Aboard All In, her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, she finished the 2013 season at the top of the North American small tour, winning the Prix St. George and Intermediare 1 at both Saugerties CDIs, placing second at Dressage at Devon in the Prix St. George and Intermediare 1, and earning the team bronze at the Dressage Nations Cup in Wellington. A former Equine Canada Athlete of the Month and selected as the only equestrian athlete representative on CIBC Team Next, she is poised to make the Pan Am team and has her sights set on the 2016 Olympic Games.
Brittany began riding at the age of five and at 13 started training with Ruth Koch and Albrecht Heidemann. It was a partnership that led her from ponies to the North American Junior & Young Rider Championships. Now 25, she trains with Ashley Holzer in New York, having made the move from the east coast in 2012.”’Ruth and Albrecht always kept me focused and motivated, but I think to really be competitive in the sport of dressage you have to show at the big competitions,” Brittany explains of her move. “Ashley has been a huge influence on my career; she is an amazing rider and trainer. Each day I learn more and I am so happy to have the opportunity to train with her.”
It was a leap of faith that brought Brittany and her “horse of a lifetime” together in 2010. Her mount at the time, Tolando, had injured himself and she and her father decided to attend the Equine Elite Auction held annually in Weert, The Netherlands – aided by Elite Auction part-owner Diederik Wigmans and her friend Chris Von Martels, who had both been instrumental in her purchase of Tolando. “I was really looking for a deal,” she explains. “Horses might go for a lot of money at the auction and they might not – you just never know. I really didn’t want to get my hopes up, because we had a budget and I knew how auctions go. We went with the intention of just seeing what kind of deal we could find.”
The horses were available to view online and were vetted prior to Fraser arriving for her first trial rides. “I tried a lot of horses at the auction, but I can tell within a few minutes if the horse is for me or not,” she recalls. “Also, a lot of people are there trying the horses and for their well-being you want to keep the trials short. All In [Tango x Damiro] was one of my top two choices; I just had a really good gut feeling about him.”
“When it was his turn on the auction block, it was so nerve-wracking! The price just kept going up; finally my dad said, “okay, we have to stop.” My gut told me one more. The auctioneer said, “Sold!” and the lights shone down on our table. It was a great feeling; everyone was cheering and hugging.”
Despite the nerves surrounding her first auction, Fraser called it “a truly amazing experience.” Arriving home with the uncertainty of a new partnership and high expectations was the next step. “It meant that I needed to start at the bottom,” she explains. “I started showing him first level and worked my way up. It required a lot of patience and hard work, but it paid off. This was a huge leap of faith for me; I didn’t know “Allan” was going to be the horse he is today. I knew he was a talented horse, but you never know with the young ones. He is truly my partner and I can’t wait to see what the future brings.”
