Tribute to Sunburst

"It was a fairy tale right to the end. The dream of every 'horse mad' girl, that one day her very first horse, the one that took her to Pony Club and to her first adult competition, that same horse would take her to the Olympic Games and on their very first appearance they would win a Gold Medal.

For Wendy Schaeffer and Sunburst, ten years after they first met, the dream came true. At the age of twenty-one, Wendy took her sixteen year old, ex-racehorse, pony club companion to Atlanta and there they beat all the best horses and riders in the World in the most gruelling challenge of them all, the Three Day Event.

It was a feat that no-one had ever (in their waking moments at least) achieved before. It was a combination based on the enormous trust....Wendy believed in Sunburst - and Sunburst believed in Wendy.... When on Tuesday January 7th the dream came to a crashing end... there is one unstopable image that will never be dimmed, the pair of them galloping wild and free, part of that winning Aussie Gold Medal Team in Atlanta, Wendy punching the air with delight...."

 

It was Sunburst that took Wendy Schaeffer from Pony Club grade 4 eventing through her first EFA Senior competition classes and eventually to the Atlanta Olympics where they won Gold.

At twenty-one, Wendy and sixteen year old Sunburst beat them all – the best horse & rider combinations in the world – in the Atlanta Three Day Event. Wendy became the youngest 3DE Gold Medallist in Olympic history.

When on January 7, 1997 Sunburst broke his leg in a tragic paddock accident and died, Wendy’s dream of a final triumphal run in the inaugural Adelaide International Three Day Event was shattered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wendy and Sunburst’s eventing performance highlights from 1989 include a number of wins at the Junior level and solid performances for both team and individual Young Rider competitions.

In 1991, on entering the Senior level, they won their first EFA Novice ODE class and in 1992 achieved an Advanced ODE win also at their first appearance at that level. That year they went on to claim first place in the Gawler 3-star Three Day Event – Wendy becoming the youngest ever winner of that event.

In 1993 they were members of the Australian Trans Tasman Team against New Zealand at the Gawler 3 DE and finished second individually. This result led to Wendy & Sunburst moving to base in UK in a bid to earn selection for the 1994 WEG, The Hague, Holland. They achieved selection as an Individual for Australia finishing 16th in the World at their first 4 star International 3 DE.

A 9th, and best placed Australian, at the Open European Championship 3DE at Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy in 1995, followed by an impressive debut, best placed first-timer, for 11th at Badminton CCI**** in May of 1996 resulted in Wendy & Sunburst's selection in the Australian Olympic Team, Atlanta 1996.