When I was first invited by the USET to be a part of their 3-Day Event Winter Training List, I was thrilled with the opportunity to work with Captain Mark Phillips, Chef D'equippe of the US 3-Day Team. I was also overwhelmed by the prospect of training and competing with the brightest stars in 3-Day Eventing.

It was an honor to be able to compete three horses this spring at the advanced level: Backtalk, Poggio II, and My Beau, owned by the Mesher family of Seattle. With the inevitable ups and downs that accompany eventing at the top level, I was in for quite a surprise by season's end with the young Pogi leading the way over his two more experienced stablemates.

With a steady, if not yet spectacular performance in Ireland's Punchestown CCI* * Event, Pogi was named to the USET short list for the Pan American Games. After a short conversation with Captain Phillips, I knew my chances of actually getting to the Pan Am Games were quite slim. Still, I was excited to be able to take part in the training sessions held at Jacqueline Mars' Stonehall Farm in The Plains, Virginia and the three mandatory short list outings.

After two weeks of intensive work with Captain Phillips, Pogi finished 8th at the USET Festival of Champions and had a strong showing at Groton House Farms Advanced Horse Trials, which was modified for the Short List horses due to the hard footing. Another week of lessons preceded the final selection trial at Great Meadow in Virginia, where the modified course caused an unusual amount of trouble. Pogi performed consistently in all three phases to finish on his dressage score for the third time in the selection trials. After a Sunday morning vet exam, the list for the team, two individuals and two alternates was announced: David O'Connor, Kerry Millikin, Abigail Lufkin, Kim Vinoski, Lauren Hart, and Julie Black would travel to Winnipeg. Buck Davidson and I were named as alternates.

We spent two more long, hot weeks training with Captain Phillips; Buck and I weren't allowed to jump because Captain Phillips felt we were in serious need of dressage work. By the end of the second week, Buck and I went on strike and just showed up for our lesson with our jump saddles, forcing Captain Phillips to let us out of the "sand box" (his term for the dressage arena).

Unfortunately, Kim's and Julie's horses had minor injuries, and Buck and I were promoted to the individual slots. With only an hour to get ready, it was a mad dash to throw all our things into the horse vans, wrap our horses and send them on their way to Winnipeg under the care of the team grooms, vets, and manager, Eric Stauffer.

Buck and I spent the next five hours driving around Virginia looking for pink coats and white breeches, which neither of us had. After saying our good-byes to our new friends in Virginia, we gathered at the O'Connor's house at eight the next morning to fly from Dulles to Fargo, North Dakota. We were met by the U.S. Olympic Committee's antique Partridge family bus, which rattled along to Grand Forks at 50 mph in the 90-degree heat. Our destination was the Team Processing Center for the US athletes. The excitement built as we were escorted from station to station, receiving our official "kit", containing official clothes, uniforms, luggage and just about anything else a person could use at the Games.

Back on the road at eight the next morning, our destination was Bird's Hill Park in Winnipeg, where we were reunited with our horses, who all seemed to have traveled extremely well. After a short in-barn exam by the veterinary panel, our horses were released to their stalls, where they spent the next few minutes rolling and digging to claim ownership of their homes for the next 10 days.

Pogi, being his normal, irrepressible self, was absolutely wild the next day when we all attempted to do a bit of dressage. I couldn't tell whether it was the bird-sized mosquitoes or just his normal exuberance shining through. Fortunately, after a few days of going "back to the sand box" he settled, and to my surprise, was going better than he'd ever gone before.

Our team was honored to witness the inspiring performances of our dressage team, who claimed team and individual gold medals. We all agreed that we couldn't be outdone by them, and David O'Connor was told he wouldn't be allowed back in the barn if he didn't score a 60 or below. Fortunately David's listening skills matched his dressage performance on Giltedge, and he led the way with an unbelievable test to score exactly 60.

I was proud to put on my tailcoat with its newly-attached USET crest and Pogi looked equally patriotic with his USA saddlepad. Pogi's performance thrilled me. He was much more active and able to carry himself in a higher frame than ever before. The rest of the team performed equally as well, and we had a substantial lead over the Canadians by the end of the day.

With Captain Phillips' unique ability to find all the hidden traps on the cross country course, we were all able to start the speed and endurance day with the utmost confidence in our combined abilities to produce six clear rounds, and increase our lead in the team standings over the Canadians. On our initial inspection, the riders had unanimous praise for the job done by course designer Mike Etherington Smith. The course was beautifully built, with most of the obstacles at or near maximum dimensions, with the technical fences allowing alternative routes for the less experienced horses and riders.

The US Team more than lived up to expectations with six rounds that incurred no jumping penalties, three of which were inside the time. Pogi gave me his normal hair-raising ride on steeplechase, and almost dumped me when he spun while spooking at a rock near the end of Phase C. He was expertly attended to in the vet box by Jana Eaves, his groom, and by the entire USET crew. By the time we started cross-country, Pogi was all business and gave me the ride of a lifetime. We ended the day with no penalties added to our dressage score. I felt a tremendous amount of pride that Pogi was able to exceed all expectations set for him.

Monday morning arrived way too early, after our celebrations the night before. But the serious business of attending to the horses and readying them for the final horse inspection occupied most of the morning. Fortunately, all that was needed was a small amount of hand-walking to ease stiff muscles and ice to soothe stinging feet. Our six horses passed with flying colors and we eagerly anticipated the 2:00 PM start of show jumping.

Captain Phillips expertly walked us through the show jumping course, which consisted of 12 numbered fences with two combinations, for a total of 15 jumping efforts. The course, spread over a large grass arena, involved several changes of direction and very wide, square oxers that we knew would be difficult to negotiate cleanly on a tired horse.

Lauren produced the first clear round on Wexford. Moving up into fifth place individually, she helped to secure the team gold for the USA. Pogi's exuberance made it hard to believe that he had worked so hard the day before. He cleared each fence by at least a foot and became one of only two horses to finish on his dressage score (the other being Bermuda's Gold, ridden by M. J. Tumbridge of Bermuda, who won the individual gold). David O'Connor clinched the individual Silver Medal with a cool display of nerves and horsemanship; and Abigail Luftkin on Jacob Two Two secured the Bronze Medal, finishing two points ahead of Pogi and I.

I feel honored to have been selected to participate in the Pan Am Games. It was truly an experience of a lifetime, and with such a generous and courageous young horse, I hope I will have the opportunity to represent the USA in other international competitions. I am truly thankful for the hard work and dedication of all who worked behind the scenes to produce a gold medal for Team USA.