A tribute to Holstein Park Leilani

In February 2021 the Findlay family said their final goodbyes to the horse that added so many special times to their lives and to Aussie Eventing. Holstein Park Leilani at the grand age of 25 years was laid to rest at the family property in Cattai, NSW. Leilani was one of Australia’s best performed Eventing mares. We spoke to Jade Findlay, co-owner along with her mother Jean, and former rider of Leilani and she put together this lovely tribute to the special mare.

Apart from our pride in Leilani’s incredible achievements as an eventing horse, she was the smoothest and fastest cross country performer for many years in many countries, her gift was also the enjoyment she provided us as a family of owners and supporters who were only too happy to pack our bags and fly out to watch her compete all around the world.

Piper travelled to the USA, New Zealand and England before she was 3 years old, and Mum and Herman became experts in turning a 3 Day Event into a 5 week trip!

We all have such lovely memories from these trips and have forged lifelong friendships with people in the eventing community.

On our WEG Kentucky trip in 2010, after being first scared off by the size and scope of the Cross Country course, we were then filled with pride with Leilani negotiating and finishing the championship. At the competition and at dinners at night it was also a great experience to meet officials, competitors and their families across all disciplines as new friends were made.

Leilani’s first big event after she and Chris moved to England was the HSBC World Cup at Haras du Pin in Normandy. This was her third entry in the series, after winning Sydney and coming second in Kihikihi, and she again finished in second place behind Clarke Johnstone who was also based in the UK to try and gain a place for the London Games.

We really noticed what a fine tuned athlete she was becoming.

Finishing 2^nd in the series overall was a great achievement!

When invited in 2011 to Burghley House for cocktails prior to the event starting we all did our best to scrub up. Piper had a lovely floral dress but the best we could do was to pair this with her well-worn riding boots. The Marchioness of Exeter and her husband greeted us, after we were announced by the footmen, and immediately invited Piper to join their 3 year old daughters’ birthday party at the bottom of the garden. Don’t know why we were worried with dress rules!

In 2012 Badminton was cancelled due to flooding, so the Olympic qualification event became Saumur in the Loire Valley in France.

Mum and Herman, who were planning to go to Badminton, managed to change their trip to France.

The weather conditions were also very poor in Saumur and as Chris and Leilani were readying themselves for Cross Country the heavens opened up again.

They negotiated the tricky conditions beautifully and after galloping through the pouring rain and finishing under time, at the warm down, a very excited Chris told Mum that he had never ridden a horse that could run and jump like her and probably never will again!

Chris managed to finish 1^st on Haruzec and 2^nd on Leilani by 0.1 points after a 1 second penalty in the showjumping, and was consequently selected for the London Olympics with Leilani.

For the London Games a few months later we managed to rent a house with the help of Equestrian Australia right on Greenwich Park, about 30 meters from the athletes entrance. It was also next door to the pub were many riders, grooms and officials would gather to talk about their day. Within minutes of our arrival we joined friends from past and present there and felt completely at home.

We were able to provide a place to stay for several members of the Australian entourage during that week which added to the fun and enjoyment of the whole experience.

After finishing 9^th overall following the showjumping, Leilani had to jump again for the individual medal. As she had never done this before she stubbornly refused to come out of her stable. With some coaxing we got her to jump again. What memories!

The London Olympics were supposed to be the last event of her European campaign before coming home to finish her career, but when Chris asked if Leilani could stay on for one more crack at Badminton, I agreed. I was able to go and felt so part of the team, another top 10 finish at the holy grail of the sport.

When Chris then asked if she could stay to help him defend his title at the World Equestrian Festival at CHIO Aachen we again agreed but said she would retire after that and come home.

Mum and Herman organised their trip straight away. A good chance to visit family in Amsterdam also.

Leilani left the best for last. A personal best of 35.6 (23.7 in today’s money) in her test, a clear showjumping round and it was time for XC.

Chris and Leilani were placed in 3^rd position behind Ingrid Klimke in second and Sandra Auffarth in first.

Chris and Leilani rode the perfect round and finished as the only combination so far under time on their dressage score. Next was Ingrid who took off fast. A run out in the water ruined her chances.

Sandra could have 9 seconds time or 3.6 penalties to win the Championship.

She rode beautifully and everyone screamed as she entered the stadium for the final 4 jumps. As she went through the finish line the crowd erupted and the clock finished at

…………………………. 10 seconds over the allowed time. Leilani had won.

The fact that she won on her last outing was well reported. Herman managed to open the Aachen Zeitung offices on Sunday morning to secure copies of the coverage, they promised to forward a copy to Australia when it came out the next day.

Mum and Herman hopped on a train to Prague in great spirits.

So thank you Leilani for all those memories, you were indeed a very special mare!

Leilani’s major international performances