Untacked

PROFILE FUN FACT would go on to be named the Rookie of the Year by the American Grandprix Association in 2004, racking up points—as well as $36,750, more prize money than any rookie in AGA history—at some of the most prestigious competitions on the East Coast, including the fateful Budweiser American Invitational in Tampa. In hindsight, the whole experience seems uncannily prophetic. In his acceptance speech at the AGA awards dinner that year, Derek noted, "Jared is winning on pony hunters right now, so one day, who knows? Maybe this dream can happen again." Déjà Vu All Over Again That's exactly what seems to be playing out, nine years later. Just as Derek had trusted, Promised Land opened many doors for the Petersen family, not only with his performances, but also with the money from his sale later in 2004. Derek bought seven other horses and more land with that profit, and the business continued to build. In 2009, after turning 18 and spending his life catch-riding whatever horses 44 W INTER 2013 U N TAC K E D If you can't find Derek Petersen at a horse show, in the breeding shed or at church, chances are you'd better check the river. Among his many talents, he's also an avid fisher of tarpon, a species that can grow upward of 6 feet in length. "That's another passion," he says with a laugh. "To keep me sane from the horses, I go and catch horses in the river. Those things can weigh between 150-200 pounds!" were available at the farm, Jared went on his first horse shopping trip to Germany. Derek was hunting for a new star for himself, ultimately deciding on a Dutch Warmblood by Numero Uno named Via Dolorosa (Latin for "the way of grief," the path down which Jesus is said to have walked carrying his cross), along with a few sale horses for the farm, while his son was looking to select his very first horse. Jared decided on a stallion by Contender, but it failed the vet check. "I told him he'd just have to get one of the sale horses that I'd bought to sell, and that was disappointing to him," Derek recalls. "Titus was the sales horse. He got off the truck eyes wide open, nostrils flaring, jumping all over everybody, and Jared was like, 'Great, I got the idiot.' " Derek, feeling bad, offered the next day to swap him Via Dolorosa for Titus, but Jared decided to embrace the unknown. "I never even sat on Titus in Germany," Jared says. "I was sick the day we went to that barn, so when he got over here it was literally the first time I ever sat on him. But I really liked the way he went. I liked his canter, and he was really adjustable, just very green. It just felt right, though. I couldn't ask for a better partner to ride with—he's been great to me." Derek has been on Titus only a handful of times in the years since. "Jared has developed that horse himself," he says. "They just get along really well. He was really green and spooky and jumping off the walls when he arrived, but he's just got that feeling about him, and it's worked out." Anita says the duo are almost more like playmates than horse and rider. Jared will go into the pasture, and Titus will grab his hat and run. "It's like a dog; I'm not kidding," she says. "It's the funniest thing I've ever seen. That horse really loves him." "He is a goofball and acts like a child all the time," Jared admits. "He's a lot of fun. He chases me around the field, and if I stop, he stops and jumps in the air. If you're in the stall with him, he has to grab your shirt or the pitchfork out of your hand." A Family Affair And when Titus decides to grab the pitchfork, it usually is out of his own rider's hand—not a groom's. Being a Petersen means hard work and self-sufficiency; the family has a full-time hired staff of exactly one. "We try to teach good work ethics," Anita says. "Not everything is going to be given to you, and you have to work hard to get where you want to go." Therefore, Legacy Farm is not the kind of place where you show up and hop on your waiting horse. As Derek says, "[Students] need to know how to tack up, what bit they need, and how to do the maintenance. This is a big part of learning to ride and connecting with your horse." "Derek is more into fostering a bond between the horse and rider and strengthening that connection than [helping]

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