A Girl and Her Horses: Michelle Spadone

Before the buzzer even sounded, before they headed for fence 1, it was apparent that the chestnut mare Tembla and her rider, Michelle Spadone had the same expression. They both looked around the course like being out there on course was the greatest thing in the world, the best possible way to spend a Sunday, and they knew they were about to have a blast.

It was only as they jumped the fence nearest to me that I realized how big Tembla actually was. Not only tall at 17.2 h, she is a big-bodied mare while Spadone is more ballerina: tiny, impossibly skinny on a small frame. For a split second I contemplated the possibility that Spadone was an unlikely match for the big, strong mare, but as “Tilley” set her eye on the next jump, ears pricked, thrilled to be doing her job, and I saw exactly what I imagine Spadone saw in her four years ago.

Spadone has had Tembla (by Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve), now 9, since she was five years old, when she bought her from Paul and Emile Hendrix in The Netherlands. “She’s really special,” Spadone says. “Everything is coming together right now.”

Spadone and Tembla jumping at Thermal 2013. Photo ©Dr. Piper Klemm

It was probably the hottest day of the Thermal circuit, over 100 degrees, when we sat down to chat. Michelle returned to the barn after finishing up a ride on a medium pony that she didn’t even look big on. Even in the weather that was hot enough to make anyone ill tempered, she was totally relaxed, laughing, and talking about how her horses are great and everyone around her is great. Her grit, tenacity and determination as a rider is perpetually cloaked in an infectious positivity.

She seems younger than 29 because she is always smiling and is so refreshingly happy. And she has every reason to be smiling; she has an enviable string of successful horses, clients, and was recently engaged to a fellow horse lover. 

Spadone grew up riding in Kennett Square, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Showing all up and down the east coast, she progressed from the pony hunters to the junior hunters and equitation in her teenage years before focusing on jumpers at age 16. The first horse she owned was R Mable KZ, a mare that she bought at age 6 and took from the low junior jumpers to international classes in Europe. 

“I had her throughout my amateur career,” Spadone remembers. “She was champion at mostly all of the indoor shows in the amateur jumpers and she was my Young Riders Gold and Silver Medal horse in 2002 and 2003.” When Spadone toured Europe on the Nations Cup Team in the summer of 2009, Mable was her speed horse. Spadone only recently retired her at age 17.

For the Nations Cup Team in 2009 and at three World Cup Finals, the 1994 Dutch Warmblood mare Melisimo (Libero H x Hertogin) was her main horse. “Millie” has had such an impact on Spadone’s career that she named Tembla “Tillie” around the barn, hoping to keep the magic alive. Spadone says that it is definitely exciting to to compete for the United States. “It is nice having a goal and working toward it. You set your goal in the beginning of the year and it is a special feeling to have a horse that is good enough to jump at that level. And it is just special in itself to have that partnership and relationship with your horse. That is the most important thing, having a good relationship with your horse.”

Spadone has represented the USA at the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals. Photo via Michelle Spadone

Currently based out of Rancho Santa Fe, California, Spadone enjoys being a transplant to the West Coast. “It is definitely a completely different atmosphere. The feeling on the East Coast is more intense, people out here are more laid back. The first couple years I was out here, I had to work to relax! Back East we are used to people running around, yelling ‘heads up’ and out here, it’s more easygoing. Originally I came out [to California] to get points for the World Cup Finals. I loved California and I flew back east and I would just keep coming back because I loved the feeling out here.”

Spadone will always be on the road from, Florida to Calgary and all the spots between in her continuing quest to represent the United States, but she is happy to call California her home. She has 11 horses in training at a private farm: half are jumpers that Spadone and her clients show and the other half are sale horses. Her buying partner is Juan Carlos Perez at Deluxe International, who sends her high quality jumpers to show and sell. Spadone’s other personal horses, owned by Morgan Hill Partners, include another grand prix horse, Coco, and several up-and-comers, including a really nice 8-year-old, Amazing V. 

Spadone has been a professional for several years now. She has an MBA and after school she decided to become a professional to accept sponsorships. Better, she had riders wanting to train with her. “The only difference that I notice is that it is nice to bring a young horse up when you have your amateur status because there are more options and classes you can show in,” she says. “As a professional, you are limited to 1.30, 1.35m type classes. As an amateur, you can show in the low amateurs or the high amateurs and it is nice to have those options.”

When I ask Spadone about achieving huge successes in the show ring, she turns it right back to exceptional care and stabling as the true aspects of success. 

“The key is to work hard every single day and even if you think you’re working hard enough, you have to work harder and be persistent,” she says. “You have to live the sport. You have to be in the barn everyday. It’s not just about the riding, it’s about all of the other elements that add to the finished product. You need to know your horse, you need to know what his legs look like, you need to know how to take care of him, you need to know every aspect. Even though at some point you don’t think it will directly relate to your results in the ring, one day, it all will.”