December 11, 2022 
Emma Marlowe came to the desert for one purpose: Major League Show Jumping.
But her former trainer had other plans.
David Bustillos and Pam Stewart brought out Marlowe’s former equitation horse, Citadel, fondly known as “Chandler,” and gave Marlowe the ride for old times’ sake, entering them in the $15,000 Pro Equitation Challenge at Desert International Horse Park.
Marlowe and Chandler had an incredible equitation career together, but that was seven years ago, when Marlowe was still a junior. They won WCE Finals, took top ribbons in all the California equitation finals, placed in the top 20 at Maclay Finals, and also competed in the other prestigious equitation finals on the East Coast, before going their separate ways.
“Honestly, I was laughing,” Marlowe, age 24, said of her reaction when the horse’s owner, Stewart, told her she was going to compete in the class aboard Chandler.
“I hadn’t seen an equitation jump in seven years. I was so nervous about it and I’m not a nervous person at all. I had just jumped the 1.40m and I wasn’t nervous at all, but I walked over to the eq ring and I thought, ‘I don’t know how to do this!’”
She spent the week prior reuniting with her former equitation partner and reliving their glory days. She jumped the now semi-retired 17-year-old gelding in a few 1.10m jumper classes, and thought that would be it until the team told her to get her equitation gear ready.
“It was like riding a bike,” Marlowe said of getting back on Chandler after seven years. “I swear he remembered it was me. We both had so much fun. I know him so well even seven years later, and he knew me. We’re just soulmates so it was crazy to travel back in time in that moment.”
The class featured professionals of top caliber, including ASPCA Maclay Finals winner and CSI5* grand prix winner Lillie Keenan, professional hunter champion Nick Haness, junior equitation phenom turned professional Jake Endicott, and many more. The competition was steep, but Marlowe was game for the challenge.
First, they jumped a hunter style course one by one, receiving a score. Marlowe took a few jumps to remember her equitation background, but still earned a respectable score of 81. The second round featured more jumper elements, where she really shone. Her score of 89 secured her a spot in the work-off, where the top four athletes, Marlowe, Keenan, Haness, and Nicole Bourgeois, swapped horses and jumped a short course.
Marlowe’s work-off propelled her into second place, behind Haness, who ultimately took the win.
Though she just missed out on the win, the class for Marlowe was all about fun. “It was so great to get everyone back together,” she said of her team back in California as a junior rider. “Leslie Steele, who I was a working student for, came and helped as well. She was a big part of the training with him when I was a junior. Leslie, David, and Pam all helped out and it was a real flashback to seven years ago.”
Marlowe also took a top placing the following day in the $40,000 CSI2* Grand Prix at Desert Horse Park, jumping double clear and proving the profound effect her equitation had on her jumper career.
“I grew up only doing the equitation,” said the now five-star show jumper. “It was my foundation for everything. The equitation teaches you so much and, even at the five-star level, the bigger jumper courses are all basically equitation courses over much bigger jumps.”
For now, Chandler’s career as a show pony is over, but Marlowe hasn’t ruled out bringing him back for redemption in this class later down the road.
“He’s an amazing horse and even at this age—I did a lot on him when he was quite young—he still feels like he could win a final tomorrow,” she said.
The day was full circle for Marlowe, as she remembered the day as a junior rider she looked up to the big show jumpers competing in Thermal. A few things have changed: she now jumps the big jumps and the property has undergone serious improvements.
“The facility is top class now; they’ve done a fantastic job,” Marlowe concluded. “It’s really nice to come back and support the West Coast. To come back and do this class was a lot of fun because I love to give young riders hope that you can do both the equitation and high-level jumpers. That was really fun for me.”
DIHP is bringing the pros back to the equitation ring for the $25,000 Barnstyle Pro Equitation Classic during week six of the 2023 Desert Circuit, so Marlowe has her eye on a win in that class. Until then, she will keep on jumping the big jumps for the big bucks.
