When Leslie Law, U.S. Development and Emerging Coach, tells you this is the horse for you, you listen.
Lexi Scovil did just that when Law found Chico’s Man VDF Z on a trip to Europe in 2017.
“I was working for Leslie at the time, and I had just sold my previous three-star horse,” she said. “He found Sprout [who] didn’t work for his other client, but he said, I think this is the horse for you. So I actually never even tried him. I bought him off the videos and Leslie’s recommendation.”
It wasn’t a match made in heaven from the get-go but Lexi found that it was absolutely the horse for her. She and Sprout formed a true partnership as they worked out each other’s edges.
“When push came to shove, he was always there for me. He’d give it a try if he could [but] if I put him in a position that was wrong, he’d say, nope, let’s not do that. Sometimes a horse that is not jumping through fire is actually what you need to give you confidence. He [was] going to take care of me. He’ll jump if it’s the right place and he’s not gonna jump if he thinks [that’s] gonna get us in trouble.”
Over the next five years, Lexi and Sprout worked their way up the levels all the way to the top where they completed the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2022 with one stop on the cross country and some time added to a rail and time in the show jumping.
Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
“To me, it was hugely exciting just to start. So, I put absolutely no pressure on the result. I didn’t care if he had a few stops or if he didn’t make the time. I think that it went so well because we both were going in to try to have a good jump around.”
After stepping back to do some lower levels to get the confidence going again after Kentucky, she aimed their partnership at the Maryland 5* in 2023. But from the first combination on course, she felt Sprout’s heart wasn’t in it. About halfway around the course, as he got more and more backed off by the speed, the questions, and the experience, she put her hand up to retire.
“It’s not fair to him to ask him to do something he’s not enjoying. He’s a very kind, genuine horse. It was at the point that I could run around Intermediate with one hand behind my back, eyes closed. We knew each other so well. Every time he went out of the start box at Intermediate, he was having a blast. But every time I went to be competitive at a four star, he was like, oh, I don’t know, this isn’t as much fun.”
Lexi ultimately came to the conclusion that Sprout didn’t share her goals for elite level eventing and finding him a rider more aligned with his strengths would be the best way to move forward.
Out to dinner with good friend Sara Kelson, head groom for 5* eventer and trainer Sara Kozumplik, she mentioned she was looking for a lease situation for Sprout.
“[Sara Kelson] sent a couple texts, and all of a sudden, Sara Kozumplik and Kelsey Seidel were at my door.”
Kelsey, a 2023-2024 USEA EA21 National Camp selected athlete, was looking for an upper level mount to teach her the ropes as her own mounts either rehabbed from surgery or learned the levels along with her.
“I actually was stabled across from Lexi at the [2024] spring Tryon FEI,” Kelsey commented. “I was picking her brain about [going overseas] and jokingly had been like, well, if you ever decide that Sprout doesn’t want to do this, I love him.”
When Sara Kelson texted about Lexi looking for Sprout’s new rider, Kelsey couldn’t have been more ready.
“We flew down to Ocala that next week and drove straight from the airport to the farm in riding clothes and everything. I hopped on and jumped him around a few fences. There’s a couple really fun videos of me where I’m just laughing and smiling the whole time, because I was just having the time of my life.”
It was pretty clear to everyone watching that Sprout and Kelsey were going to get on very well.
Kelsey Seidel and “Sprout” pick up a win in the U25 CCI1* at Maryland earlier this summer. Photo by Sara Kozumplik.
“You always have a little bit of nerves because he’s been my horse for seven years at that point, and I had done almost all of the riding on him. Very rarely did anybody else get on him,” Lexi recalled of that first ride. “Sara [Kozumplik] knew the horse a bit and I know her a little bit. She’s seen him go around for a few years and she thought it would be a good horse for Kelsey. They clicked from the beginning. Obviously there’s a little bit of a learning curve on both Sprout and Kelsey end’s, learning a different partner. But as soon as she jumped a couple jumps, I knew it was just right.”
Kelsey stepped back to Training level when Sprout first joined her. Lexi and Sara Kozumplik both stressed to her not to be hard on herself as she and Sprout learned each other’s ins and outs.
“I remember getting back from going back to my trailer [after the first] cross country, and Sara asked how was it? What is he like on course? I was like, if that’s how cross country is supposed to feel like, I’ve been doing it wrong, because that was the most fun I’ve ever had.”
Not everything went according to plan though. Moving up through the levels, Kelsey and Sprout parted ways at their first Prelim together.
“It was literally just a silly mistake trying to ride him like he was my other horse, and he reminded me that he’s, in fact, not. He rewards correct riding. It’s really forced me to think positively in all phases,” she laughingly recalled.
A win at the CCI1*-S and a confident Prelim round later, the pair proceeded to win their first CCI2*-S together at Bouckaert International in October and at the time of writing, are aimed at their first CCI2*-L at TerraNova.
Enjoying the spoils of success!
“It’s really been rewarding to see him go out and do exactly what I knew he would, which is to give her confidence and be pretty competitive at the same time,” Lexi remarked. “It’s so great to watch videos of the two of them together with his ears glued forward, and he’s looking like he’s having a great time.”
For Kelsey, the future is exciting. “We got him with the goal of CCI3* Young Riders next year. Of course, horses, not riders, move their timeline, but to have a win at the one star and now the two star level within the first six months of riding him feels like we’re moving in the correct direction.”
The word Bromont has even been thrown around a couple of times between Kelsey and Sara. “That’s a big track and a big ask, but it would be very exciting!” she said.
When asked how she feels about the decision to let Sprout out to a new rider, Lexi said: “It was a very easy decision for me to make, mostly because the horse was going to an excellent program. Everybody asks me if I’ve been sad to have him gone. Quite literally, in the five months he’s been gone, I think I’ve felt regret or sadness for maybe a minute total. I’m so proud of him and so happy for him. I’ve got all these people looking out for him, for me, and I know he is loved, appreciated, and cared for. That just makes it an easy decision. I’ve not second guessed it once. I know it’s the perfect place for him to be.”
