Gina Miles is a very busy woman these days. The Olympic medalist has seen her life ratchet to high speed in the months after the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, where she logged the best American eventing performance of the games and earned an individual silver medal. Her free time now runs at a premium. She is accessible by phone only during the long drives to or from her farm, which lies hours away from major cities in the small town of Atascadero, California. As she describes how her life has changed since last summer, she speaks with the breathless style of someone who knows how to make the most of every minute.
Tiny, 5’3” Gina and her partner, 17.3 hand Irish Sport Horse McKinlaigh make an unlikely but enduring team. The gelding, now 15, began his career with Gina in 1999. Together they have accumulated an impressive stash of trophies and medals; including team gold and individual bronze at the 2007 Pan American Games, the 2006 USET Gladstone Trophy and Leading Lady Rider, and the bronze medal at the 2003 World Cup Final
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Fellow Californians are proud to call Gina one of their own. She grew up in the northern part of the state and for many years has been based in lush central California. At the age of 10, the eventing bug bit her after she attended the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. A former Pony Clubber, she continues to travel four hours north to teach the Pony Clubs that meet at her old stomping grounds in Woodside, and readily admits that she still loves teaching the lower level D-1 and unrated Pony Clubbers.
Immediately after the Olympics Gina was swept up in a flurry of events; she appeared on Oprah with other Olympians, was hosted by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the state capital, and attended a gathering at Universal Studios in Los Angeles of all current and past Olympic medalists from California. “When you’re in the heat of competition, you’re so focused on the competition itself, you don’t get to really savor how special the moment is,” says Gina. “But when I got to go to all these events I really felt the importance, and the honor that winning an Olympic medal entailed.” However, her newfound celebrity status has done nothing to deter Gina from the jobs ahead, and as she puts it “picking up the pieces of the business and life” after months of being away.
She’s added a riding school and lesson program to her business, Miles Eventing, and hired assistant Rebecca Braitling. She’s preparing to move to a new facility at the end of the year, the construction of which is being managed by Gina’s husband, Morgan. And Gina is working hard to locate the next generation of horses that will step into McKinlaigh’s rather large shoes once he retires. As she looks at young horses she’s forming a syndicate model and will be participating in discussions on the subject during meetings in Kentucky in the coming months.
And while McKinlaigh spends a well-deserved year close to home, Gina’s primary focus is managing his career as she looks forward to next year’s World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. “He’ll be 16 next year, and I’d love to make a bid for the WEG,” she says. “He doesn’t need to do much this year, just a little stepping up this summer and fall. It’s nice to be at home this year, working together with my assistant and planning what’s next.”
In many ways, Gina has come full circle since attending the ’84 Games as a spectator. Now, as a participant and medalist, she still stands in awe of the Olympics. She was the only equestrian who stayed in China for the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.
“There is so much emotion and the Olympics are so meaningful,” she says. “It is just such a huge honor, because so many people work so hard to make it to that level, and there are so many things that can go wrong along the way. The timing has to be right, the horse has to peak at the right moment, and I feel so lucky and blessed that it all fell into place for us.”
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