The Many Horses of Anne Kursinski
By Erin Gilmore | Sidelines Magazine, April, 2010
Anne Kursinski’s face still lights up with all the enthusiasm of a rookie when she describes her horses, her teaching, and her life. It’s easy to discover how one of show jumping’s most successful athletes got that way; spend five minutes with Anne and her passion for the sport infects.
That passion has sustained her for more than 25 years. Anne’s accomplishments are exhaustive and only begin to include five Olympic Games, Pan Am Games gold, multiple Super League and Nations Cup championships. But the California-born rider with her own (extensive) Wikipedia entry makes all the worldwide accolades sound simple. Naturally, her horses mean the most.
On a sunny Florida afternoon during the WEF circuit, Anne sits under the overhang of her spectacular winter stable, looking towards the floodlights over the International Ring at the PBIEC. She’s happy to tell the stories of “the horses I was fortunate enough to ride”, and her blue eyes get a little brighter as she explains how each one ties into her life.
Her horses past and present mark every touch point of her career. There was Livius, the red chestnut that carried her to an individual gold medal at the Pan Am Games in 1983 and to an alternate spot at the ‘84 Los Angeles Olympics. There was Starman, the big German stallion that Anne rode martingale-less in a D-ring snaffle to a silver medal at the ‘88 Seoul Olympics. There was Eros, the hot Thoroughbred that was Anne’s partner for nearly a decade of record-breaking wins. There was Roxana, her Super League mount for three years. And Champ, the horse with whom she qualified for the ‘08 Olympic team, just 8 weeks after getting the ride on him.
Livius was owned by members of the Flintridge Riding Club outside of Los Angeles, where a teenage Anne rode with the late and legendary Jimmy Williams. Watching Jimmy teach a horse to do everything from roll a ball with its nose to jump out of a moving railway car, Anne learned to train horses by reading their behavior and body language. “Jimmy was an extreme example of by God, I can get a horse to do anything. It was fascinating the way he could get inside a horse’s head,” she remembers. “He taught me that it’s all about telling the horse you believe he can do it. I never tell a horse it’s stupid. I say I believe you can lengthen, I believe you can do the water jump. That’s what works.”
In 1981 Anne moved to the East Coast and began training with George Morris, who now points to her riding when he describes the American style of equitation. Francie Steinwedell, another Flintridge alumni, owned her second “big” horse, Starman.
George’s classical methods of training and riding honed Anne’s skills to the point that made jumping Starman over five-foot fences in a snaffle not only possible, but successful. George was also responsible for introducing Anne to Eros, who she first rode as a five year old at his barn on Thanksgiving Day, 1992. By 1996 Anne and Eros had earned a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics, and went on to win the Budweiser American Invitational a record five times. Eros retired in 2007 during a ceremony in the main ring at WEF. He has a home at her Frenchtown, New Jersey farm for life.
“Eros and Starman were very different types, but to be able to be successful with both of them, I couldn’t overpower either of them,” Anne says. An assortment of corgis and French bulldogs settle at her feet while she gazes across her arena in the direction of WEF. “What I enjoyed the most was the journey of training them, the ups and downs, going through all the steps. I honestly think that my success has come from all of that.”
With Roxana, she applied the smooth, fluid style of riding that by 2002 had become definitively hers. Between a schedule that included Super League tours around Europe, Anne did, and continues to teach popular clinics all over the country. Not every great rider can also be a great coach, but Anne has long believed that doing one benefits the other.
“I think teaching makes you a better rider, actually,” she says. “I think that when you have to put into words what you do, you become a better rider. And I find that it’s fun to figure out how to get inside a person’s head and explain a concept. When I’m helping the student, I watch the horse, and try to come very much from the horse’s point of view.”
That perspective helped her rise so quickly with Champ, another big, “heavy” warmblood that Anne paired with late in 2007. She applied her American style of riding to his training, riding him looser and lighter than he’d been schooled to go in Germany. As his muscles changed and became stronger, Champ began jumping sharper, higher and braver than ever before. He peaked during the final selection phases at Aachen in the summer of 2008, and was sent to Hong Kong with Anne as team alternate.
It’s only when she talks about Champ that a shadow of regret creeps across Anne’s features. Anne parted ways with Champ’s owners after the Olympics, and it’s clear that she would have loved to keep the ride on him. But after a moment the regret has passed; she’s put it behind her. She’s been keeping her eye out for the next big horse ever since. Filling her rather impressive Market Street Inc. with quality horses and dedicated students is the priority. In that sense, her goals haven’t changed much over the last 25 years.
“I think in some ways I can enjoy it more now,” she admits. “Even though it’s corny, I want to inspire other kids to follow their dreams the way I did. I love to teach and I love giving back to the sport. I’m always competitive and focused on winning, but I’m enjoying the experience of it more than ever before.”
Somehow Anne Kursinski makes what might sound corny perfectly legit. For all the dreams she’s realized, her desire to accomplish more is written across her face. She’s always working hard, and always trying to be the best. She’s always looking for a new chance to prove herself with that next great horse.
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