Elisabeth Austin

American Pie

Liz's most influential horse thus far has certainly been American Pie. A buckskin Trakehner/Arab/Morgan/Quarter Horse, Pie was competed by Amanda Pierre (Warrington) through Preliminary, but was retired at age six due to the small complication that he preferred to canter through his entire dressage test and choose his own route around the cross country course (which usually involved eliminating a few fences!). Pie had sat in a field for a few years and done some hunting off and on, but got called to duty when Elisabeth was 10, as her pony Warlock, had just passed away at the age of 27.

Going from a dead-broke, 27 year old Welsh-cross pony to a hot, difficult 10-year-old Trakehner-cross was not exactly the easiest transition, but Pie was superb in teaching Liz about the importance of being a patient rider. Pie was a bit like riding a pretzel in the beginning, and was extremely good at disconnecting. "I used to get so frustrated with him when I was an adolescent, but for whatever reason, we stuck it out together. We went from abysmal scores at first level to respectable scores at third and fourth level. The thing about Pie was that he always wore his heart on his sleeve, so if I made any little mistake, he would let the judges know," Austin said.

They did their first Prix St. Georges together when they were both 16, and they even got some good placings in their last year out, in 2001. Pie has since gone on to compete with two different junior riders at the lower levels, and gives them just as hard a time as he gave Liz.

"To this day I haven t ridden a horse more difficult than Pie. But he really prepared me for the other horses I would ride, and taught me about the importance of quiet communication between horse and rider."