Ema Klugman and Bendigo.

© JJ Silliman

By Equestrian Life

This year is shaping up to be a big one for 22-year-old Ema Klugman. Having capped off 2019 with third place in the CCI4*L at Ocala, Florida, the US-based Australian eventer has aspirations for five-star competition.

Born in Italy, Ema spent the first few months of her life in Canberra. Her mother is Australian, and grew up doing Pony Club in Sydney — as such, almost all of Ema’s extended family live in Australia and she comes back every year or so to visit.

Ema’s family moved to the United States when she was very young — however, that’s not where her love of riding began. “My brother and I got into riding when our family lived in Nairobi, Kenya, when we were kids,” she explains. “When we came back to America we got right into Pony Club, doing all sorts of disciplines from games to polocrosse to show jumping.”

Ema’s interest in eventing came about through Pony Club. “I had always liked hacking out and finding fallen trees to jump. When I discovered cross country, I just thought it was the best adrenaline rush, and I also liked the challenge of doing three different sports on the same horse.”

Ema Klugman and Bendigo.

© GRC Photography

At present, Ema is mostly based in Maryland, less than an hour from Washington DC. However, for the past three years she’s also spent time in North Carolina, completing an undergraduate degree at Duke University. When in Maryland, Ema explains that she has the luxury of five big events within an hour’s drive. “We will travel to Canada and Florida for big three-days, which are trips of 10-plus hours, but most of our events are close, which means we can do lots of one-days,” she explains. The famous Fair Hill facility in Maryland is not far away, and this year will host a new CCI5* event in October, which is very exciting for the local eventers.

Ema’s main coach and mentor is successful showjumper and eventer Marilyn Little. “Marilyn has an interesting story because she started her career as a showjumper,” says Ema. “I think she tells it that she saw eventing at the World Championships on TV in 2010 and decided she would try her hand at it. Within a few years she was competing at five-star level and winning gold medals in eventing at the Pan American Games.

“She’s been a huge mentor for me and a real inspiration — winning Grand Prix classes one weekend and competing at events like Kentucky five-star the next. I’ve worked in her barn for the past four summers — basically every chance I’ve gotten when I’ve not been at university studying. I’ve been able to ride tons of different kinds of horses and compete some young jumpers for her. It’s a very competitive atmosphere with huge attention to detail. In exchange she’s given me instruction on my own horses — including helping me move up to the Advanced level and helping me bring my young horses along. The standard of technical expertise and requirements of excellence she holds have taken my riding to a new level.”

Ema still works closely with her first eventing coach, Packy McGaughan. “He rode on the US team as well in his day, and he has trained numerous young riders to the five-star level. He found me both of my first event horses, whom I brought up the levels to Advanced.”

Ema also completed a short working student stint for NSW-based eventer Jade Findlay when she was a teenager. “Jade was great fun to work for and her system was similar to the American system of riding in which I’d been trained,” she says.

There are quite a few differences between eventing in Australia and the US, but the one that stands out the most to Ema is the sheer length of the US season. “The eventing season in the States is very long — too long in my opinion. The events in Florida start in early January, and then people go north for summer events, and finish the season in late October or November. I think there are only three weekends per year, in December, that don’t run events in America. So it’s possible to run the horses year-round; there’s not much of an off-season. I personally give my horses at least two or three months off or in light hacking each year. It keeps them happier and sounder, and there’s no point in competing year-round just for the sake of it.”

Ema Klugman and Bronte Beach.

© GRC

Ema currently has an exciting team of horses, with her main two being Bendigo and Bronte Beach. “Bendigo is a 17-year-old Trakhener/Thoroughbred gelding. Bronte Beach is a 7-year-old Zangersheide (a breed of Belgian Warmblood) mare. I also have another horse, Joker’s Win, who I brought up the levels to four-star. We felt he was ready to teach someone else the fun of eventing, so I’ve leased him to a young rider. I lost a fantastic young horse to a paddock accident a few months ago, which left a big hole in our stable. I’m currently looking for another young horse to bring along to the upper levels.”

Bendigo in particular has an interesting story. “I got him as a 10-year-old and he had done some low-level show jumping. I was 16 and had gotten some experience at the Preliminary/two-star level on another horse. He was neurotic in the stable and generally a nervous horse. It’s not normal to buy a 10-year-old who has never evented and make a 4* horse, but it just turned out that way.

“I took him to his first event at the Novice level and he broke away from the trailer twice and went running around the showgrounds! He has always been a super jumper and we just steadily made our way up the levels, both learning together as we went. The flatwork is his weak point but he has given me great experience around some of the biggest tracks in North America. He’s got a big heart and that special can-do attitude.”

Since starting four-star level, the pair have enjoyed success at a number of events, with their best result being their most recent at Ocala CCI4*L at the end of the 2019 season.
“Ocala was different in the sense that I felt we both came into the event feeling super confident because we had the experience of going around both Fair Hill and Bromont four-stars, which are considered the biggest and hardest four-star tracks in our part of the world. I think you can’t replace experience. You can train all you want and prepare, but there is nothing like getting the experience of heading out of the start box onto a proper course and having to think in the moment and get things done. We are now a much more experienced pair than we were a year or two ago, and that showed in our result at Ocala.

“Bendigo is an excellent showjumper, so it is always nice to be sitting on him on the final day of a three-day event. If I give him a good ride, he always tries to be very careful. He felt as fresh as a daisy in the show jumping at Ocala, and had one of two double-clears in the whole division.”

So, what does it feel like to compete at one of these big events and finish on the podium? “I would mostly describe it as gratitude. As anyone knows in this sport, there are a huge number of actors backing up a horse and rider at the top level. My sponsors have been hugely generous, my mum has helped me at every event, and my coaches have really invested in my development as a rider. And, of course, I felt lots of gratitude for my horse, who has taken me from a hungry 16-year-old kid to a four-star rider and allowed me to follow my dream.”

This year, Ema’s short-term goal is to compete at five-star level. “In North America there used to be only one five-star, Kentucky, but starting in 2020 there is a second one at Fair Hill in the autumn (Maryland CCI5*), which is very exciting. It would be great to do a five-star in 2020 if everything falls into place. I also hope to keep developing my young mare, Bronte Beach, and hope to be competitive at the three-star level by the end of the year.”

Equestrian Life wishes Ema all the best for the season ahead and we look forward to following her progress!

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