Emotions run high at the top of any sport, but when a huge part of your success depends on the partnership you foster with 1,000-plus pound living, breathing animal made up of genuine horsepower all while navigating the three intense phases of eventing, the mental and emotional commitment takes on whole new meaning.

And unless you’re very lucky, it is almost impossible to reach the top of this sport without sacrifice. Grueling preparation, blood, sweat, tears, inevitable loss and unwavering perseverance are the name of the eventing game.

From redemption and lifelong dreams reimagined to young up-and-coming eventers packed with potential, every athlete has her own unique reason for seeking five-star status. We talked to the six first-time five-star riders at the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event to learn about the special bonds they share with their equine athletes and their personal journeys in pursuing elite eventing status.

Arden Wildasin (USA)

• Age: 32
• Eventing partner: 18-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Sunday Times (“Mumbles”)
• Homebase: Aiken, South Carolina
• FEI Starts: 168
• FEI Wins: 5
• Fun fact: She never wears a watch on cross country and instead relies on feel to measure her time.

Even behind her sunglasses, Arden Wildasin was beaming after she and Sunday Times—her eventing partner of 10 years—completed their first CCI5*-L at this year’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. When she discovered Mumbles through a sale in Ireland as an 8-year-old, Wildasin was impressed by his confident nature on cross country and took a chance on the gray gelding. Their partnership has been a decade in the making, but the now five-star eventer noted that growing together from the ground up allowed the pair to develop a solid and trusting foundation.

“It’s been a lifelong journey I’ve been working toward. I truly didn’t know if I was going to be a five-star rider or not. I knew we had a lot of homework to do together to prepare, but he is one unbelievable horse, especially at 18,” she said. “This weekend was such a win for us. We just kept checking all the boxes, so no matter what happened in the end, I felt like we accomplished an incredible goal. I’m so thankful for Mumbles. He will always be in my barn.”

Leading up to Kentucky, Wildasin was keenly focused on ramping up Mumbles’ fitness and over time his strength and endurance have improved for all three phases. “He’s kind of like my younger brother and definitely has his quirks,” she laughed. “And even though he’s gotten stronger, I still have to be very sensitive with him. I can’t micro-manage him, but I can’t just say, ‘Go at your free will.’ So, we’ve found a fine balance.”

Wildasin says dressage has always been the most challenging phase for the gelding, but the pair executed one of their best-ever tests at Kentucky this year, and even though they ran into a few mistakes and learning opportunities on cross country, she was thrilled that they completed Derek di Grazia’s tough five-star track. She also noted that Mumbles naturally has a more collected stride, which sometimes presents challenges in show jumping.

“With his tighter stride, he kind of pings around the arena instead of having that nice, more flowing 12-foot canter stride. So we felt a little out of control in the jumping, but it was a good learning experience because I have to get used to that longer length of stride for the bigger jumps,” she said. “But he just kept on jumping and was like, ‘Sure, Mom, I got this.’ So I told him to just keep on believing in himself, and I would follow his lead.”

Over the course of her long journey making it to the five-star level, Wildasin has learned to seek out every learning opportunity and to simply view mistakes as the stepping stones to success. And for fellow eventers who are striving to work their way up through the levels, she advises embracing your doubts and frustrations.

“Those moments actually allow you to grow. They sharpen your weaker areas—and you’d be surprised that those weaker areas can sometimes become your strengths,” she said. “And be vocal so everything’s not just bottled up in your head. There’s a real community out there available to help and bounce ideas off of. There’s not just one cookie cutter way of doing things for every horse. It takes a collective approach, and knowledge is the most unbelievable key you can have.”

Cassie Sanger (USA)

• Age: 20
• Eventing partner: 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood (KWPN) gelding Redfield Fyre (“Yogi”)
• Homebase: Ocala, Florida
• FEI Starts: 50
• FEI Wins: 3
• Fun fact: Sanger was the youngest competitor in this year’s Kentucky CCI5*-L and started her partnership with Yogi when she was only 15.

Young up-and-coming eventer Cassie Sanger, who remained calm and collected over the grueling event, at last emerged emotional after completing her first CCI5*-L with Redfield Fyre following show jumping at this year’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event.

“I feel like I’ve learned so much this week about myself, my horse and the sport in general. It takes so much to get here and is always such a work in progress, but to be here among the best riders in the world is just unbelievable,” she said. “I was watching Michael Jung schooling in the dressage warm-up and you can learn so much just from watching him and the other top riders. I tried to soak up all the experience I could.”

Sanger and Yogi have been partners for five years now, after she purchased the gelding from Caroline Pamukcu when she was only 15. The pair started their eventing career at the Novice level and worked their way up through the ranks. “We’ve really grown up together. He’s like a sibling to me and has been an incredible partner,” she said. “I always believed he could be my five-star horse. He’s been amazing since I’ve had him, and it’s been a wonderful journey together to get here. And it’s unbelievable to be here with a horse I know so well inside and out.”

Having the mental and emotional tenacity to produce a horse from the ground up at such a young age has undoubtedly proven the scope of Sanger’s talent and potential. After this first experience, she notes this is the way she wants to continue producing her future eventing horses. “I’ve loved getting to know Yogi through every single level and new experience,” she said. “I think that’s really key to building such a strong partnership.”

Going into Kentucky, Sanger decided to only do one prep run with Yogi because he’s naturally a cross-country machine and she laughs that he can be a tricky ride and is quite emotional. “You have to keep him happy. After advancing to the four-star level last year, I’ve focused on finding a training and fitness routine that works best for him,” Sanger, who works with notable eventing coach Leslie Law, noted. “I typically do shorter rides twice a day because he doesn’t have a lot of gas in the tank to drill the flatwork too much. So, I ask for about 15 minutes of his time, and we’re good on that.”

Sanger, who’s currently a full-time student studying journalism at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, is also a recent recipient of the Wilton Fair Fund grant and will be heading overseas to England where she’ll be based with top British eventer Rosalind “Ros” Canter. “There are a lot of moving parts right now,” she laughed. “I’m just trying to take it one step at a time.”

In offering advice to others looking to make their way up through the levels, Sanger noted the importance of having a solid support team and coaches that you trust. “You need people who are going to be there to pick you up when you’re down and who will support you through thick and thin,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you have the best horse. We never thought Yogi would be here and he’s here now. Just never give up and never doubt.”

Mary Bess Davis (USA)

• Age: 46
• Eventing partner: 11-year-old AES gelding Imperio Magic (“McColl”)
• Homebase: Mansfield, Georgia
• FEI Starts: 39
• Fun facts: Davis started her equestrian career in vaulting competition and returned to the eventing Advanced level in 2022 after taking a 10-year hiatus from the sport.

Mary Bess Davis knew Imperio Magic had five-star potential when the gelding was only 7 with barely a year of competition experience under his belt after the pair won the 2021 Young Horse National Championship at the U.S. Equestrian Federation CCI3*-L Eventing National Championships at Fair Hill, Maryland.

“On that first track at Fair Hill, my plan was to pull up if he felt overwhelmed at any time because this was his start and it was a hard track,” Davis remembered. “But he went out there and tagged it. I knew he something really special when we finished that day. It was so hard, but he loved it and it seemed easy for him.”

During their four-star debut at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, in the fall of 2022, the pair finished in fourth and took second at their second four-star a month later at The Event at TerraNova in Myakka City, Florida. After their rapid-fire success, Davis began to realize her long-held dream of competing in the CCI5*-L at the Kentucky Three-Day Event just might come to fruition.

From the onset of his still young eventing career, Davis says McColl seemed to have a sixth sense for understanding the sport and despite how difficult it is to get a horse to this level, she’s grateful for the lessons he’s taught her and the broader education she’s gained along the way.

“I’ve always wanted to do five-star, but I’d been disappointed so many times before, I’d just never set my sights on it,” she said. “I didn’t even know if would be possible, but I wanted to try. And when I got McColl, I was just relaxed about it and thought what’s going to be will be. In hindsight, it’s incredible how things all fell into place.”

After falling off a young horse and breaking her back in 2008 followed by both her advanced horses suffering significant injuries, Davis took a 10-year break from the sport to start a family and noted how challenging her five-star journey has been. “You have to be so tough and resilient to get to this level,” she said. “And you simply have to embrace the journey, with all of its ups and downs.”

To keep McColl happy and his training routine well-rounded, his groom Courtney Lucas takes the gelding for a hack a couple times a week. Davis said dressage is definitely the more challenging phase for him, but after devoting many training hours to improving his flatwork, their dressage scores have steadily improved.

“For dressage, we really focus on relaxation and trying to get him stronger,” she said. “But most importantly, we try to just enjoy each other. He’s quite quirky, but he’s a huge pet, and we all adore him. And he really loves Courtney.”

After completing their first CCI5*-L track at Kentucky this year, Davis continues to be awed by McColl’s talent and future potential as a five-star powerhouse. “I was smiling the whole way around, because he was just so on top of it,” she said. “He was just radar-focused and was listening and trying so hard out there for me.”

Shannon Lilley (USA)

• Age: 46
• Eventing partner: 11-year-old Selle Français gelding Eindhoven Garette (“Garrett”)
• Homebase: West Chester, Pennsylvania
• FEI Starts: 76
• FEI Wins: 3
• Fun fact: Garrett is also known as “Gare Bear” around the barn due to his Care-Bear resemblance.

Shannon Lilley’s longtime goal of competing in the CCI5*-L at Kentucky has been in the making for more than a decade. And—at least for now—the fact that she and Eindhoven Garette completed this year’s five-star competition still seems surreal. “I can’t believe it’s not a dream anymore,” she said. “It’s even weird to say out loud.”

The upper-level eventer woke up one morning in February 2012—not long after she’d helped win a team gold at the 2011 Pan American Games—without any feeling from the waist down. Doctors at the hospital informed Lilley that the L5 disc in her lower back had ruptured crushing the nerves toward the base of her spinal column and emergency surgery was crucial. Since she was only 32 at the time, the surgeon opted to forgo fusing her vertebrae with hopes that scar tissue would stabilize her spine without sacrificing range of motion.

This major speed bump in her career created a lot of uncertainty for Lilley, and she admits that her Kentucky aspirations seemed all but hopeless at this life juncture. Her surgeon didn’t believe she would ride again—a thought Lilley couldn’t fully grasp at the time—so her immediate focus shifted toward quality of life and recovery.

After months of physical therapy and working with a functional strength coach, she slowly regained more nerve function, which was key to helping her rebuild and retrain her muscles. “I do this sport because I love the horses so much,” Lilley said. “And I didn’t want my life without them, so I just kept on going.”

In true horsewoman fashion, Lilley was horseback again seven months after surgery, but continued to struggle with her balance and overwhelming nausea in the saddle. With time, however, she regained strength and mobility, and these issues resolved.

As she worked to rebuild her eventing career, she found the perfect confidence-boosting partner in Greenfort Carnival, who helped Lilley return to the Advanced level while they competed together from 2016 through 2020. “It took a long time, but he was horse who helped me prove to myself that I could do it again,” she said.

Lilley met her future five-star mount Eindhoven Garette in 2020 after relocating her business to the East Coast from California. With more consistent training and maturity, the gelding’s potential started to blossom and prior to Kentucky, the pair successfully completed two CCI4*-L events at Morven Park in Virginia and at Bromont in Quebec, Canada.

“He has so much heart. I’ve never had a horse who tries harder. He loves his work. And as long as I ask the right questions, he always answers,” she said. “And he’s such fantastic jumper and always knows where his feet are.”

Lilley also noted that it was additionally special to make her five-star debut at Kentucky. “Everyone dreams of riding at the Kentucky Horse Park as kids,” she laughed. “Kentucky is our home five-star, and it was incredible to be able to ride here.”

Brooke Burchianti (USA)

• Age: 26
• Eventing partner: 12-year-old KWPN gelding Cooley Space Grey (“Astro”)
• Homebase: Washington, Pennsylvania
• FEI Starts: 25
• Fun fact: Burchianti’s first eventing partner was a 28-year-old Welsh pony named Roxy, who helped the budding 8-year-old eventer navigate her first unrecognized starter event.

Even after Brooke Burchianti and Cooley Space Grey finished show jumping at Kentucky, she admitted that it hadn’t sunk in yet that she can now call herself a five-star rider. “It’s incredible. And I’m just so happy for Astro,” she said. “He’s such a special boy and deserves this just as much as I do for sure and probably more. I’m so proud of him.”

While you wouldn’t know it from her cool demeanor when she and Astro are tearing up the cross-country track, Burchianti suffers from crippling pre-competition nerves. And tackling her first five-star at the Kentucky Horse Park only amplified her normal anxiety. A few days before heading to Lexington, Burchianti wandered out to Astro’s pasture to clear her head and focus on the task at hand.

“I was looking up at the sky and thought I could just really use a sign that everything was going to be OK,” she remembered. “I looked down and this four-leaf clover was right in there in front of me.”

Like many eventers, Burchianti maintains her fair share of superstitions before any big competition. So she scooped up the lucky charm and kept it with her throughout the event, even displaying it on her medical arm band during cross country. “I know it’s silly and people think it doesn’t do anything,” she laughed. “But for me, it seems to help my mental stability and keep me focused.”

Burchianti—who grew up riding with her mom, three-star event rider Karen Burchianti—found Astro in Ireland as a 6-year-old and noted that he wasn’t the easiest horse to produce to the five-star level. In the beginning, he was spooky and an overall difficult ride, but there was something about him that told her to keep on going. The key to their partnership turned out to be developing trust over time. “You can’t convince or bully him into doing anything,” she said. “And once I earned his trust, I felt like things really began to click for us.”

She said Astro far exceeded her expectations over the grueling Kentucky cross-country five-star track. “Anywhere he needed to be clever, he was,” she said. “It was a long, hard course, but he tried so hard and gave it his all.”

To get Astro in peak physical condition going into Kentucky, Burchianti utilized the hills surrounding her homebase in western Pennsylvania. “We did a lot hill work including trot sets and gallops uphill. That really helped get him fit for this level of competition,” she said. “And I think it helped, especially on cross country. He was a little tired, but he still had plenty of gas in the tank.”

For show-jumping preparation, Burchianti incorporates work with placement poles before fences and practices going for longer distances to encourage Astro to keep his stride more open. “That really paid off in the jumping because he was so forward in covering the distances,” she said. “But he’s always been a very gifted jumper and is extremely careful.”

In offering advice to fellow eventers who suffer from pre-competition jitters, she suggests focusing on one thing at a time in that single moment, starting in the warm-up ring. “Even when I was insanely nervous getting ready in the tack room, I just took it one step at a time. I put on my vest. Then, I put on my helmet and kept telling myself I could do all these easy, little tasks,” Burchianti said. “Then, on cross country, I just focused on the first fence. Once we got that done, I was like, ‘OK, let’s keep on going from here and see what happens.’ If you look at it terms of just checking one little box at a time, it makes the big picture not so overwhelming.”

Lucienne Bellissimo (GBR)

• Age: 41
• Eventing partner: 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Dyri
• Homebase: South Carolina and Florida
• FEI Starts: 170
• FEI Wins: 6
• Fun fact: Her Kentucky CCI5*-L debut has been 20 years in the making after two near career-ending injuries.

Lucienne Bellissimo admitted that she experienced an overwhelming moment when she and her team were packing up the trailer to head to Lexington just a few weeks ago. An avalanche of “what ifs” flooded her focus—from fears that she and Dyri might be off their game any given day of the grueling competition that spanned over four days to self-doubts and worrying that her gelding might cut himself in the trailer en route to their five-star debut. But her vast experience and the inevitable wisdom she’s gained over the past two decades she’s been working toward this goal prevailed.

“It’s really emotional because it’s taken me 20 years to get here,” she said. “You have to be happy and grateful every time you get to an event, but coming to the Kentucky five-star and being here with these top riders who have so much combined experience and the amazing atmosphere and overflowing positive energy—you never know when you might get a second chance at that.”

Bellissimo and Dyri, who was imported from Germany as an 8-year-old, partnered after Germany’s Dirk Schrade brought the gelding up through the two-star level. She says he’s incredibly athletic but can also be spooky and mentally fragile and would sometimes just shut down on cross country.

“It’s taken time, but he’s such a nice horse to work with. He has really natural elastic paces and just a beautiful way of going about him,” she noted.  “And he’s just gotten better and better in all the phases. It’s on me to keep producing him well. And it has to be about patience with him. I try to be very aware of that. He’s the kind of horse you cannot rush.”

Like so many riders who make it the five-star level, Bellissimo has endured her own laundry list of hardships and setbacks. She was wheelchair-bound for year after sustaining a riding accident in 2013 that shattered her foot and ankle and forced her to sell a number of horses. In 2018, a car accident in England left her with 28 broken bones and punctures in both lungs. While the recovery was long and brutal, Bellissimo wasn’t accustomed to taking the easy road. She’s learned how to withstand the ups and downs by focusing on how much joy horses and the sport bring her.

Especially in the sport of eventing, injuries tend to be a matter of when not if, but Bellissimo advises her fellow eventers to trust in their steadfast dreams in times of doubt. “Set your heart on your goals and be ambitious about it every day. Continue looking at your personal roadmap—not anyone else’s—and never let doctors, trainers or anyone else say you can’t get there in sport, business or life in general,” she said. “If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get there.”

Bellissimo, who unfortunately retired on cross country after several refusals, noted that this year’s run at Kentucky wasn’t about chasing the win. It was about making it a positive and educational experience for both she and Dyri. “Getting to a five star was everything I’ve wanted in this sport,” she said. “So this weekend wasn’t about putting on the pressure. I see this as just the beginning hopefully, and I’m happy that Dyri is fit and confident and happy.”

For more of our coverage on this year’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, click here.

Thanks to Kent Nutrition Group and Blue Seal for our coverage of the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. It includes lead-up events, rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more.