Whitefish woman beats Olympic gold medalist

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

It all came down to two riders. One of them was a national hero who had just brought home an Olympic gold medal from Beijing. The other was an unknown 24-year-old American girl from Whitefish. If there can be a David versus Goliath story in equestrian show-jumping, this was about as close as it gets.

Bryna Closson and her Irish sport-horse Rip Tide competed in the 1.4-meter class show-jumping competition at the Masters Tournament Equestrian Show Jumping event at Spruce Meadows Stables in Calgary, Alberta, from Sept. 3-7.

Fifty other riders competed in the 1.4-meter division, but only two remained after the first round. Closson and Rip Tide would have to face Eric Lamaze, a Canadian gold-medal winner who had the hopes of the country resting on him.

"The next part is called a jump-off," Closson explained. "It's a shortened course, and the goal is to jump a certain number of rails in the shortest possible time. During the competition, we're traveling at about 400 meters per minute, which is fairly fast for a horse."

Closson had to go first in the jump-off. More than 60,000 people attended the event at Spruce Meadow, so she had a huge crowd to watch her perform on the professionally-designed course.

"Everyone in Calgary turns up," she said.

She and Rip Tide only hit one rail, so she had four faults. Lamaze, up next, only had to jump a clean round and win it.

"He left two rails down, so Rip Tide won that class," she said. "I took $6,200 in that class. You get a red ribbon for first place."

Closson said the Masters Tournament is ranked the No. 1 show-jumping competition in the world, and it has the most prize money of any show. Horses from Europe and the Olympics were flown in to compete. Although Closson wasn't competing in the elite international level, she was happy with the results.

"It's probably my biggest win so far," she said. "Rip Tide has had a really good season. He came in third in a $50,000 Grand Prix in Vancouver in August, and I won another 1.4-meter at Spruce Meadow in March."

Canada didn't have a particularly dominant overall showing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Closson said, Lamaze was quite celebrated in his homeland as he brought home one of the few gold medals for his country. For her to beat him out must have been quite a shock to the huge crowds of Canadians watching their hero.

"It was the first time in 40 years that Canada has medaled in an equestrian event," she said.

So the question is, does Closson have her sights on the 2012 Olympics in London?

"Everybody in this sport wants to go to the Olympics," she said. "I would love to see how far I could go in this sport, but it's a lot of money. More realistically, I would like to continue to compete at an international level. I would love to ride with the U.S. team."

Closson said getting her horse to perform at a high level has been a gradual process.

"Rip Tide was a very difficult horse when I got him," she said. "I ended up in the emergency room with a bad head injury. It's a dangerous sport, but everyone has taken a fall. It doesn't happen that often."

Closson now runs her own horse-training business out of Larkspur Farm, between Whitefish and Kalispell.

"We take on people who want to do show jumping," she said. "I teach lessons to people as well. It's what I always wanted to do."

Closson said she hopes to take her show-jumping career as far as she can. She is hoping to go to California in November for the World Cup qualifiers, and she will go to a clinic in December taught by U.S. team coach George Morris.

Closson makes sure to emphasize the importance of her horses when talking about her achievements.

"The horses are the real athletes," she said. "You have to condition them. Some people are amazed at what these so-called 'dumb farm animals' can do. This sport is unique because it's all about that rapport between the horse and the rider. You have two personalities. It's really intriguing and fascinating. You are tuned into them, and they are tuned in to what you are doing. It's amazing what you can do with these animals. It's amazing how finely tuned you can get their bodies."