BY DANI SCHNEIDER
Imported from Holland by as a four-year-old, the 2010 Dutch Warmblood gelding made his start in Eventing. Heather Morris and Get Rowdy competed all the way up to the Intermediate level with several top 5 finishes throughout their career together. In 2016, Get rowdy was awarded USEA Preliminary Horse of the Year. Get Rowdy also earned the title of Training Horse Champion at the American Eventing Championships in 2015.
“Everything about him was wonderful, but he just wasn’t there speed wise,” Heather Morris shared about the gelding’s potential to move up. “We sent him to Archie Cox, and the rest is history.”
From the second he stepped off the trailer, the Brookway Stables team knew this switch-hitter horse had potential. “He got right off the trailer his first day at The Oaks and was absolutely amazing,” Karli Postel shared. After joining Archie Cox’s program, Get Rowdy, owned by Teton Farms LLC, dabbled in the Equitation and lower level jumpers before finding his place in the Hunters.
Get Rowdy and Karli Postel 2019- Horse of the Year Champion Desert Circuit V, VI, 1st half, 2nd Half Circuit, Overall Circuit Champion Blenheim Spring III, June Classic II, Fall Tournament, National Sunshine Series 1 Reserve Champion Summer Classic II, International Jumping Fest, Washington International Horse Show
Get Rowdy and Karli Postel started showing in the 3’6 Performance Hunters, but he had so much scope that they moved up to the 4’ Performance Hunters. “That’s where we found his niche,” Postel commented, “He is extremely talented. It is just so easy and effortless for him.” As Postel and Get Rowdy’s partnership developed, they discovered just how amazing of handy horse he was. “He can turn on a dime and jump massive jumps of a 3-stride turn,” Postel shared.
Postel did her first Derby on Get Rowdy, and since then the pair has had great success, “For Rowdy, the bigger and scarier jump, the better. He is so brave. He is a doer; he will try and do anything you ask him to do.”
In 2019, Get Rowdy was the USEF High Performance Hunter Grand Champion. “He is beautiful. He is extremely brave. He has a gigantic stride. He is amazing,” Cox shared. “Across the disciplines, a good horse can do anything.”
While Get Rowdy and Postel are successful on the Professional card, Get Rowdy is also helping an upcoming junior rider, Kyra Russell, ride her way to success across the nation.
Get Rowdy and Kyra Russell 2018- HITS Desert Circuit Half Circuit Champion, Overall Circuit Reserve Champion 2019- Champion HITS Desert Circuit VI
Since January 2018, Russell and Get Rowdy have moved their way up from the Children’s Hunters to the Large Junior Hunters. “My favorite thing about Get Rowdy is how calm he is in the so ring. Sometimes I can get a little nervous and when he is calm and quiet, I can feel confident and comfortable,” Kyra Russell shared. Russell started her junior career on Get Rowdy after moving up from the pony divisions.
“After an afternoon of trying him at Thermal, we really bonded,” Russell commented, “I feel so lucky to have started with such an amazing horse.” Russell has her goal set of doing a derby on him.
While others may have been surprised to see an eventing horse do so well in the hunters, Cox was confident from the start. “It took some time for people to see what I saw in him,” he commented. “He had his tail pulled. It was short, and we couldn’t braid it. He just looked like he came from another discipline. But he proved his worth to everyone instantly. He certainly won all of our hearts and the judges’ hearts,” Cox continued.
