October, 2025. Mia Farley had just finished up the Maryland 5 Star, where she had seen another CCI5* podium finish slip from her grasp after a gutting show jumping round with the incredible Thoroughbred Phelps. It was the third consecutive time she’d had four rails down on Sunday at a CCI5*. It was enough to make anyone question themselves.
It made me quite sad, to be honest. I’ve known Mia since she was just a kid, kicking around Training level and still living in California. She’s always been a bright, positive person. But recently when I’d see her before show jumping — after the immediate elation of a clear, fast cross country on a once in a lifetime horse like Phelps had eased and she’d come down from the high — she wasn’t the same person. She’d make jokes, but underscoring them all was this presence of defeat. She didn’t look forward to Sundays. Over time, she found it harder and harder to believe in herself.
“I think that’s also my personality – I tell jokes to get out of things,” Mia told me. “But yeah, it sucks. It sucks when it happens over and over again. So as much as Phelps put my name out there — he was an amazing cross country horse and great dressage horse who taught me how to ride very detailed — in show jumping, I was just losing more and more confidence.”
Following that Maryland last year, where she’d also had tough jumping rounds with her two 3* horses, Mia needed to get away. She drove home overnight, and the next day, she dialed a number she never had before.
When the call picked up, Mia started crying. She’d dialed Peter Wylde — show jumping Olympic medalist turned pro coach, who’s worked wonders for the riders he’s helped and become a student of eventing himself at this stage in his career.
“I would really like some help,” she managed. And Peter, being Peter, was eager to help. “I was wondering when you would call,” he said warmly.
It was a big change for Mia, and something of a catalyst in itself.
Mia Farley and Invictus. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
For nearly a decade, since she left her home in southern California, Mia’s been a part of the O’Connor Event Team, coached by David O’Connor as well as Karen O’Connor (who also owns her 4*-L partner at Tryon International this weekend, Invictus). David and Karen have been a huge part of Mia’s life, and their quiet, consistent support have contributed directly to the success she’s had in the sport thus far.
“Honestly, part of the reason I was so mentally unstable after Maryland was because I was so worried about insulting the O’Connors by reaching out to someone else,” Mia said. “They’ve done so much for me. I didn’t want them to feel I was abandoning them.” She did call David first, before she talked with Peter, and she needn’t have worried. David and Karen both encouraged her and have supported her decision (and of course, David remains Mia’s primary coach still).
“I think that’s also been a big thing for me this year is the people around me — everyone working together. David and Karen have been so supportive for so long and now I have a base [of skill] and we can start adding things,” she said.
While it would not be accurate to attribute a big change or improvement solely to one thing, it’s not a secret that Peter Wylde’s work with riders like Boyd Martin and Jennie Brannigan has made a notable impact. For his part, David O’Connor’s quiet, diligent emphasis on repetition, simplicity and horsemanship is reflected strongly in Mia. And six months or so into Mia’s additional tutelage with Peter, it’s also not a stretch to say that his influence is already visible in her three clear show jumping rounds delivered today and yesterday at Tryon International — one of which netted her first CCI4*-L victory with Invictus. To be clear, Mia doesn’t always have show jumping struggles on paper, and she’s sat on good jumpers this weekend. For her, the victory was primarily mental.
Mia Farley and Invictus. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
It was also after that fateful Maryland 5 Star that Mia felt something else shifting within herself. “I really love having a light, happy barn,” she described. But she admits that sometimes, her general sense of amiability could hold her back. “This year, I feel like I’ve really paid attention to a lot of the details of our sport, and it’s made a big difference. I’ve kind of taken myself a little bit more seriously this year. I like to stay humble and realistic and stuff, but this year I was like, you know what? I need to start doing well, damn it.”
Invictus isn’t the first horse aside from Phelps that Mia has competed at this level — earlier on, she partnered with BGS Firecracker to finish second in the 4*-L at Fair Hill in 2019, for example — but in truth she doesn’t actually have a ton of mileage at this Long level. So, with that in mind, she admitted she was a bit nervous coming into the weekend, and she also knew she’d do a lot of learning.
It’s nice when you can enjoy a successful stopover on the never-ending road of education.
“I feel like my training with Peter is still a little bit new, where he’s working on me more than he is the horse,” she explained of what she put into practice this weekend. “With me, with every horse, it’s just bringing in more quiet. I think I might be physically quiet, but mentally I think had lost so much confidence. I think in my head I started getting really quick, and then kind of making the horses move a little bit too quick, and then going through the front rail or something. So it’s just been bringing that quietness back, and then just the relaxation and confidence — confidence on my part to give them confidence. And consistency — every time we jump, it’s just consistency, like competitive training.”
“Sammy’s” victory this week – confirmed today over Chris Barnard’s show jumping track with just one second of time added to her finishing score – stamps him as a true horse for the future who frankly only keeps improving (and is only 10, as an additional benefit). “I definitely learned that he has all the things to be a top horse,” she said. “I mean, I haven’t had many top horses, but he’s felt the best of the three so far. And I’ve been pretty lucky with Firecracker and Phelps. [Invictus is] a very classy, mature horse, and so I think — obviously staying realistic with him — I need to start thinking of him as a proper horse!”
Mia Farley and Invictus share the prizegiving with Maya Clarkson and Maks Mojo C. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
A proper horse indeed, and bred to do the job with WBFSH world-ranked #1 eventing stallion Diarado as the sire and the off-track Thoroughbred mare Sunset Paradise as the dam. Invictus was bred by Karen herself; she competed Sunset Paradise to the 1* level and retained her as a broodmare afterward. He’s got at least 75% Thoroughbred make-up in his DNA, and he’s really gone from strength to strength as his education continues with Mia, who’s produced him since he was a three-year-old. The 2027 Pan American Games may be a year away, but it’s not difficult to imagine Mia being a serious contender for a coveted Team USA spot.
As for Mia, she seems to be in a good space right now. We say often how much of a village it takes to even exist in this sport, and while we say it often, it shouldn’t lose its weight. “It’s such a good group of people,” Mia said. “In Kentucky, Liz [Halliday] has offered up her arena so Peter and I can go over there and jump the horses. Everyone works so well together. We have an amazing team at the barn. It’s a very inspirational thing, just the people —- I’m very inspired to be the best I can.”
Maya Clarkson’s Happy Send-off into (Somewhat Forced) Vacation
Maya Clarkson and Maks Mojo C. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Maya Clarkson hasn’t been riding with 100% health for a few months now, having torn her hip labrum last fall. Initially, she worked through the pain, but with the severity of this type of injury it got to the point where she eventually elected to schedule surgery to repair it.
That surgery is taking place tomorrow, actually.
The timing worked out well. She got her spring season done and had wanted to earn a 5* MER (Minimum Eligibility Requirement) at a spring 4*-L with Maks Mojo C. She also had a young horse, Redfield Pixar RFB, who needed a 2*-L to build off of (she finished on her dressage score in the top 12 of the 2*). So, she slotted the surgery in for this coming week, a slightly slower period — competition-wise — after a busy spring for every active rider that would allow both her and her horses to take a breather.
Luckily, Maya says she rides even better under pressure — not necessarily placing or score-influenced, but more internal or environmental — because that timing made this weekend all the more important, professionally. There are only a handful of 4*-L events in the U.S. and one in Canada each season, so there is a lot of inherent pressure for things to go at least acceptably well.
“Going in, I definitely put the pressure on myself to get the MER, especially with the surgery tomorrow and everything,” Maya said. “I was kind of like, ‘well, if I don’t get an MER, I guess I’ll postpone [the surgery] and go to Bromont’ — which wouldn’t be the right thing to do anyway, because I was a little broken today! It’s perfect [timing]. They’ll have vacation, which they both very well earned, and so will I, and then we’ll be back at it and crack on in the fall.”
Maya did more than just earn that MER, though — she retained her second place position despite one rail and a smidge of time today, finishing her first 4*-L in her sophomore effort on a score of 41.1.
Maya Clarkson and Maks Mojo C. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
“I know that both the horses are capable of the results that they achieved today, but I certainly was not expecting that coming into the weekend,” she laughed. “I was hoping — I was like, ‘just get through the weekend, have a good horse show.’ And it certainly was more than that. I’m just so excited — they’re awesome. They could not have been better, I don’t think.”
I asked Maya how her warm-up was used today, as I think it’s interesting to learn about how everyone uses the warm-up. Every horse is different, of course, but Maya takes a bit after her longtime coach Lauren Nicholson in that she’s a minimalist. She doesn’t typically jump school on a Sunday morning at a three-day, and in warm-up she doesn’t usually jump more than five fences, none of which are set at competition height.
“He’s one that I don’t jump that much, even at the Shorts and everything,” she elaborated. I got on him kind of early and flatted and stretched him around a little bit. I’ve definitely found what works for him. I basically jump a three-foot or meter-high oxer, and then I make the back rail four or five holes higher and wider. I’ll jump both of those once, and then I make it square, and I only jump maybe a 1.20 meters. So I don’t even actually jump to height, because I’ve just found he doesn’t need it. He actually jumps a little bit better if he’s just saving his jumps — he knows how high to jump. Then I jump a vertical, and I really mostly leave it at that. He knows how to jump. I could go in there and jump twenty fences to make myself feel better so that I’m perfect — but is that really going to change the result? Probably not. And then I’ve jumped 20 more fences he doesn’t need to jump. So why?”
“I want to ride well, and I want to do the right thing for my horses, and I want to get better,” she said of what she feels when she puts pressure on herself. Looking back on the weekend, she’s confident she accomplished all of the above.
And she’s looking forward to being pain-free. I asked if she was nervous about the surgery at all. “Honestly, I’m ready for the nap,” she laughed.
Arielle Aharoni’s Show Jumping Practice Pays Off
Arielle Aharoni and Cooley Baltic Sea. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Arielle Aharoni splits her time these days between eventing and show jumping. She’s got a couple of horses for each discipline, and her partner this weekend, Cooley Baltic Sea, has done a bit of Grand Prix jumping himself and frequently operates as her stand-in if one of her jumpers doesn’t feel quite ready for a class.
Today’s show jumping course designed by Great Britain’s Chris Barnard was a tough one. The sample size was, of course, on the smaller side with just ten horses to jump in the 4*-L, but it took until Arielle — third after cross country — to see a clear round inside the time. The final fence was actually the bogey of the day, its positioning after a triple combination and stature as a vertical added technicality that caught four riders out. The time allowed of 66 seconds was also influential, with just one other rider (Tamie Smith and Jump To Day D) managing to catch it.
Arielle describes herself as a typically quick show jumper, and she has a lot of belief in her horses to know how to the answer the questions. Adding to that, she says her extra show jumping practice has had a noticeable impact on her riding.
“A lot of it comes down to just posture and making sure I stay off that front rail, and making sure I have enough canter to make the width of these spreads,” Arielle described. “I think you need to have a gallop in the show jumping to get the width, but also keep those shoulders back to keep their heads up and shoulders up, to make sure they stay off that front rail. That was probably the first thing the jumpers picked on me about — ‘why are your shoulders so forward?’ And they’re like, ‘heads up, shoulders back, get that front end off the ground, and keep the canter!’ Stop balancing so much, because the turn balances them, and if you’re balancing and the turn is balancing, all of a sudden you have no canter and not a lot of choices. If you keep the gallop and keep them up, then when you get straight to the fence you can balance and still have enough canter to get over the fence. You have a lot of options that way.”
“I think it’s really great to cross-train the horses,” Arielle said of her hybrid program in which her event horses go to the jumper shows and her show jumpers go cross country schooling (and even compete themselves at schooling shows). I observed that it seems we’re in an era in which more and more pro riders are branching into the other disciplines — German Olympians Sandra Auffarth and Michael Jung just competed on a Nations Cup team last week, riders like Laine Ashker and Will Coleman compete in FEI Grand Prixs in dressage (Laine) and show jumping (Will), for just a few examples.
Arielle Aharoni and Cooley Baltic Sea compete at Live Oak International. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.
“Well, it helps you can win a little prize money more often,” Arielle laughed. “But my first love is eventing, so that will always stay. I think it’s beneficial, especially as eventers, to be able to go into each discipline — it helps us with the eventing, and I’m sure the eventing helps with the other sport too. I think we have to elevate our standards to go with the straight show jumpers or the straight dressage horses, and I think that helps in the long run. I think there’s a little less pressure going in —- like, this is not my main sport but I’m doing it anyway, so you have a lot of fun doing it and the horses still get a good education from it.”
In the 12-year-old Cooley Baltic Sea, Arielle now has a confirmed 4*-L horse, her first since her first 5* horse, Dutch Times. Originally competed by Great Britain’s Wills Oakden (and then sourced to Liz Halliday before eventually being sold to Arielle and Filly’s Hope LLC) and coming out of the same breeding family that put together the match for this weekend’s Badminton podium-finisher Annaghmore Valoner (Harry Meade), “Crunchy” has been an exciting horse for Arielle to make her way back up to the top levels with.
The cycle of every sport is typical — top horses come and go, and young horses ready to step up don’t always follow immediately on their heels — and Arielle has acknowledged throughout the weekend that it’s challenging to be away from that path to 5*.
“I definitely felt green coming back up the levels with this horse,” she said. “He’s definitely a different ride. It requires a bit more — he needs help from me a little bit more than Dutch [Times] did. Dutch was always in balance, found his own distances, knew when there was a combination. I was so spoiled with him! So it feels good to feel like I’m back.”
I had sort of figured that Arielle might have brought some of her jumpers to Tryon with her, as happening alongside this week was the Tryon Spring #2 hunter/jumper series. Eventers like Kentucky 5* champion Will Coleman (who was sixth in the $30,000 Tryon Grand Prix under the lights on Saturday with Comme Again HS) and Sharon White (who brought three of her eventers this weekend along with her 3*-L horse, Arden Augustus) were competing themselves. Arielle laughed.
“I actually didn’t know there was a jumper show too!”
Lisa Marie Fergusson and Ratheoin Quality Imp jump to 4th place for Canada. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Here’s a look at your final top 10 from the Tryon International CCI4*-L. Our next 4*-L in North America takes place at MARS Bromont June 4-7, so we’ll be back on the ground with you then. Entries for Bromont are still open and close on May 26, and you can find more information here.
Go Eventing!
Tryon International Three-Day Event (NC): [Website] [Scores] [Live Stream Replays]
