Stories of the unexpected—from both the inspiration and upsetting ends of the spectrum—drew readers to coth.com over the year that was: Unexpected foals (twins!) and unexpected looks (a checkerboard clip or a no-bridle win?!) garnered smiles and more than a few comments on our social media, while the legal trouble of Olympians left us disappointed and angry with one-time heroes of our sports.

Here are the most-read stories of 2023 from coth.com:

10. Helgstrand Removed From Danish Team After TV Exposé

Olympic medalist Andreas Helgstrand was removed from the Danish national dressage team for a least a year following the late-November airing of an investigative television program that documented welfare issues at Helgstrand Dressage, his sales and training facility. [Editor’s note: Helgstrand Dressage is owned by Global Equestrian Group, which also owns The Chronicle of the Horse.]

9. Rich Fellers Pleads Guilty, Expected To Serve 4 Years In Prison

When Olympic show jumper Rich Fellers was arrested in 2021 on allegations that he sexually abused his then 17-year-old student Maggie Kehring, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. For the two years that followed, while Fellers’ case wound its way through the court system, through various trial dates that were set and delayed, and through the addition of federal charges to the original state charges, that official attestment of innocence stood. Until July 11, when he pleaded guilty to interstate travel to engage in illicit sex with a minor.

8. Former Owner Crosses Globe To Reunite With Her Aging ‘Heart Horse’

In May, in the heart of Pennsylvania horse country, a sweet reunion took place between retired advanced-level event horse No Objection and the woman who transformed him from a rogue 3-year-old in Tasmania, Australia, to a successful advanced-level eventer who ultimately was sold across the globe to the U.S. Thanks to the internet, Erin Pitt Berryman, who now lives in the Middle East and is married with two children, was able to track down her “heart horse,” now 26, and make a special trip to the United States just to see him again.

7. Free Craigslist Pony Keeps Up With The Warmbloods At US Dressage Finals

The pony that Linden Thompson brought to the 2023 U.S. Dressage Finals, who held his own in a field of big warmbloods to take third in Friday’s adult amateur Intermediaire I championship, is a far cry from the Craigslist pony that she first brought home 11 years ago. 

When the Denver-based rider first came across N’Tempo SSH1’s ad, the then 3-year-old Haflinger was being rehomed because he was too much horse for his owner. The 14.1-hand pony, “Beau,” had a reputation for using his driving-breed genetics to bulldoze through his handlers’ cues. 

6. Hanging Up The Irons

In May, longtime Chronicle blogger Sophie Coffey shared some difficult news, posing a rhetorical question that was, as readers learned, aimed at her own decision to step away from the horse world:

“We’ve all seen the posts on Facebook or in the COTH forums,” she wrote. “The person who is at the end of their proverbial rope—one disaster after another, multiple insults to multiple injuries. They just can’t do it anymore. Riding has become too much of a heartbreak, too much of a stressor in their life when it always used to be their escape. They come questioning but really asking permission: Is it OK for them to hang up their irons?”

5. Cortes ‘C’ Dies At 21

Beezie Madden’s partner for double FEI World Equestrian Games bronze, Cortes ‘C’, died July 12 at age 21. He and Madden paired up in 2011 and won the LGCT Valkenswaard Grand Prix CSI5* (the Netherlands) a few months later, setting the tone for a legendary career that included a silver team medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, numerous Nations Cup appearances and the aforementioned individual and team bronze medals from the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France). At that competition, in the Final Four, he jumped four clear rounds with four different riders, earning the title of Best Horse.

4. #RideforHannah: Family Thanks Equestrian Community For Outpouring Of Support

The day after news of 15-year-old Hannah Serfass’ death April 30 at a Venice, Florida, horse show, the equestrian community came together to support her family and trainers. As countless posts bearing a #rideforhannah hashtag flooded social media, and plans for a memorial service at the World Equestrian Center-Ocala (Florida), came together, the teen’s parents, Janine and David Serfass, thanked the equestrian community for its broad show of support.

“Our daughter died doing the thing she absolutely loved the most in this world,” they said in a statement. “If from this tragedy one person can be saved and find God, then her death will not be in vain.” 

3. Forged Cancer Treatment Documents Cast Doubt On Lamaze’s Health Status

Years after announcing he has been fighting brain cancer since 2017, Eric Lamaze found his health status very publicly called into question. Judges in two separate horse-sales cases, one in in Canada and one in the U.S., found that his attorneys had submitted fake letters purporting to be from doctors delivering his cancer treatment. The Brussels hospital the letters purportedly were from confirmed they were forgeries.

2. Mare Surprises Breeder And Vets With Twin Foals

Cara Klothe, a Grand Prix dressage rider and breeder in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, was diligent in ensuring her mare’s pregnancy went to plan, from scheduling regular ultrasounds to sending her to a foaling barn for delivery. Her mare Lhegally Blonde (Licotus—Qhuiver, Quaterback) isn’t just her competition horse, she’s a beloved friend Klothe has raised and trained from a foal. So when Klothe got a 3:30 a.m. phone call on June 14 that “Blondie” had foaled not one, but two babies, she thought she was dreaming.

1. A Bold Clip Job Is Turning Heads At The US Dressage Finals

At the U.S. Dressage Finals (Kentucky) in November, volunteers and competitors were abuzz about the “checkered horse.” That horse was Benedictus WS, or “Ben,” a 9-year-old Hanoverian who made his way from Sherborn, Massachusetts, with rider Fie Studnitz Andersen. 

“I absolutely despise clipping, and so the best way to deal with that is, of course, to do a freehand checkers clip job that makes it take five or six hours to complete,” she said with a laugh. 

Their story not only topped our most-read stories of the year, it set the comments section of our Facebook page on fire with a new twist on the debate over conservative attire for the show ring.

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Check out the rest of our Best Of 2023 coverage, and make sure you follow @chronofhorse on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date with everything happening in the horse world in the new year.