My horse, “Rivet,” was featured in 2016 on EquestrianCoach.com (http://equestriancoachblog.com/), a website created by Bernie Traurig, who famously reached the top of the sport in all 3 of the International Equestrian Olympic disciplines: Show Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing. His educational website opens the door to a wealth of knowledge provided by some of the best riders, coaches, and industry professionals in the world. It has a library of hundreds of instructional videos and continues to amass topics every month. The core instruction on the site follows the principles of the American Hunter/Jumper Forward Riding System and will benefit those in any jumping discipline at any level. Additionally, it provides information from Dressage, Eventing, and Western Reining Olympians and World Champions, as well as from top veterinarians, farriers, judges, course designers, sports psychologists, and other accomplished equestrian specialists. I am honored to be included on this wonderful website and want to thank Jennie Carleton for writing the article and Bernie Traurig for his dedication to the betterment of the sport worldwide.
Anna Jane White-Mullin & Rivet: Horsemanship and the Heart of a Thoroughbred
Anna Jane White-Mullin jumping the last jump at 1971 Maclay Finals. Photo by Budd.
There are great riders and great horses, but there’s a certain magic that happens when just the right combination is paired together. Anna Jane White-Mullin and her Thoroughbred horse, “Rivet,” are an excellent example of such a partnership. Their story is one of hard work, horsemanship, and the heart of a thoroughbred.
While most of the top junior riders competing in the equitation classes today have mounts specifically dedicated for that purpose, that was not the case decades ago. Riders often had one horse to show, and that horse would typically perform “double duty,” ridden in both the hunter and equitation classes, and sometimes in the jumpers as well. Rivet was no exception. Anna White-Mullin was kind enough to share her story with me so that I might share it with others. The following is her account of how she and Rivet came to be:
Anna & Rivet Riding Without Stirrups at Ox Ridge in 1971.
“Later that day, he had to be measured before we could compete in the junior division, and the steward said he measured as a Large Junior Hunter. I tacked him up and showed in my first hunter class at the Ox Ridge Horse Show and was lucky enough to win it. Afterwards, my coach, George Morris, said, ‘How did this horse get measured as a large? He couldn’t be a large!’ So we had Rivet measured again, and he came up as a small. I was then faced with the decision of whether to keep my points for the win in the Large Jr. Division and show as a large for the rest of the year, or to forfeit those points and show in the Small Jr. Division thereafter. I decided to keep the points and continued to show him as a Large Jr. Hunter for the rest of my time with him. After he was sold to Bradley Caine at Winter Place Farm in Maryland, he was measured again and shown as a Small Junior Hunter thereafter.
Anna & Rivet, 1971 Maclay Finals’ Presentation at the National Horse Show.
“Rivet turned out to be an interesting horse to show. He was easily spooked, so I had to longe him or give him a controlled gallop on the show grounds to work him down enough to score well in the early classes. He served as both my Equitation horse and Junior Hunter, and he usually came through for both.
Anna with her trainer, Ronnie Mutch, after winning the Maclay Final
“Rivet” on the cover of “The Chronicle Of The Horse,” Aug. 20, 1971
