Posted; February 23, 2006

2006 Ocala Winter II Horse Trials at the Florida Horse Park

Pregnancy Does Little to Slow Pace of Eventer Darrah Alexander
By Shaneen Kohler

A husband allergic to horses and a 4-month-old baby. For most, these two factors might signal the end of a riding career.

Not for Darrah Alexander of Treeline Farm in Pine Plains, N.Y. Not only is she a full-time horse rider and instructor, she and her baby, Trenton Wager, were at Ocala Winter II Horse Trials at the Florida Horse Park, Feb. 17-19. Alexander was riding in Intermediate/Prelim and Open Training and Trenton was riding in his stroller.

Alexander, who came in fourth in Intermediate/Prelim with her horse Law And Order, was first “noticed” in 1988, when U.S. Equestrian Team member Louise Meryman saw her at a Young Riders clinic. Shortly thereafter, Alexander became a full-time working student at Meryman’s Treeline Farm.

In 1999, Alexander earned a position on the USET’s Developing Rider Program and trained with the team for three years. During this period, Alexander was short-listed to represent the United States for the 2001 European Championships at Burghley CCI**** and finished 11th at Fox Hall Cup CCI*** at Advanced Level. While an injury to her horse prevented her from competing at Burghley, Alexander is back on track again with a new horse: Law And Order, in addition to instructing a full slate of students (sometimes giving as many as 15 lessons a day at Treeline Farm). Her goal is to get a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

A necessity for achieving that goal: a place to practice. Living in New York, that puts cross county out of the question unless you teach your horse to ski. So, for about two months every winter for the past 15 winters, Alexander and the rest of the crew at Treeline Farm have been making the trip to Florida.

Despite having a 4-month-old in tow, this year was no different for Alexander. “I just kept riding, all through my pregnancy,” said Alexander. “I rode very seriously through six months, though after about five months I stopped competing.” Alexander said she continued to ride Law And Order up until about 10 days before Trenton’s birth. “My husband tells me that the baby likes to be jiggled around. He says, ‘This is your fault, this jiggling. This is because you rode.’”