“Freak” is the word best used to describe Jenny Brannigan’s 5-star eventer FE lifestyle. The 13-year-old gelding (Leo von Felts, Brandenburger, Bellina A) was bred in Germany as a show jumper, but no one knew his destiny was to stay in the ring and jump short courses. I didn’t tell him.
“It’s crazy that he’s an event horse,” Brannigan said. “His blood is only about 37%. I ride horses and get my feelings out, [looking at his breeding] I don’t think he’s bottomless. ”
‘Foxy’ recently proved his depth at the Defender Burghley CCI5* (England) in September, finishing 12th.th, Brannigan took top honors as a Burley debutant. He also won the Best Farrier Award, thanks to his farrier Russell Deering. The finish alone was impressive, but the backstory was even more impressive. Foxy’s participation in the event was in jeopardy because he couldn’t get on a plane to Europe. However, after much veterinary advice and multiple rounds of hydration, followed by a week of continued evaluation by veterinarians and a track and field jury in England, he was deemed fit to compete.
“He was flying around Burley about 50 to 60 percent of the time,” Brannigan said. “What he did there was phenomenal. I didn’t even know if I was going to let him run…I love him, and I would never hurt a horse.”
The horse is so highly regarded that it took Brannigan and owners Tim and Nina Gardner a long time to make the initial purchase decision.
Clayton Fredericks had geldings for sale that were initially tried by “a number of” experts, Brannigan recalled, including one she had recommended. But the horse has a “funny mouth” and is “quite quirky”, making it a difficult sell, she said. A year after he first tried Foxy, Brannigan purchased him.
“I didn’t really understand,” she said. “I didn’t think, ‘I have to have him.’
Australian show jumper Scott Keach helped her make the final decision. Brannigan has worked with Keech since he started the business in 2014.
“I’ve been show jumping with Scotty for years, and he knows my type,” she said. “He said he thought I should get this horse because he thought it was a good horse. Obviously, he turned out to be a great horse.”
My racing friends agree. Her long-time mentor, Philip Dutton, has seen many of Brannigan’s top horses over the years and classifies Foxy as one of the best.
“Philip Cross Country taught him once for me,” she said. “He’s never been so positive about a horse.” [of mine] cross country. “
“I was chatting with Boyd.” [Martin]And he said, “When I got that horse, I thought it was too heavy, but it wasn’t at all, he was like a freak,” she recalled.
In fact, Brannigan said Foxy is one of his most suitable horses, even though he has no Thoroughbred blood. Based at Philip Dutton’s True Prospect Farm in Cochranville, Pennsylvania, she uses the surrounding hills to improve her horses’ endurance.
“He’s the easiest horse to get in shape,” she said. “He gallops about 10 percent of what other horses have to do to qualify for five stars. He’s just a weirdo.”
The 6-foot-10 chestnut athlete has a 16-foot stride and an equally huge and epic jump. This huge improvement has helped him get closer to his times even at five-star level, but it also contributed to his only cross-country refusal in the international record, although Brannigan is responsible for this failure. .
“One year at Kentucky, I should have believed in myself and moved on,” she recalls. “I was trying to add a place where that wouldn’t happen.
“He finds it easy,” she added about Foxy’s running and jumping. “He loves it. He can leave the ground from anywhere and has a lot of vision.”
We went behind the stall door to find out more about this scopey redhead.
• Foxy doesn’t have a lot of chrome, but his markings are noticeable anyway.
Chestnut’s left back pastern has only small stars and dots as a white pattern, but he has a brand not often seen in the event world. The Brandenburg-Anhalt gelding carries an arrow with a snake wrapped around his left side.
• Foxy is quirky, sharp, and sensitive.
Mr. Brannigan must be careful when she is lying on her back. He reacts quickly to dogs, noises, cars on the road, and doesn’t like “things flying at me from behind.”
“He’s a real chestnut kid,” Brannigan said.
Brannigan tailors his show routine to suit his temperament.
“You really need to calm down right before a show,” Brannigan said. “At Bromont we jumped him in the dressage warm-up to get his blood pressure down and he was top four there.”
• The path to his brain may also be through his stomach.
Foxy loves his own treats, like mints, Mentos, and Jack’s favorite dried fruits and vegetables, so “you’ll know” in the ring. [groom Alexa Lapp] We ran with him and gave him treats,” Brannigan said. “It kept him focused, keeping his head down and not paying attention to the environment.”
• Less saddle is more with Foxy
“It was a big learning curve to be quiet on his back,” Brannigan said.
Compared to other horses in the cross-country stable that require a rider to actively develop and encourage, “Foxy has helped me ride very well because I have to sit very quietly. ” she said. “I’ve had such beautiful rounds on him, because you just look like you’re not doing anything. Last year at Kentucky, he just ran fair on the track.”
• He is a big teddy bear on the ground…
Foxy is explosive when riding, but on the ground he’s “very cute.”
“He doesn’t like you to get carried away around him, but he’s a big teddy bear,” Brannigan said.
• …But he can also hold grudges.
Foxy likes company, but if you do something he doesn’t like, he will remember it.
“Tyler was there.” [Held, who groomed for Brannigan] I swear he hated her for the rest of his life after one earplug. He made no effort to bring his girlfriend close to her ear. ”
• He’s a foxy…and a bit of a woman.
Mr Brannigan said geldings have quite a bit of mare-like tendencies. He’s as sensitive as a mare. ”
He also prefers the company of mares over other geldings. Karen Hokanson, manager of Nina Gardner’s Welcome Here Farm, where Brannigan’s horses rest, said she particularly dislikes Twilights Last Gleam, another five-star mount owned by Brannigan. Instead, he ran with his mare.
“He likes to be bossed around. He wants people to put him in his place,” Hokansson said.
• Foxy only really likes guys who are less than half her size.
Foxy shares a corner stall with Hank the Tank. Hank the Tank is a mini-car that Brannigan sends to Ocala for a friend, but as it turns out, the friend doesn’t need Hank anymore.
“At that point, we just decided he was ours,” Brannigan said. “He’s going out with all three.” [Brannigan’s upper-level eventers Foxy, Twilightslastgleam and Connory]. They all love him and he is a perfect companion to all of them. ”
