Text © World of Showjumping

At the age of 23, Reed Kessler's 2012 Olympic partner Cylana (Skippy II x Darco) has passed away. Together, Cylana and Kessler jumped into the spotlight in 2012 when Reed became the youngest ever showjumper to compete at the Olympic Games the same summer that she turned 18. 

Cylana and Kessler were hugely successful together between 2011 and 2016, winning the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2012 U.S. National Open Jumping Championship, as well as the CSI3*-W 1.60m World Cup of Washington that same year. In 2013, the two won the CSI5* 1.60m Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows after a string of podium placings at the same venue, then closing off the season with wins in Munich and Stuttgart. The following year, Cylana and Kessler finished second in the CSIO5* 1.60m CP International Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows, and in 2015 they were again second in the CSI5* 1.60m RBC Grand Prix at the same venue. During their last season together, in 2016, the duo won two rounds of the CSI5* 1.50m WEF Challenge Cup in Wellington. 

Cylana and Kessler also finished 10th at the 2013 FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Gothenburg and represented the U.S. in the 2015 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona. 

In 2016, Kessler announced the sale of Cylana to the Hymowitz-family. With Cloe Hymowitz, Cylana competed up to three-star Grand Prix level before her sister Lilli took over the reins. In 2020, at the end of her competition career, Cylana returned to Kessler for well-earned retirement. 

“What to say about someone that has had such a profound impact on your life,” Kessler wrote in a tribute to Cylana. “And left an even bigger mark on the sport and little girls everywhere that watched us together and said, “I’m going to go to the Olympics too.” The things we’ve done, the places we’ve been. No one is luckier than me in this world to have been paired with you.

My deepest thank you to everyone who touched Cylana’s life and career. None of the things we did together would have been possible without your hard work and love for her. I selfishly wish we could have had even more time together, but I know the last years of her retirement with Elizabeth Boylan and all her old pals (Mika, Goose, Max, Flight) in the field in Virginia could not have been happier. On this particularly gloomy day, with Elizabeth, Dr. Ober, my father, Ian, and me by her side, Cylana passed away. 

Saying goodbye to you is like saying goodbye to a piece of myself. I’ll see you on the other side my friend.”

At World of Showjumping our thoughts go out to Reed, and all those who were close to Cylana.