Becky Holder

Last updated
Becky Holder
Rebecca holder courageous comet trout hatchery burghley 2009.jpg
Personal information
Born (1969-04-24) April 24, 1969 (age 54)
Mendota Heights, Minnesota, United States
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportEquestrian

Rebecca Holder (born April 24, 1969) is an equestrian who qualified for the Eventing competition of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing from Mendota Heights, Minnesota, competing for the United States in her first Olympics. She has been riding the 12-year-old, Courageous Comet, a gray off-the-track thoroughbred gelding, since 2002. Recent successes include the pair finishing second at the 2008 Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in April, 2008. They were in the lead heading into the show jumping but had two rails and fell behind Phillip Dutton and the stunning Connaught. Stadium seems to be the pair's weak point. At The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event in 2006, Becky also went into show jumping in the lead but had 4 rails down and several time faults, dropping them into a disappointing 13th place. [1] [2] [3]

At the Olympics, she placed fifth in the Individual Eventing Dressage competition with a score of 35.8 penalty points. She had two mistakes in her cross-country run, dropping her out of the running for a medal. [4] Becky was the alternate member on the U.S Eventing squad in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. [5]

Holder used to run a part-time teaching business out of Carriage House Farm in Hugo, Minnesota. [6] From November to May, she trains her upper level horses in North Carolina.

Related Research Articles

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Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test that required mastery of several types of riding. The competition may be run as a one-day event (ODE), where all three events are completed in one day or a three-day event (3DE), which is more commonly now run over four days, with dressage on the first two days, followed by cross-country the next day and then show jumping in reverse order on the final day. Eventing was previously known as Combined Training, and the name persists in many smaller organizations. The term "Combined Training" is sometimes confused with the term "Combined Test", which refers to a combination of just two of the phases, most commonly dressage and show jumping.

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Courageous Comet (1996) is a champion event horse. Courageous Comet, called Comet, is an off the track Thoroughbred gelding sired by Comet Shine and out of Rosanelli. Owned by Tom Holder, Comet has been ridden by and competed with Becky Holder since 2005. Since then they have built up an impressive resume: members of the United States 2008 Olympic team, 2010 World Equestrian Games Competitors, have won the Adequan USEA Gold CUP Series in 2007 and 2012, was named 2009 Rood & Riddle Thoroughbred Sport Horse of the Year, and won the American Eventing Championships in 2012.

References

  1. Morris, Joanie (2008-04-24). "Becky Holder Gets a Winning Dressage Score for a Birthday Present on the First Day of Dressage at the 2008 Rolex Kentucky CCI****". Phelps Equine World. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  2. "Meet Becky Holder and Comet Of the US Olympic Eventing Team". Regarding Horses. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  3. "BECKY HOLDER". Pioneer Press. TwinCities.com. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  4. "Team Eventing Dressage -- Day 1 MorningTeam Eventing -- Dressage". NBC. Archived from the original on 16 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  5. "Hometown Olympians Becky Holder and Courageous Comet perform at Leatherdale Equine Center". United States Eventing Association. Archived from the original on 2014-03-08. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  6. "Becky Holder". U.S. Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 5 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-07.