COURTESY OF EQUISTYLE MAGAZINE (GERMANY) WITH L.A. POMEROY PHOTOS: MICHAEL GUETH/EQUISTYLE
MEREDITH MICHAELS-BEERB AUM Meredith was not yet 40 when she rewrote riding history as the first woman ever to reach the No. 1 position in the 2008 Rolex World Show Jumping rankings.
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he would hold that ranking for 11 consecutive months, lifting the daughter of director Richard Michaels and actor Kristina Hansen to the equestrian equivalent of movie-star status. Photogenic and fearless, she dispelled presumptions about gender and ability with each new victory gallop and went on to become
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the first woman to win three (2005, 2008, 2009) world cup finals. Her illustrious career, begun as a pony equitation rider growing up in Los Angeles, California, has included team gold at the 1999 European championships, gold medals from the 1999 and 2001 ladies German championships, and eight nations cup victories. At the recent 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival, Meredith took the $372,000 Suncast CSI 5* Grand Prix with her newest equine partner, Fibonacci 17—Artemis Equestrian Farms’ 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding. The
victory helped her earn the title of overall leading lady grand prix rider for 2015. “He has a style different from most horses. It can be difficult to sit as a rider. He jumps with his head up and a little straight in the back,” she said after the Wellington win. “That’s something I have decided I cannot change, and that’s why I try to finesse the bridle a little so I can help him without interrupting his jump.” IT ’S ABO U T B A L A NC E
Taking leaps of faith and over fences requires a keen sense of balance. To better understand Continued on page 75