Sometimes the most challenging puzzles yield the sweetest solutions. That was the case for Laura Jane Tidball and MacGyver on Sunday at Thunderbird Show Park’s Summer Fort Classic. In a victory that felt scripted, the pair found the key to Olaf Petersen Jr. demanding 1.40m track in the National Grand Prix, using a bit of ingenuity and clever problem solving in the jump off.
“Off the right turns, he cuts in a little bit, so I wanted to give myself a little room to the second jump,” Tidball explained. “I knew I could easily do one less to the next double. He’s so smart and he’s so careful inside of [combinations]. It makes everything just so much easier.”
She took a calculated risk on a tight inside turn to the liverpool—”that’s one of the tighter inside turns I’ve done with him. That was a little of a risk, but his left turns are great.”
Not even a momentary counting error could derail her victory.
“My plan was to do one less to the last jump. I miscounted. I thought I was doing 10 [strides] when I pulled on the reins to add,” she laughed. “It happens even to me.”
The pair crossed the timers in 45.32 seconds, finishing over a full second faster than runner ups Jamie Gornall and Earthquake MXL Z’s time of 46.36. Samantha Buirs-Darvill and Chic D Emma Z took third in 52.73.
The victory marks a significant milestone for the partnership. Having started in the 1.15m and 1.20m classes two years ago, unlocking MacGyver’s potential has proven to be a tough code to crack and the 2017 KWPN stallion (Van Gogh x Ahorn) had plenty of his own ideas when Tidball first sat on him.
“He was quite spooky and always really talented. But there was a lot of gears that were missing,” she reflected.
“To be very honest, the first year I had him, it was a struggle. [At times] I thought, I don’t know if I’m going to figure this out,” Tidball admitted. “He was a bit unrideable.”
Like the resourceful TV hero who shares his name, MacGyver required his own brand of creative problem-solving—and plenty of patience.
“It definitely took an entire team,” she said. “It took a lot of training, a lot of time, a lot of faith.”
The breakthrough came this past April at tbird. “All of a sudden it just was a little easier and it just kept getting a little easier each horse show we did,” Tidball said, noting how their dynamic has since changed.
“I have so much faith in him now. I walk in the ring and if it looks a bit spooky, I’m like, great, I can go faster to that one because he’ll just jump higher,” she said. “It feels like the sky’s the limit right now.”
Sunday’s Grand Prix victory carries special meaning for Tidball, who credits two key women in her life for making the partnership possible.
“Nancy Southern and my mom went for a walk at a horse show two years ago and they came back and they said, ‘You’re gonna try a horse,’” she recalled. At the time, Tidball had recently retired her top mount Concetto Son and didn’t have another horse coming up.
“I think the two of them both saw that I want this so badly and I’m willing to work hard. Together they came up with an idea to give me an opportunity,” Tidball said.
Today, she owns half of MacGyver with Nancy Southern, a partnership that continues to bear fruit.
“They’re two of the most beautiful women I know,” she added. “Having people in your life like that are just a gift, and you can’t replace it. It always gives me a warm feeling when I talk about it.”
Next month, Tidball plans to move MacGyver up to the two-star level at tbird’s BCHJA Fall Finale. “He’s just now ready to kind of step into that next level and I’m so excited about what he’s going to do in the future.”
National Grand Prix Top 10
| Rank | Horse | Rider | Nation | Owner | Faults | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MacGyver | Laura Jane Tidball | CAN | Thunderbird / Attache Stables | 0/0 | 45.32 |
| 2 | Earthquake MXL Z | Jamie Gornall | GBR | Cherokee Show Horses Inc | 0/0 | 46.36 |
| 3 | Chic D Emma Z | Samantha Buirs-Darvill | CAN | Samantha Buirs-Darvill | 0/0 | 52.73 |
| 4 | Domina VH Scheefkasteel Z | Jaclyn Duff | CAN | Windermere Stables Ltd | 0/8 | 44.70 |
| 5 | Mr. Europe | Karrie Rufer | USA | Morning Star Sporthorses, LLC | 0/12 | 52.16 |
| 6 | Nefrieda | Jamie Gornall | GBR | Peyton Krahenbuhl | 4/- | 74.55 |
| 7 | Connery 53 | James Chawke | IRL | Jill Blunt | 4/- | 76.07 |
| 8 | Grazie | Justin Prather | CAN | Bradon Equestrian | 4/- | 77.20 |
| 9 | New Senator | Jeffrey Fields | USA | Janaya Torres | 4/- | 77.84 |
| 10 | A Crown Royale | Ayla Martinoff | CAN | Ayla Martinoff | 8/- | 79.78 |
Full results here.
Photo credit: Kim Gaudry Photography
