Competition Horse America

Horse International

INDEPENDENT WOMAN

Michelle Gibson, Atlanta heroine and once America’s dressage darling, has spent the last five years moving on from the days of Peron and the bitter disappointment of losing him, to a better place where she is in control of her own destiny. She talks to Nancy Jaffer.

Michelle and her own World of Dreams with which she has high hopes.

AFTER Michelle Gibson finished the 1996 Olympics as the highest-placed American dressage competitor, she simply dropped off the international radar screen. The 33-year-old rider from Georgia who had been a sensation in her discipline did not reappear in the FEI ranks until this year. Almost immediately, she started winning at Prix St. Georges and lntermediaire I on her own mount, World of Dreams. The chestnut stallion’s nickname is “Indy,” and the reason for that is found in the story of Michelle’s heartbreak after the Atlanta Games.

Indy is short for “Independent,” which is what Michelle is now. She learned a lesson about controlling her own destiny after losing the ride on Peron, the Trakehner stallion on whom she was fifth at the Atlanta Games, where she came close to a medal. When she and Peron s owners split as the Olympics drew to a close, Michelle was left horseless. Peron eventually went to be Europe to be sold, tragically dying of an allergic reaction in 1999. It took more than a year for Michelle to put the pain of parting with Peron behind her. “You wonder, “Why am I in this, and what am I doing?’’ she recalled. “I don’t think it was ever a question about whether I would stay in the business; it was more about what level I would be involved in. I’ve been through hell and back again, but now life is good.” After the 1996 Olympics, she took two months off to vacation with her family at the beach in Charleston South Carolina. Michelle then spent a year in Germany, the place where she had trained with Peron and established her credentials. She returned home, however, because she “felt I needed to be somewhere I had a strong support group, and my family is that support group.” That includes older sisters Maxann and her husband, Archie, as well as Leia and her husband, Dan, who named their daughter Madison Michelle after Michelle. “They made their own personal sacrifices to support me,’’ said Michelle, who is grateful that her father, Marshall, and mother, Marie, are always there for her. “It doesn’t matter whether I win or lose. They love me, and that’s what family’s about,” said Michelle. Friends Brad and Laura Thatcher who own Applewood Farm, where she is based, put on fundraisers for Michelle prior to the Olympics and they sponsored the stall where Peron lived there before he went to Germany. When they offered to let Michelle use the farm for her business, she took them up on it. Her home is now a cottage on the Thatchers’ property in Alpharetta, Georgia. “It’s far enough away from the barn that everyone’s afraid to knock on my door,” she said with a grin, “but it’s close enough so that I can be there in two minutes.” Getting back into the business, she said, “My base, to have students that are doing well, and I’ve succeeded in that.” The best part is that Michelle doesn’t have to worry about World of Dreams’ future and whether she’ll lose him since he belongs to her. The assertive Hannoverian by World Cup out of a Cardinale mare was bred and raised by Adolf Eck in Germany. “I feel like I’m just getting to know Indy, but yes, we re definitely on track,” said Michelle. Her personable nine-year-old dark chestnut, who stands 16.2 hands high, has been scoring over 73 per cent. That’s nice, but the numbers aren’t what really count with Michelle. “It’s not so much about the score,” she observed, “it’s about the personal satisfaction.”

That’s a commodity she lived without for years. Michelle bought Indy in July 2001 after a horse-hunting trip to Germany. She asked her former mentor, trainer Rudolf Zeilinger, if he knew of anything she’d like. “I have one horse who might be interesting to you,” Zeilinger said, and it turned out to be much more than that. “He was the one,” said Michelle of Indy. She and her mount will go back to Germany in May for two months of training with Zeilinger as they strive to reach their potential together. She’s hoping to move up to Grand Prix in the fall, with an eye on the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “I wanted a horse that has the possibility to go on. If he’s good enough for the Olympics and we’re good enough for the team, that’s great,” Michelle said. But she has enough mileage to be a realist and focus on the immediate future before really concentrating on the Games. "First things first,” she said. “lye got to get back in the ring.” She admitted to being a little apprehensive about returning to the FEI level. “I guess the nerves never really go away,” she mused. “But it’s fun, I’m enjoying it. He’s such a nice horse; he’s a pleasure but also a challenge for me to figure out. He’s all those things that motivate me.” Indy also is very easy to get along with. “I adore him. He is so sweet. He’s easy to handle,” she said fondly. Though it’s harder to make the team for a championship these days than it was when Michelle had Peron, there’s a plus side to that as well. “It’s more competitive, hut I feel it’s a much tighter group of people, a more supportive group of people,” she said. “I have been so surprised at how supportive all of the other riders and professionals have been about me having a new horse. Everybody has been so great,” she said. Michelle is now in a position to give back to the sport. “I spent so much of my time before just working that I was never involved in this part of the equation,” she explained. Now she serves on USA Equestrian’s dressage committee, and just joined the organization’s board of directors. “I have a lot of experience, and I’m not afraid to stand up and say what I think,” she said of her involvement. “I feel like the riders are working more together and we’re saying, "these are the things we need”’ to make medals happen. Sailing along on an even keel with her work, her horse and he family, Michelle is determined not to let an Olympic goal dominate her life as it once did. “I don’t want to do this at all costs,” she said. “When it gets to the point that I’m not happy and it’s not a positive experience, I won’t do it. It’s not worth it.” In the meantime, she said, “I’d like to think I’m a good coach, a supportive trainer and a good friend. I’m happy with who I am and what’s going on in my life. I’ve accepted everything that’s happened and moved on.”