado, Jim set out to affirm his family heritage, bringing home a team silver medal from the Mexico City Olympics aboard Kilkenny in 1968.

Leyland, the 11 year-old four-star veteran formerly competed by Amy Tryon, will compete under Stephen Bradley in a preliminary division of the Maryland Horse Trials II this weekend. The Thoroughbred gelding last competed at the Event at Three Day Ranch (Calif.) in March.