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The genesis of Winter Place's creation was Bradley Caine's show career, even though it was the famous horses and riders who made the most headlines. She was just 14 when her father built the farm and hired Ronnie Beard to make it all happen. Bradley's mother, Joyce, had ridden a bit as a girl and passed her love of horses to her daugh- ter. Her father, James, was defi- nitely not a horse person. "My father was petrified of horses." Bradley said. "He didn't know anything about them, but because my mom and I loved them, he said, 'OK, we have to have the best.' That's just the way my dad was." Bradley recalled buying her first junior hunter, an Appaloosa named Across The Nation. This was before Winter Place, before Beard. "I don't know how my father even found this horse, but he drove me to Harry Gill's farm in Pennsylvania to look at him. No trainer, just us," she said. "Mrs. Gill got on him and was doing dressage. We'd never seen dressage. My father said to me, 'He's dancing; it's perfect.' They put me on him, and I got him to dance, and all I could think was, 'This is awesome,' " she contin- ued. "We were driving home, and I said, 'Dad, I really like this horse, but do you think he'll jump? Be- cause that's kind of what I do.' We pulled over, my father found a pay phone, and he called the Gills. He asked them, 'Does that horse jump?' They said yes, and he said, 'OK, we'll be up to pick him up.' That was the start of it." Bradley went on to much success with Across The Nation and many of the Winter Place horses like Perfect Stranger, Rivet, Regardless and Laser- beam. She wanted for nothing. The most successful—and expen- sive—hunter in the country at the time, Gozzi, was her Christmas present. "It was literally a dream come true," Bradley said. "And it was all I knew. I didn't realize it was unusual. I can remember riding in our tractor-trailer filled with 15 horses and looking over, and there was a tiny tag-along trailer. "I said to my mom, 'They have horses in that! Why would you put a horse in that?' My mother looked at me and said, 'Bradley, that's how some people trailer their horses.' I had no concept," she recalled. "I liked the glam and the glitter and all that, but first and foremost, I loved my horses." Bradley's showing career came to an end in 1978 when she had a bad fall with her favor- ite jumper, Surf's Up. The farm at Winter Place was closed, and Bradley went on to a horse-less life for 10 years, selling real estate with her father's company. But she couldn't stay away from the horses, and in the early '90s she started a training busi- ness in the Ocean City, Md., area. She now holds her "r" judg- ing license and does clinics in ad- dition to training a select group of riders. "What I instill in my students is that you have to have the bond with your horse. None of my stu- dents have grooms; these kids take care of their own horses," she said. "I missed that when I was a kid. I'd take care of some of the horses because I adored them, but I feel I missed some- thing—that connection." Does she sometimes wish she'd been that kid with a pony in a two-horse trailer? "You know, a little bit," she said with the perspective of years gone by. "It was all so overwhelm- ing. But I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world because I wouldn't know what I know now to pass on to the kids I teach. I got such an amazing education from it all." Bradley occasionally judges local shows at the Wicomico Equestrian Center, which is a county park located on a back section of the old Winter Place Farm. "Where I go really wasn't Winter Place to me, so it's not really strange at all," she said. "I drive past the old farm all the time, but I never go in. I think it would be weird if I walked into what was that indoor." c h r o n o f h o r s e . c o m w i n t e r 2 014 61 It Was All For Her Bradley Caine (right) uses the lessons she learned growing up at Winter Place in her teaching of students like Emily Todd. PHoto Courtesy of BrADley CAine Across The Nation, an Appaloosa Bradley Caine and her father bought when she first started riding horses, was one of Bradley's favorite junior hunters. PHoto Courtesy of BrADley CAine

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