Braden Speck and BSF Liam. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Even the most devoted eventing fan can be forgiven for not being familiar with the name Braden Speck. The 2026 Defender Kentucky Three Day CCI5* first timer is an increasingly rare type of upper level competitor: an amateur young rider with one fine horse aiming to compete at the highest level of the sport.
Braden’s partnership with BSF Liam, his handsome grey Connemara-cross gelding (Ballywhim An Luan—Rumor Risky, Hawkster), seemingly occurred after a bit of kismet brought the two together. Braden grew up in eventing hub Kennett Square, PA with decidedly non-horsey parents. But older sister Kaelen found the sport and convinced seven-year-old Braden to give it a go. “Neither of my parents rode but my sister started riding and she eventually convinced me to try riding and I really liked it,” he says.
Braden joined Kaelen in Erin Kanara’s program with lessons and competitions up to Beginner Novice on Kaelen’s old pony, Rosenharley Romello, or ‘Weasel.’ After outgrowing Weasel he moved on to Regal Dancer, who was already a trusted member of Erin’s program, and the two progressed to the Preliminary level when Braden was in the eighth grade.
The next two years of Braden’s young life were marked by three losses that would test anyone’s faith. During a normal cross-country school at Boyd Martin’s Windurra Farm, Dancer collapsed from a ruptured aneurysm and passed away immediately. Braden stayed committed to riding and his family supported him by leasing another mare, Moondance, a couple of months later. She suffered a colic and was successfully treated at New Bolton but suffered a relapse soon after and had to be euthanized. Horses were firmly a part of Braden’s life and he didn’t want to give up so he then began to ride Kaelen’s horse, American Fortitude or ‘Wolf’. Braden and Wolf progressed well together until Wolf sliced his leg on a show jump cup while schooling at home. An expensive surgery on Wolf’s superficial digital flexor tendon plus extended stall rest offered a marginal possibility of recovery. The Speck family made the agonizing decision to euthanize Wolf since the outlook for a high quality of life for him was so low.
Tragically losing three horses in two years would be more than enough reason for most people to step back and move on to anything else that didn’t involve such a close connection to another living animal. But in 2019, the late Annie Goodwin reached out to Erin to let her know that she had the perfect horse for Braden. “We went down (to Aiken, SC) and I tried one or two other horses but pretty much as soon as I saw Liam, I knew I wanted him,” Braden recalled. “He is very special, he’s a big pony. He’s got a pony attitude and pony brain but very athletic. He’s got a switch that flips on for cross country. He can be a real nut but I love him to death.”
Braden Speck and BSF Liam. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Still recovering from losing his previous horses, Braden did not purchase 6-year-old Liam to be an upper-level prospect. “I just wanted something I could ride and have fun on. He had originally trained as a hunter and he was just like a cute fat pony.” This focus on personal, not competitive, success translated into a solid foundation and steady rise up the levels. Braden says, “We kept progressing. Liam didn’t really ever say no to anything. He just kept going and kept going and loves his job. He absolutely loves going cross country.”
As Braden’s partnership with Liam strengthened, he also began to shape his professional future. The medical profession runs deep in Braden’s family with his Mom being a doctor, his Dad a dentist, and his sister now in school to become a dentist. “I had always wanted to do be in a healing profession. Then the whole experience of losing three horses, watching the vets treat my horses and everything I learned through that made me want to go into vet med,” Braden explained. He graduated from University of Delaware pre-veterinary medicine and was accepted into University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine with classes starting this August. Braden is currently on a gap year to focus on his goal of competing at Defender Kentucky CCI5* and is also working part-time at New Bolton research labs in Kennett Square.
Braden Speck and BSF Liam. Photo by Sally Spickard.
With one eye on his future medical career, Braden continued to progress with Liam but without the personal pressure to move up the levels. He believes that his connection with Liam under Erin’s guidance is the secret to their success. “I think if Liam was in a more traditional professional program where they’re trying to get the horse up the levels faster that it wouldn’t work quite as well. I’m learning too and we’ve taken the time that we need to learn each level and then get confident at the level before moving up,” Braden continues, “We spent two years at Preliminary, then two years at Intermediate, and now two years at Advanced.”
Like many eventers, Braden always wanted to compete at the Defender Kentucky CCI5* but didn’t necessarily think it would ever happen. But after a solid performance at their first CCI3*-L at MARS Maryland 5 Star in 2022, he started to think that a CCI5* could be on the horizon. “At that point Liam was starting to come out of his shell and get more confident. He just walked around the cross country course at Maryland and I was like, ‘I think you might be ready for more in the future.’”
After that first CCI3*-L, Braden smartly did not rush the move to Advanced and instead spent another year at the Intermediate/CCI3* level, which helped give Liam more time to physically develop. “When we got him he was a bit short-strided, so it was a little bit more difficult for him to make the distances. That is part of the reason why we took our time at Preliminary and Intermediate to give him the time to get the strength for him to open his stride up a bit more. It’s really paid off because now he is insanely adjustable. We’ve been together for so long and he’s so smart and he knows exactly what’s happening.” In 2024 Braden and Liam moved up to Advanced and to date have never had a FEI cross country jumping penalty.
Braden Speck and BSF Liam. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Braden and Liam’s trajectory have not completely been without its challenges. At the start of the 2025 competitive season, Braden had a solid plan to earn the qualification needed so that he and Liam could attend the Defender Kentucky CCI5* in 2026. However in March, Liam hit his stifle jumping into water while the pair were competing in the Advanced class at The Event at Terranova in Myakka City, FL and needed surgery to repair his patella.
Liam’s surgery was successful but it meant that they would not be able to attend both the Defender Kentucky CCI4*-S and the Rebecca Farm CCI4*-L as planned. With the surgery behind them and Liam doing well in rehab (that Connemara pony fortitude certainly came in handy), Braden recalibrated his major goal before going to vet school from attending the Defender Kentucky CCI5* to competing at the US Equestrian Open at Morven Park CCI4*-L in Leesburg, VA, which they accomplished. “He came back super well. He felt great at Morven and after Morven so I decided it was worth making that shot to go for the five-star.”
Braden focused on solid, confidence building runs with Liam this year in the lead up to late April in Kentucky. With positive completions at Pine Top Horse Trials and Carolina CCI4*-S, Braden is set up to achieve his main goal of finishing his first CCI5*. He also has an eye on having a clean run around Kentucky’s blue grass. “My main goal is to get around, but if we can also complete with no jumping penalties around cross country I’ll be very, very happy.”
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