After five fantastic years together, Reed Kessler has announced the sale of her Olympic mare Cylana (Skippy II x Darco).
The 14-year-old mare has been sold to the Hymowitz family of New York, NY and her new rider will be 20-year-old Cloe Hymowitz. However, it is not a final farewell for the established pair as it has been agreed that the mare will return to Kessler for retirement and breeding when she finishes her competition career with Hymowitz. “It's not goodbye, it is ‘see you in a little while’,” Kessler comments in a press release.
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 she turned 18. The two have won major Grand Prix competitions around the world together, including the President’s World Cup of Washington, the five-star Queen Elizabeth II Cup of Calgary, the 2012 Olympic Trials and the US National Open Jumping Championship.
“Cylana has been the horse of a lifetime for me,” Kessler comments. “She made me into the rider I am today for which I am forever grateful. It is a very bittersweet moment for me, no doubt the hardest decision of my life. Cylana is and forever will be a part of me. But I am happy that she can go on to do the same for Cloe Hymowitz.”
“I had no intention of selling Cylana, but I have been friends with Brianne Goutal, Cloe’s trainer, for my entire life and I would not have considered selling Cylana to anyone else. I know in her program Cylana will be treated with the ultimate respect and that she will be as loved and cared for as she was in my stable,” Reed continues.
About her new mount, Cloe Hymowitz says: “I am extremely grateful that Reed has allowed me to become a part of Cylana's incredible career. I have watched Reed compete with Cylana for many years now and am very excited to have the opportunity to ride such an amazing mare. She is truly a horse of a lifetime and I am so happy to have her join my team of horses!”
Source: Press release from Kessler Show Stables // Picture © Jenny Abrahamsson