Alex Conrad and Malibu Preacher. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
“When I was a little kid, I was very close with my grandfather; he was a World War Two veteran,” Defender Kentucky CCI5* rookie Alex Conrad shared. “He gave me his dog tags when he passed away. At every major show, I wear his dog tags under my cross country vest, because I always think ‘they kept him safe when he was at war.’ And I [thought], ‘I bet they’ll keep me safe around this cross country course.’ He was the one that gave me the money to buy MP when we [got] him a long time ago, so it’s special.”
What better way to gallop around the Kentucky bluegrass than on a Thoroughbred, while wearing your grandfather’s treasured dog tags? Alex Conrad and Malibu Preacher might be 5* rookies, but they are no stranger to each other. With 60 events together, including a top 25 placing at the Cosequin® Lexington CCI4*-S in 2025, their long-time partnership is giving Alex confidence as they head into the best weekend all year.
“I’m excited, it’s been a long time coming,” Alex said. “I’ve had him since he was a young horse, so I feel really good about our partnership. I know him so well, and he knows me so well, that I feel really good going on a horse that I have such a good rapport with and have known for many years. It’s pretty special.”
Malibu Preacher (Malibu Moon x Preach It), a 14-year-old Thoroughbred also called “MP”, had trained for steeplechasing before he and Alex crossed paths in 2017 thanks to a connection from Anne Hambleton. They clicked instantly.
“MP raced a pretty significant amount, and it was a big part of his life as a young horse,” Alex reminisced. The gelding still remembers his racing days and tends to get a bit amped up when he hears the loudspeaker and is sensitive to the atmosphere of a big event. Alex spends a lot of time with him, hand grazing and hand walking around the venue, and does several short, light rides throughout the day.
Alex finds MP’s Thoroughbred blood to be key for the gelding’s fitness. “I know that at the end of the day, he can dig deep and fight,” he shared. “He naturally has years and years of fitness built into him. I can rest assured that even toward the end of the course, I’m still gonna have some gas left in the tank.”
Alex Conrad and #supergroom Antonio Rodriguez. Photo by Atalya Boytner Photography.
After a busy 2025 season, Alex gave MP a long vacation at the end of the year, putting him back into flatwork in mid-January to early-February. Based in Cochranville, PA at Windurra USA, home to Boyd and Silva Martin, Alex rides with the dynamic duo on a regular basis. He’s also taken to riding with Peter Wylde for show jumping for the past several years.
“It’s been very helpful having Boyd [there],” Alex shared. “He advises me on everything, from fitness to management, and it’s been great leading up to my first five-star to have such an experienced person guiding me and showing me the way. I definitely feel better about it after being able to talk with him and see how he gets ready. It’s been invaluable.”
MP and Alex competed at five events earlier this season as preparation for this debut, including Stable View Spring International and HT and Grand Prix Eventing at Bruce’s Field. Since MP is an excitable horse, Alex’s goal for the early season was to get him more relaxed, especially in dressage.
“I would withdraw after dressage or after show jumping,” he shared. “We didn’t really need the cross country runs, and I wanted to feel like I kept his body feeling as good as possible leading up to this. It was very important for him to have the exposure in the dressage ring.”
When Alex started riding at the age of eleven, he drew inspiration from his subscriptions to the US Eventing and Chronicle of the Horse magazines, and knew eventing at the top of the sport was what he wanted to do.
Alexander Conrad and Malibu Preacher. Photo by Joan Davis/Flatlandsfoto.
“Every year, I would watch the cross country day at Kentucky with Ann Getchell, who owns Groton House Farm in Hamilton, MA,” he fondly shared. “She would invite me up, and we’d have cheese and crackers in her kitchen and watch Kentucky cross country. I always wanted to do it, but it seemed like such a distant goal for a very long time. It’s really special to have it be on the radar this year and something that we’re really, really close to now.”
When I asked Alex what he’s most looking forward to about Kentucky, it wasn’t the cross country course or the famous bourbon chicken. “It’s the people that are doing this with me,” he said. “I have a really fantastic team in the barn of Antonio Rodriguez, Emma Jacobs, and Miguel Cruz who have been working so hard for me to get here.” He shared that his whole family is coming, as well as a few childhood friends; everybody who has watched and supported Alex over the past 15 years.
Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
“I’m really thankful to have this experience with all of them, and [I’ll] get to see them all in one place. It’s a cool celebration of many years of hard work, and I think that’s what I’m most excited for, to have this experience with everybody. It feels pretty special to me.”
Ahead of cross country day, Alex walks the course on his own several times, with headphones in, making his plan and thinking through the questions. He has a tradition of walking the last time with his dad.
“My dad’s not a horse person,” Alex said. “He’s been coming to shows for a long time now, and we’ll quietly walk the course together. He gets to see the course, and the moral support of having somebody next to you as you walk along, even if it’s just quiet, is really helpful.”
While he’ll have quite the ground support this weekend, Alex shared one last thought about his grandfather.
“I think he’d be pretty happy that we were doing this. I’ll have the [dog tags] on for the jogs, and I might just leave them on for the whole week.”
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