Allison Springer: From local Pony Clubber to rising international equestrian star
Allison Springer doesn’t mess around. Not now, when she’s riding 1,200-pound animals toward solid fences 4 feet high and twice as wide. And not 28 years ago, when she was 5 years old and still committed to sucking her thumb. Back then, she didn’t know a hock from a hoof. But she wanted to. In what would soon become Allison’s passion – the demanding equestrian sport of three-day eventing – uncertainty is not an option. • • • Allison’s father saw the seeds of her passion for horses and seized on it to persuade her to stop sucking her thumb: “If you quit, there’s a pony in it for you,” he said. To Allison, what had seemed impossible now looked easy: If I set my mind to it, I bet I can do it, and if there is a pony involved, I’m certain I can do it! At the end of the day, there was Allison, not sucking her thumb, with one small white pony named Marshmallow – and two parents who wondered what one does with such a large pet.
So began the illustrious equestrian career of 5-year-old Allison Springer, a girl whose devoted parents purchased a $15 pony from a neighbor in order to get their daughter to quit a bad habit. Not only did it work, but it started Allison, now 33, down the road to international eventing success and a place on the U.S. Equestrian Team High Performance List. Marshmallow has been replaced by athletic Thoroughbreds, and Allison is now in training in Virginia with the U.S. Olympics Eventing Team, aiming for a place on the U.S. Olympic Team to compete either in Beijing in 2008 or London in 2012.
Allison grew up in Barrington Hills, the daughter of William and Carolyn Springer. Neither of her parents had ever owned a horse. Allison says, “When we got the pony, we were utterly clueless. We knew nothing about taking care of a pony or how to ride one.” Allison says that they literally did not know how to put a halter on the pony to lead it around. Then a neighbor who was involved in the Fox River Valley Pony Club stopped by, saw the halter randomly wrapped around Marshmallow’s head, and gently suggested that they might want to join the Pony Club, based in Barrington Hills. “Pony Club taught us everything, beginning with how to put on a halter,” Allison says.
Allison took lessons with the Pony Club, and she rode all over Barrington Hills and the forest preserve with her friends Britta Schmid, Angie Fairfield, and Tanya Tishler. “It’s amazing that we’re still alive!” Allison laughs. “We galloped all over the forest preserve, rode through the creeks, over the hills, and through the gullies. Britta and I got very good at jumping bareback, with two of us on one horse. We were fearless.”
As she got older, about 11 or so, Allison was introduced to the Fox River Valley Hunt through the Pony Club, and she began to fox hunt throughout Barrington Hills with the hunt. She took to hunting easily, since she was already comfortable with galloping and jumping cross-country. In fact, Allison credits both the Pony Club and the Fox River Valley Hunt with helping her develop her sense of rhythm and her strong leg and seat, all of which have contributed to her success in the sport of three-day eventing. In that sport, which is essentially a riding triathlon, horses and riders must complete three phases, including dressage (complex flatwork in an arena); cross-country (galloping and jumping large, fixed obstacles over miles of varied terrain without the horse evading or stopping at any jumps, and within the allotted time); and stadium jumping (jumping obstacles in an arena without knocking any down or incurring time faults).
Allison competed Marshmallow in local events, and she then moved up to a bigger pony, Bay Sugar, whom she also evented. In 1994, she was awarded a coveted place on the eventing team for Area IV (the Midwestern United States) at the North American Young Riders competition, which is a junior Olympic event for equestrians under the age of 21. Riding at the highest level of Young Rider competition offered, Allison brought home the gold along with her teammates. Allison then went to college at Bowdoin in Maine and continued her equestrian career after graduation. More than a decade later, she has grown in skill and prominence to be one of the top five event riders in the United States, according to the U.S. Eventing Association Web site, www.useventing.com, where she was ranked fourth as of press time among advanced riders, behind famed riders such as Olympians Karen O’Connor and Philip Dutton.
Allison has been named to the U.S. Equestrian Team High Performance list, and she trains with the U.S. Olympics Team and its coach, Captain Mark Phillips, in Virginia. Whether she will go to the Olympics this summer in Beijing remains to be seen; the list will not be available until closer to the games, and the determination is made based on not only the rider’s accomplishments, but the horse’s soundness and readiness for the intense pressures of the Olympics. Allison has two Olympic-caliber mounts, but acknowledges that Arthur (the horse she competed at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, the most challenging event in the United States), is young and inexperienced at that level of competition.
“Arthur looks very strong for the World Equestrian Games in 2010 and the Olympics in 2012,” Allison acknowledges, “but he was somewhat taken aback by the crowds at Rolex. He’d never seen anything like that. Still, I was very proud of him.” She hopes to raise the money to take Arthur to England this fall to compete at top international events such as Burghley or Blenheim, events which have hundreds of thousands of spectators and would give him more experience dealing with the noise, cameras, and bustle of crowds. Her other horse, Destination Known, is currently under consideration for this year’s Olympics, but Allison feels he is “a long shot.” She thinks she will be in a much stronger position in 2012 as both horses and their rider gain more international experience.
Ever grateful for the strong foundation she was given by the Fox River Valley Pony Club, Allison generously offered to donate several days of her limited time to conduct riding clinics for sponsors who gave $5,000 or more to the Pony Club Horse Trials, which were held in Barrington Hills June 20 to June 22. Allison was a guest host in the VIP tent at the Horse Trials, where the sponsors enjoyed fine wine, gourmet food, and expert ringside commentary on the action by Allison and top local riders.
Multiple sponsors gave $5,000 or $10,000 apiece, but in an equal show of generosity, several donated their clinic time to the Pony Club so that the children could learn from one of the very best in the sport. Allison enjoys teaching young riders and other rising stars what she’s learned in her years since she earned her “A” rating from Pony Club. “I love helping out Pony Club,” says Allison. “It was a huge benefit for me, and it’s one of the biggest reasons I was able to get my start in riding, along with the encouragement and support of my parents. They are my biggest fans, and they taught me the value of hard work to achieve your goals.”
Allison points out that while she has a thriving training business and works very long hours most days of the year, it costs $30,000 a year or more to maintain a horse at the highest levels of eventing competition, not to mention the cost of purchasing the horse. Allison coaches students at all levels and trains horses for their owners, but it is impossible for an upper-level rider to raise all the funds she needs, no matter how many 14-hour days she puts in. Allison will soon need to syndicate one of her horses, and she is currently seeking prospective owners who would like to own part of a world-class equine athlete. Interested sponsors can donate tax-deductible funds through the American Horse Trials Foundation or can contact Allison directly about sponsorship opportunities at www.allisonspringer.com.
If all of Allison’s hard work pays off, the Barrington area will be cheering on our own local star at the Olympics this summer in Beijing or the 2012 Olympics in London!
- - - - - - - -
Kristina Anderson lives in Barrington Hills and has contributed several stories to Quintessential Barrington.