When Gina Miles first saw McKinley, she didn't look like a high-level horse, let alone one that would win a silver medal at the Olympics.
“He came in and got really big. This was in '99, so most people were still riding Thoroughbreds,” Miles recalled. “There weren't many warm-blooded breeds yet, but [and] There certainly wasn't a horse his size. He didn't have a huge horse. So I looked at him and thought, “He can't ride this horse.'' He's too big for me. He's too big to be an event horse. ” His legs were crooked. He will never remain in good health. I thought you guys were crazy, but it was the only horse I had to ride, so it was okay! Let's see what we can do. So we started. ”
Owners Tom Schultz and Laura Coates raced 17.3 hand Irish Sport Horses (Highland King, Kilcumney Hostess, Stretchworth Lad). Schultz was looking for a horse for himself and the first horse he saw was Liver Chestnut.
Deciding not to jump on the first horse that caught their eye, they spent two weeks driving across the country, only to return to McKinley.
“Of course, there was no one else like McKinley, so they were like, 'Oh, I have to go home,' and they were on the other side of Ireland, so they drove all the way back to see McKinley one more time. “I'm here,” Miles said. .
The gelding was only four years old, so they left him in Ireland for further training with Scarteen Event Horse breeder Chris Ryan, but the gelding and Miles, who worked as a foreman on the farm, left the gelding in Ireland for further training with Scarteen Event Horse breeder Chris Ryan. Meeting the couple changed McKinley's policy. career.
“Gina had these aspirations, but her horse was never going to make it,” Schulz told the Chronicle in 2009. Are they like that? 'We said we'd keep them together as long as we could, but they could never stop. ”
But their first ride got off to an inauspicious start, with McKinley unbolting the moment Miles put his foot in the stirrup.
“Tom said to Chris, 'Hey, Gina's having a hard time riding this horse. What's going on?' And Chris was like, 'Oh, I'll just bet him,'” Miles said. recalled. “Chris Ryan is 6 feet 4 inches tall and I am 5 feet 3 inches tall.”
Miles worked in a round pen for months with a mounting block and enough patience to get on and off, rinse and repeat.
“It still didn't go away,” she said. “The first few horse shows I went to, I had to ride the horse inside the stall, and people would pull me out of the stall if I couldn't ride the horse. He gave it to me. The horse went wild.”
A natural horse trainer finally solved the problem. They noticed that McKinley was nervous when he disappeared into a blind spot and spent the weekend desensitizing him. After that, Miles was able to ride the gelding from anywhere.
the making of mckinley
McKinley's natural talent may have tempted Miles to compete and level up, but under the tutelage of Brian Sabo, she spent their first year together establishing the right foundation. kept him at training level.
“By the time they get to intermediate or advanced, they’re very confident,” Miles said. “They know what they're doing, and now you're trying to tell them new information. But they don't absorb it as much as they would if they did it when they were younger.” I won’t.”
Miles still applies that lesson today, encouraging others to make sure they have all the tools they need first, rather than trying to fill in the gaps later.
“[Sabo] He kept us there until he felt McKinley really understood the fundamentals. It worked. “Because the next year he played in prelims all year long,” she said. “Then he moved up the ranks very quickly because we spent time at that lower level.”
This gelding needed some work on his flatwork, but was a gifted cross-country athlete regardless of his obstacles.
“He took his time and analyzed it and tried to understand everything,” Miles said. “He was a genius in terms of understanding what was in front of him. He just saw it and went there and did it. He understood all the difficult things quickly. It was amazing. [questions] All were new to the sport. Skinnies are becoming popular. The angles, the corners, everything was new, there was a new intensity on the track, and he grabbed it all. ”
By 2002, the pair competed in their first Rolex Kentucky three-day event, finishing 11th.th Earn an individual entry spot to the FEI World Equestrian Games (Spain). At that point, McKinley was still new to this level, and his preferred speed was 520 m/min, so when Miles dropped the whip at the sixth fence, she didn't want any more speed from him. I couldn't pull it out.
“Everything about that Jimmy [Wofford] Miles recalled. I told him that he dropped his whip when I went off course, and he was like, “That's what rubber bands are for.'' From then on, she rode with a rubber band wrapped around the handle of her whip.
The two finally qualified for the Olympics in 2008, after McKinley missed the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he required wind surgery, and the 2006 WEG because he suffered a pulmonary hemorrhage during the spring games. Near misses in 2004 and 2007, plus a breakout in dressage at the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil, gave Miles even more focus.
“[The excitement of making a team] It can really overshadow your focus: “I'm here to do a job.” I'm here to compete. I came here to give my best performance,” she said. “All of that really helped me be in the right frame of mind that I needed to be in 2008. And to trust my program and to get him to be at his best, to compete and to do what I needed to do.” I was able to stay calm and focused.'' In my training and all that. ”
silver medal moment
Upon arriving in Hong Kong, McKinley submitted a dressage of 39.9 inches and sat in 10th place.thAnd in cross country, his aptitude for the evolving sport came through. Although his teammate suffered a penalty on the winding course, a clear round with minimal time penalties moved him into fifth place.
“That track was winding and it was very difficult to get any time,” Miles said. “You would have thought a really fast, sharp, agile little horse would look good, and he was one of those horses.” [fastest].he wasn't of He was the fastest horse of the day, but he was about 5th or 6th fastest because he was very efficient and didn't have to spend a lot of time setting up. ”
After a tense moment when the horse was forced to undergo a final inspection before being allowed to compete in the second jog strip, the pair headed to the showjumping competition, where two error-free performances earned them an individual silver medal. Obtained.
The enormity of her accomplishment didn't hit Miles until she stood on the podium and saw the American flag go up.
“For me, it was a real sense of gratitude to everyone who helped me get there, because it's such a big village to be able to be there,” Miles said. It's not just the people who were with her in Hong Kong, it's everyone who attended clinics, held fundraisers and helped watch her children that brought about that silver medal moment. is.
“They felt as much a part of the team as they were a part of the success,” she said. “That part meant a lot to me. [So] A lot of people helped us get there and contributed to making sure we got there. [I was] I'm really grateful to all of those people. ”
The equestrian athletes were far removed from the Olympic team's experience, some 2,000 miles from the center of host city Beijing, so Miles remained in the Olympic Village after eventing, eating in the cafeteria and attending other events. I watched the game and cheered on the players. .
“My advice to anyone who has the chance to compete is to take your time, because it could be the only time in your life that you might qualify for the Olympics and do something like that,” she said. said. . “There’s definitely going to be another three-day event. I know it’s important to get home and take the other horses to the other three-day events, but I’m going to take a little break and do this one. It's worth it just to soak in the moment and actually be present. This is what you've been working on your whole life. Take a moment, be present, and soak in it.”
McKinley retired after the Olympics and lived the rest of his life with his owner in California. He passed away in 2020 at the age of 26.
The medals Miles won with geldings became one of her best-traveled possessions. She brought this book to all her lectures and clinics over the next few years for others to enjoy. She shared it so much that her mother worried that she was too cavalier with the medal and allowed others to keep it or wear it. Did.
“She was always so worried that I would lose it, but I still have it,” Miles said. “It's still in its little pouch and I can always carry it with me. In fact, one of my friends made me a beautiful little case. I have a little case that I can put back in my cloak.”
“I love the little ribbons wrapped around it,” she added. “You can tell it's been loved, not kept in a glass case. It's been shared. People love to see it, touch it, wear it. We want people to experience it. We want people to understand and share it with people.”
