Reed says emotional goodbye to ‘best horse’ she’s had

Bo Reed, the Team SA flagbearer at the opening ceremony, came close to earning a medal at the Youth Olympics here on Friday but it was the equestrian equivalent of football’s penalty shoot-out, or golf’s sudden death play-off, which cruelly put paid to her hopes.

The 17-year-old had gone into Friday’s final at the Equestrian Centre as one of the medal favourites. On Thursday, in the second of the qualifying rounds, she had topped the leaderboard on her horse Carrera De Groom, clearing the 120cm jumps without any penalties.

In the final she again put together a flawless round, in 711.81sec, which was the fourth fastest of all. In total, 12 riders had no penalties over the raised 125cm obstacles and that dozen were thrown into a jump off to decide the medals.

There, the dream ended for Reed as she knocked down one pole for four faults and covered the circuit in 42.23sec, which left her eighth on the final leaderboard.

This did not seem to be what bothered her the most. For Reed, the biggest loss of the Youth Olympics is that of her relationship with her “adopted” horse, Carrera De Groom.

Reed had randomly drawn her horse and from the jump, she clicked with the 14-year-old mare. After finishing her final round, Reed had tears in her eyes about the special bond she built with the young mare.

“She is a very special horse who many people did not give a chance to early on but she was so eager to learn and I think her status has flown up after these performances. It is going to be very difficult to say goodbye. She is the best horse I have ever had and I have fallen in love with her.”

After exiting the ring for the final time, Reed embraced the bay (colour) mare with both arms and said, “I want to bring you home with me.”

The emotional young rider walked her horse to the stables for the final time and on return to the arena, Reed struggled to remain stoic.

“I cannot believe we have to part ways and never see each other again. I have never ridden a better horse and I have not connected with a horse like this before. She is amazing.”

The 17-year-old from Lanseria began to choke up, “sorry … I don’t mean to cry. This has been an incredible week and I am so happy and so lucky to have had this time with her. I am really going to miss her.”

Reed’s time in Dakar has come to an end as she prepares to fly home on Saturday. She leaves behind her equine companion, who will live in a special place in her heart for the rest of her career.