Jimmy Elder and John Rumble, who were both part of the bronze medal Olympic Eventing Team at Stockholm in 1956, searched for two years for a horse they could develop into a competitive eventer. They had hoped he would be over 17 hands, which would suit John, as he is 6’2”; John would address the basic flatwork and Jimmy would see to the jumping.
Their friend Meg Harris was adamant they should go and see a barely-broken, 17.3-hand five-year-old (2003) named High Society 3E at Hugh Graham’s KingRidge Farms near King City, ON. High Society was a registered Canadian Sport Horse gelding, an embryo transplant out of a Thoroughbred mare and by Rio Bronco, who was by Hanoverian sire Rio Grande. The minute they saw him trot out, they both exclaimed, “That’s him!” John felt he needed a stronger name for eventing, so High Society became Foxwood High.
Jimmy’s grandson Chad took Woody up through the levels to Training before he had to leave to attend university. When John saw Selena and Colombo competing at Rolex Kentucky, he felt he might have found the perfect rider to develop “Woody” into a serious international contender. This was a hard call for John, who had a theory that Woody “needed a man” to ride him, but he decided to give a woman a test run for one winter to see how it went.
On the first of November, 2010, Foxwood High came to live with us at Balsam Hall in Kingston, ON. Woody stepped into a team place at age eight when he and Selena went to the 2011 Pan Ams in Guadalajara, Mexico, as a member of the Canadian Team ‒ and John and Judy Rumble had their international eventer.
Mr. Personality
Woody was a big, gangly horse with legs that went on forever and a sweet disposition. He was (and still is) a bit spooky, always looking out for anything he feels is different or shouldn’t be there. This can work for and against him: obviously, in the dressage, it makes him a little more complicated to ride, but it also makes him stay attentive in the jumping.
From the beginning, cross-country was his strong point. He liked jumping out of a big, open stride much better than collecting himself into a nice package in the stadium or dressage ring. His jumping was always a little farther on than his flatwork and we did a lot of work on the lunge and in the dressage arena to muscle him up and broaden his topline. When you look at him now, with muscles on his muscles, it’s hard to imagine that we worried about bulking him up!
Woody clicked right from the beginning with Selena in the saddle. He is a trusting boy and they completely bonded, with him ready to walk through fire for her by the time he came back from his first winter of competing in Ocala.
Our head girl, Anne-Marie Duarte, was his groom in Mexico in 2011, and their relationship has grown over time. In the beginning, he was a nightmare to ice after his gallops, but Anne-Marie soon had him standing calmly with both his front legs in a garbage bin full of ice, a normal skip bucket being too short for great long legs.
It’s exciting to have such a wonderful horse in the barn. Besides the Pan Ams, Woody has done innumerable three-stars, Rolex, and the World Equestrian Games in France. We are all hoping (in a perfect world) that he makes the team for Rio, then Badminton next year, and will still be in his prime at 15 to wave the Canadian flag at the 2018 WEG in Bromont.
