How to Make a Four-Star Mount for $1,000 or Less

Last spring, Leah Lang-Gluscic made headlines alongside her 10-year-old thoroughbred, AP Prime, during the pair’s debut at the 2015 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. It was the Cinderella story of the year: Lang-Gluscic, a Wharton Business School graduate who walked away from her job in finance to strike out on her own as a young eventing professional, and “AP”, the down-on-his-luck OTTB she found and purchased for $750 at an unaffiliated racetrack in Martinsville, Illinois.

Five years later, AP was competing as an Advanced horse ready to tackle Rolex Kentucky, one of the most challenging three-day events in the world. It was the kind of story that fuels the imaginations of horse crazy kids everywhere—of what can be possible if you just stick to your gut, work a bit harder, and see that special something in a horse’s eyes.

And then just like that, it was over. Lang-Gluscic and AP took an uncharacteristic tumble in the show jumping footing at a qualifying event at The Fork Horse Trials in Norwood, North Carolina. What seemed at first like minor bruising was soon diagnosed as a banged suspensory branch; the sort of niggling, soft tissue injury that walks the delicate line between wait-and-see and dream-killing. Though AP seemed to be on the mend and even competed in the Dressage at Rolex, a pre-planned ultrasound before cross-country brought Lang-Gluscic the news that she’d been dreading. The injury was inflamed, and though there was a chance AP could still pass inspection, veterinarian Christina Ober asked Leah a simple question: “He’s 10 and your horse of a lifetime, so do you want this four-star or dozens down the line?”

That choice, the hardest of all, was in the end, the easiest to make. She wouldn’t risk it. And now, a year later, with six painstakingly slow months of rehabilitation behind them, Leah Lang-Gluscic and AP Prime once again have their sights set on Kentucky.

So besides perseverance, just what does it take to make a $750 horse into a four-star eventer? We sat down with Lang-Gluscic to find out.

Look for the positive in every situation.

“It was kind of a blessing in disguise that he got to re-set his body a little bit,” says Lang-Gluscic regarding AP’s time off this winter. “He gets flexed and checked out by Doctor [Jill] Copenhagen every three to four weeks leading up to Kentucky. And she came out this month, and it was the first time in his entire life that he has flexed relatively negative all around. It’s just everything has really come together for him. I mean, he’s jumping like a frickin’ beast! I never thought 4’3 could look so small. He’s never felt better. So knock on wood, I’m really hopeful and excited.”

Find a horse who takes his job seriously.

“[AP] is an interesting character for sure. He’s very aloof—very much the strong, silent type. And he’s completely the king of the entire farm. Every horse there is there to be one of his minions! I’ve never really seen him get after a horse because they all respect him. He knows he’s special. The big thing about him, which is the same as any horse at this level with this job, is he really, really loves the cross-country part of his job.

His first Beginner Novice cross-country he came through the finish flags and he was so high on adrenaline. He jigged the entire way back to the stabling. And that was for Beginner Novice! Generally up until that part, he had had pretty good manners, but he had just found his calling a little bit.”

 

“When he came off of the Fair Hill CCI** and recovered quicker than the two horses that went ahead of him, I was like, ‘Wow. This is a four-star cross-country beast in the making.'”

 

Consider taking a chance on an OTTB.

“There needs to be a certain amount of expectations there, because I’ve gotten some thoroughbreds off the track and I was like, ‘This is going to be the next AP,’ and then it ends up, ‘Free to a Good Home.’ They’re not all going to turn out that way and you’ve got to be ready to find that needle in the haystack. But I think especially for how safe and amazing and wonderful a thoroughbred is on cross-country, and if your goals really are to go to three- or four-star, it’s so worth the risk.”

Be realistic about your budget. You may have to sacrifice clean legs (and have a sense of humor about it).

“If you have a budget of $30K for a four-year-old, are you going to go buy the thoroughbred with a crooked leg? Absolutely not,” says Lang-Gluscic, whose budget while shopping for AP was less than $2,000. And she’ll be the first one to admit AP’s X-rays are less than exemplary.

“Every time we take an X-ray it’s so horrifying what’s going on in there—it’s absolutely terrible,” she laughs. “Because honestly, I don’t know how he stays sound. I mean, his right foot is on crooked!”

Know the value of proper care and conditioning.

“I’ve always been very cautious with his preventative maintenance. Whatever he’s needed, he’s always had. Also, I don’t drill and drill and drill my horses. He never did real gallop sets until I was preparing for the Fair Hill CCI**.  When I ride him, especially on the flat, I’m always thinking of the wear and tear that it does on him. You know, I try to be conservative while best preparing ourselves and making sure that he’s ready to do the job.”

Keep your eyes peeled for signs of greatness.

“When he came off of the Fair Hill CCI** and recovered quicker than the two horses that went ahead of him, I was like, “Wow. This is a four-star cross-country beast in the making.’ There were little things along the way, though. After we had started jumping that first winter, I had the mounting block in the middle of the ring and there was one time on the flat that I was cantering a circle, and he pulled me to the mounting block and jumped it. I was like, ‘Well, I think he’s gonna like skinnies!’ And then, in June of that year, which was a few months later, I had his first cross country lesson, and I walked up to the ditch and he looked at it, processed, and hopped right across. So there’s just little moments like that along the way that kind of gave indications.”

 

“That’s all I want to do is just to go out and give him the best ride I can, and hopefully it comes together that weekend.”

Make weaknesses a part of your long game.

“Dressage is our weakest phase, obviously. But at home, the work and the quality of the work for him is really coming along so much. Last year I actually had Peter Gray ride him on the flat for a month. I mean, three to four times a week, and Peter would just ride him for those four weeks. That was a huge springboard to help me get past the plateau that I had gotten to with him, and then from there, it’s just been this snowballing effect of improvement on the flat.

He’s just so naturally gifted with the cross-country that it went so much faster than everything else. Now that we’re stuck at the highest level of the sport, everything else is finally coming along to catch up.”

Believe in your horse.

“Everyone that’s tied to [AP] has big hopes for him, because he’s becoming so, so capable of putting in three great phases. And that’s all I want to do is just to go out and give him the best ride I can, and hopefully it comes together that weekend. But if not, too, I expect him to finish respectfully, and it’s a great starting point—I mean, he’s so young! He’s 11, and it will come. If not this four-star, it will come in the future.”