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“I just didn't think that it would be in the cards for me,” Mia Bagnato, 19, tells World of Showjumping about moving up to two-star level from the youth divisions. With the 12-year-old gelding Ballyoskill Big Bucks (Royal Concorde x Lux Z), Mia won the CSI2* $80,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix during HITS Hudson Valley VII in Saugerties, New York, at the end of August – taking her first ever international Grand Prix victory ahead of Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa, a legend of the sport, in second. Only a few weeks later, Mia topped the CSI4* $37,000 Speed Stake at the Old Salem Farm September Horse Shows together with Florida N (Clarimo x Lavall II).

“That Grand Prix win was definitely a cool moment for me,” Mia tells. “To compete against these kinds of riders, to place among them, be in it and have a chance, is so special to me. Growing up, I would have never thought that I would be doing this now. It kind of eases my mind to believe that this is what I should be doing.”

Mia got the ride on Ballyoskill Big Bucks from Stella Manship, who she works for. “I started riding him about 2 1/2 years ago. He was just a lot of horse for me; he has a really big jump and I couldn't physically grip onto the saddle."

"Jordan Coyle, who has also competed with Big Bucks, thought the solution would be for me to ride without the saddle for a little bit. I did not like it at all, it was very uncomfortable and challenging for me. However, in the long run, it really helped me so much. The saddle makes riding a lot easier; without one, you have to pay attention and actually do the right thing.”

“After I took the saddle away, I naturally became a softer rider,” Mia continues to tell about the process of getting to know Big Bucks. “I think for a while, I was trying to be too rigid, almost trying to cling on. Riding bareback allows me to actually feel my horse, sit on him properly and ride him how he should be ridden.”

Mia grew up riding ponies with her mother Susie Bagnato, a professional trainer. “My mom is a trainer and growing up, she taught lessons. We aren't made of money, so we would get kind of project ponies – I rode a lot of ponies when I was younger. We have our little barn in Montgomery New York and that's how I grew up – with her and I doing it together.”

“We went to some bigger shows, but not really until about five years ago did I actually start going to more shows with the help of Stella,” Mia continues. “I've been with her for about 5 1/2 years now, since my junior years. As she has a nice group of horses for me to keep riding, I went professional and now I ride for her. I think in the next year I'd like to jump my first five-star Grand Prix if that's possible, if there's a horse I could do it on. My aim is just staying consistent.”

This year has been full of firsts for Mia. It is her first year riding as a professional in the senior ranks, she has taken her first international Grand Prix win, and in September she took her first four-star win with Florida N. In July, Mia and Big Bucks were also part of the winning team in the CSIO3* Nations Cup in Traverse City.

“I was kind of in shock that they chose me because I was the youngest on the team,” she tells about being part of chef d’equipe Anne Kursinski’s squad. “I think it's nice that they allow us to do that. There are a lot of riders that, in theory, you think they should be choosing over us younger and less experienced ones, but they still take us on from time to time and give us a chance.”

“Anne is really great,” Mia says about her chef d’equipe Kursinski, a two-time Olympic team silver medalist. “She definitely wants what's best for the team, and she's all about doing well and performing well. I'm super grateful because I've applied for a Nations Cup probably for the last year, just so that they kept seeing my name. She actually called me before Michigan to tell me that I wasn't on the team, and a week later she called me again saying that someone couldn't go – and I was very happy to get the opportunity to be on the team. She has always been very encouraging, saying you keep trying, you're getting there, you have to keep going. It makes you want to keep doing better.”

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