Catherine Wu is a competitor, but the analytically minded sophomore at the University of Miami is also practical. So when the Winter Equestrian Festival began, the 20-year-old Weston, Fla., native had realistic expectations.

In the middle of her second year at the university, where she manages a full five-day-a-week course load for her marine science and biology double major, she knew she wouldn’t have much time to show. Besides, her 13-year-old Silla Argentina mare Ren Round Number had just recovered from a bone bruise that had put her out of competition for the better part of nine months. She didn’t want to push her.

“I told [Maggie Gould, assistant trainer at East Wind Farms in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where Wu rides with trainer Tiffany Morrissey] that I wanted to focus on school, and because Ren was just coming back, I wasn’t trying to get points or anything,” Wu said. “I wasn’t planning to show that much or that often.”

As it turned out, she didn’t have to. She and “Ren” won seven of the 14 classes they jumped in at WEF to be circuit champion of the adult modified jumper division. The duo won four consecutive classes during Weeks 8 and 9 of the circuit, as well as seven of the final 10 classes they contested in Wellington. And Wu did it while just showing up to show on the weekend, since her class schedule would not allow for any practice time. She won four division championships without competing in an entire division, since the first class of the adult modifieds went on Fridays. She just won the other two classes on Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s hard, because I only ride twice a week, on the weekends when I show, so I didn’t expect this,” Wu said. “It’s a nice surprise.”

 
Catherine Wu celebrated her WEF Circuit Championship in the adult modified jumper division with her longtime mount Ren Round Number and assistant trainer Maggie Gould of East Wind Farms. Photo by Brooke Giacin.

No warm-up, no schooling, not a moment spent in the saddle during the week: Wu just got on and went, and she won. Even during her winter recess, she spent her free time shadowing a cardiologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. A future in medicine awaits her, although she is not yet sure whether she will pursue a general or veterinary track.

“Now, Ren and I are at the point where I trust her and she trusts me a lot,” she said. “My problem before would be that I didn’t quite trust myself and wouldn’t go with my instinct. I’d pull up and chip a lot at the distances. It just feels really natural now.”

Catherine, Ren and trainer Tiffany Morrissey make some tack adjustments at the ring. Photo by Catie Staszak

“The Very First Horse I Saw”

Wu and Ren have been partnered for more than five years; Wu first started riding the mare when she was just 15 years old. But she went the unusual route of never having sat on Ren before she bought her. Her mother, Cecilia Wu—who is not a horse trainer but rather a medical professional herself as the clinical coordinator of the pulmonary arterial hypertension program for the Jackson Health System—picked the horse out on a trip to Argentina without even seeing her jump.

“Ren was the very first horse that I saw, and I knew immediately that she was good for my daughter,” Cecilia said. “She was waiting for us, tied to a tree, and I just saw her beautiful eyes and felt a connection with her. I don’t know; I can’t explain it.

“I did not ride her,” she continued. “I do not ride. I am not an equestrian. It wasn’t a trainer picking out a horse. In my mind, I just thought this was the right horse for Catherine.”

When Ren arrived in Florida, she and Catherine didn’t have an instant connection.

“When I first got her, I didn’t have that much experience—I had only been riding about two years—and she’s very hot,” Catherine said. “I could barely canter a cross rail without having her dart around the ring and gallop around for a few laps before I could stop her. It took us a few years to get used to each other.”

Catherine and Ren clinched their circuit championship with another speedy victory at WEF 12. Photo by Catie Staszak

Catherine and Ren gradually climbed the ranks from the low children’s jumpers to the low amateurs, when she moved to East Wind in 2014. The duo finished second in the CSI** 1.15-meter class at the inaugural Global Champions Tour of Miami Beach (Fla.) last April before Ren got injured. Then, it was back to square one, but Catherine was involved in every step of the mare’s recovery.

“We could only walk for so long,” she recalled. “It was always, ‘Next week, we’ll see.’ I remember the exact day; the vet told us we could trot on Halloween.”

That time together strengthened their relationship as they’ve returned to take the adult modified jumper division by storm. During WEF 11, they won a jump-off class by almost 5 seconds—and made it look easy.

“The last time we won a class was when I was a junior, probably three years ago,” she said. “I was 17, and we did the children’s modifieds, and that was the last time I got a first-place ribbon with her. It’s been exciting.”

All smiles, Catherine and Ren exit the ring after a clear round. Photo by Catie Staszak

To find out more about some of the WEF circuit champions, don’t miss the April 25 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse. And to read an inspiring story about a special amateur who conquered breast cancer, make sure to read the April 11 & 18 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse.