United States Eventing Association

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I bought HMR Rolan off a video in the middle of the night. Impressed by his bloodlines, I thought he should be able to jump!

Top-level event horses HSH Blake and Cooley Nutcracker (ridden by Caroline Pamukcu and Boyd Martin, respectively) had not hit the scene when I bought "Rolan." All three horses are by Tolan R and carry super bloodlines, and "Rolan's" dam, Aldatus Diamond, is by top grand prix jumper Aldatus Z.

What I didn’t know and later had to piece together after Rolan arrived in Canby, Oregon, in August of 2022, was, as it turned out, a lot; starting with discovering that instead of the 16.2 hands he was supposed to be, Rolan was a whopping 17.3! And he had undisclosed physical, behavioral, and training issues that began to appear soon after.

When I went to ride Rolan for the first time I discovered that though quiet on the ground, he was extremely reactive when mounted and would do a total body flinch and scoot 20 yards at the slightest movement from me. I couldn’t unzip a jacket, pull out a tissue, or even change rein length, without him leaping in one direction or another. Worst of all, he bolted, and one day galloped around the property with me for a solid 35 minutes before I got him back to his usual state of hyper-vigilance.

Another fun/not fun quirk was Rolan would not stand to be mounted or dismounted, which ended in a broken wrist for me one afternoon, as he elected to do a speedy 10-yard rein back, with zero rein contact, just as my right leg hit mid-air.

I knew I needed help, so after talking with my local horse community in the Pacific Northwest, I found Marcos Arriaza living and riding in Sisters, Oregon, and drove Rolan out for some training. They pulled his shoes and Rolan spent a winter in the mountains, living out with a run-in shed. When Marcos rode Rolan, he did so in western tack and worked through his bolting and mounting issues.

Meanwhile, I tried to find out what had happened to Rolan in Ireland. I knew he’d been started late (he was 5 when I bought him) but that was it. There was evidence he’d been stuck in a stall for some extended period. His teeth still bear the signs of scraping on something repeatedly, possibly from the boredom of confinement.

He had an occlusion in one eye that was determined not to cause visual impairment but looked to be from an injury. He also had sarcoids, which weren’t revealed, one of which on his left front pastern would keep him from being booted and another on a hind ankle that bore a scar.

I reached out to his breeder, Noel Kilroy, hoping he could fill in some blanks. Noel always had high hopes for Rolan and was willing to help. He said Rolan had been sold as a stallion prospect but that he’d lost touch with the buyers who now didn’t want to talk except to say Rolan had been sold.

What he could tell me was he heard Rolan had been attacked by “some mares.” Why he was out with mares is unknown. But somewhere along the line he was gelded and, once recovered and sound, sent to a couple known for putting a bit of training on a horse before bringing them to a sale. I reached out to this couple and was told Rolan stood like a stone when mounting.

When spring came, Marcos told me I could come get him. I brought Rolan home and began riding him and discovered he was better. But I ultimately decided he would likely always be too much horse for me and that my dream of riding at the top levels again was over. But by this point, Rolan’s quirky, cuddly personality had me committed to doing the best I could for him. I wanted to get him to the trainer who’d fit him physically, was known to be kind, could ride all kinds of horses and was on the West Coast. I contacted my friend Wendy Wergeles and ran some names by her, and we agreed James Alliston was the guy. I emailed him cold, sent some videos, and we spoke on the phone.

James is based in the Bay Area with his wife Helen Alliston. Though James has been a U.S. citizen for many years, he grew up in England riding any pony or horse he could get his hands on. He was not born with the silver spoon in his mouth, as they say. He has ridden at the top level of the sport for many years and is known for being a consummate horseman who can ride all kinds of horses. He’s fair and gets each one to give all they can.

It's been just over two years since James and Rolan have been paired, and the partnership continues to grow. Rolan still has some quirks—like don’t tighten the girth on the right when mounted—but he seems to really like his job. So now, through my desire to give Rolan his best shot, James’ skill and determination and Rolan turning into the quality horse in real life that he’s always been on paper, all three of us are happy to be heading to the AEC in the Intermediate division and can dream big.