When we announced the winner of our competition to attend the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at Sydney International Horse Trials, it would not have surprised us if someone in the indoor arena at SIEC had jumped up and shouted ‘It’s me! I’ve won!’ as so many of the Australian eventing fraternity were present
Rose Read draws the prize at Sydney
However, the name was not a familiar one that Sydney Event Director drew out of our Alltech bag, so we duly emailed the winner and announced it on the website. A few days went by and still no word – did this person not want to go to Normandy? Finally, an email came back, and little by little the story of our winner, Cynthia (Cindy) Lawler, unfolded
It turns out that Cindy was at Rolex Kentucky for the week and had decided not look at her work or personal email for that time because it was horse time! On Wednesday she headed back to work where 500 work emails and 300 personal emails awaited her and when she saw our email she could hardly believe it but yes, our winner was indeed Cindy Lawler from Illinois, USA. We really are an international website!
Cindy at this year's Rolex Kentucky
We’ve since spoken to Cindy and, as we often find in this sport, there is an interesting story around their eventing life. This is what she told us
“I have been an eventing fan rider and groom for many years! I started eventing through pony club around 1978 when my mom had horses and we rode together for the first while then she groomed for me. Mom went to watch the 1978 World Championships without me and when she came home she told me that she never wanted me to event so by the end of that summer I was eventing! She had never told me that I couldn't do something before so of course that is what I wanted to do. I had bugged mom so much for not taking me to the 1978 Championships that in 1982 she gave me a trip to the 1982 World Championships in Germany as a high school graduation gift
I got a 10 week working student position straight out of high school through the US pony club which gave me a chance to see eventing out east in New Jersey - that got me even more excited about eventing. The women I worked for had a clinic at the US Team Head Quarters and we spent a weekend at this beautiful location - the barn was featured in the movie "Arthur" and it was stunning
When I came back from Germany in 1982 I was several weeks late for starting school so, instead of going off to college, I moved into the largest barn in the Chicago land area, Lamplight Equestrian Center and became a working student. I specifically groomed for the jumping and eventing rider but had lessons with the four other dressage riders too. I groomed there on and off for the next several years and, as Lisa Anderson who I groomed for, evented all summer and did jumpers all winter, that is what I did with my horse too.
In 1984 and 1985 I groomed at Rolex Kentucky and in ‘85 Lisa won the Preliminary Division on Neron. I got a groom’s award - it was so exciting as it was my 21st birthday weekend and my parents were there. I was suppose to ride but had the worst event prep as I had fallen off my horse so rerouted him to an event later that summer
In the winter of 1985 Lisa became a rider in residence at the United States Equestrian Team in South Hamilton, Massachusetts (Jack Le Goff was still the person in charge and Captain Mark Phillips was coming over giving clinics etc). I followed her out east and found a job that allowed me to groom for her at shows, working at a famous barn called Ledyard for another Illinois rider who was eventing out east.
In 1984 I went to the LA Olympics and it was amazing! Mark Todd in particular was stunning and I loved his horse! Several weeks after the Olympics I was at a big event in the US at the time, Chesterland held on Bruce Davidson’s farm, when Lisa was riding her dressage test and up came Mark Todd, Bruce Davidson and Jack Le Goff and they started evaluating Lisa’s test. I thought I would pass out - I couldn't believe I was that close to three amazing horseman!
In 1988 I stopped working for Lisa and went to work at Moat House in England to get my British Horse Society BHS -AI certification. Having done that I found a job at a dressage yard for experience and I went to Badminton that year as a spectator – it was amazing. I returned to the States to go to university for the next couple of years and I taught riding in a beautiful camp in the summers in Vermont
In 1993 I came back to Illinois and started working at a Therapeutic Riding Center where I got my teaching certifications in both cognitive and physical disabilities and in 1996 I got a chance to be a groom at the Paralympics in Atlanta - that was the best!
In 1996 my step sister died in a plane crash; her children were three and five years old at the time and then her husband died in a car crash in 1999 when my nephews were seven and nine. My parents adopted the boys, I changed careers and the boys became my focus for the next 12 years or so
Then in 2010 I got a DSLR camera and started to really enjoy taking pictures so my mom suggested we go back to Rolex Kentucky. I fell in love with photographing horses and seeing the sport through my lens and that was the first time I was back at Rolex since grooming there in 1985
Today I follow a lot of riders but two of my favourites are Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton; in 2011 the person that takes care of Boyd’s website asked me to send some photos and I have been watching and rooting for him ever since and if you watch Boyd you have to watch Phillip Dutton too - what a great horseman.
Two other riders I follow are Jennie Brannigan (the woman I went to work for in 1982 in New Jersey is an owner of horses that Jennie rides) and Meghan O'Donaghue (the daughter of my university riding team coach)”
Funnily enough, when Cindy sent me this story she also sent me a collage of photos from Rolex this year – including our own Libby Law being snapped (see below)!
We’re now working with Cindy to organise the winning trip to Normandy from Illinois. As Cindy had already purchased a US package tour to the Alltech World Equestrian Games to see the ParaEquestrian and Eventing she is giving the trip to her sister and niece who will now join her there so there are now three very excited people!
