There’s a well-known saying, now a charming lyric in a newly released country song, that claims that “Good horses come home.”
At Paris Olympian Ashlee Bond’s farm, they also entertain the children.
One month after his win in the $1,000,000 MLSJ CSI5* Coachella Cup Grand Prix in early December, in fact, Donatello 141 is proving his “good horse” status in more ways than one.
On Monday, Bond posted a video of the 14-year-old Westphalian gelding safety carting her eight-year-old daughter, Scottie, around the field bareback—steered only by a halter and lead rope.
“Just ‘the Don’ and his child out and about,” the rider for Israel wrote on Instagram. “Love this horse soo much. [He] always knows to go into a different gear when Scottie’s been on him I’ve never been more trusting of an animal to take care of my baby girl! He’s truly 1 in a million.”
Indeed, Don—a two-time Olympian in his own right—is just that. In his eight years under her saddle, he’s become a very lucrative partner for Bond, who briefly considered retiring him last year. It’s a good thing she didn’t.
According to Jumpr Stats, among all 14-year-old horses in the last 365 days, Donatello 141 ranks fourth for prize money in 2024, bringing home €468,115 thanks in large part to that $1 million victory at Desert International Horse Park (DIHP), a 2nd place in the 1.55m grand prix qualifier at Tryon in October, and two 1.50m podium finishes in MLSJ competition at DIHP this December.
And while many people assume that the kind of athleticism required from “good” show jumping horses takes a certain, fire-breathing-dragon mentality à la Paul O’Shea’s (IRL) mount Squirt Gun (see below), or the pre- and post-round “exuberance” of Karl Cook’s (USA) Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet, that’s not always the case.
Eugenio Garza (MEX), for example, has said that his now-retired Olympic mount, Armani SL Z, would be the first horse he would put a little brother or sister on in his stable. And who could forget Harry de Leyer’s Snowman, the iconic, slaughter-bound-horse-cum-prized-family-pet who won show jumping’s triple crown in the 1950s?
Heck, even King Edward is down for a little Cyor Stables family time.
The fact is, top athletes come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities. And, at the end of the day, it’s often a hyper-driven personality in the ring combined with that rare brain for the job that determines a true champion—something Donatello certainly is.
“[Don’s] biggest strength is his mentality,” Bond told the FEI in 2023. “He knows when it’s important and he never ceases to amaze me with how he rises to each and every occasion.”
Including, it seems, the bareback ones.