There are some horses you notice instantly—the kind that make you stop mid-conversation and just watch. For us, that horse was Miks Master C.

The first time Rob laid eyes on “Mikki,” he was stabled across from our horse, Monster, at Rebecca Farm in Montana. He looked strikingly similar to Deniro Z—same elegance, same power—and Rob couldn’t help but be drawn to him. “I never walk up to another person’s stall,” he remembers. “But this horse… I just couldn’t walk away.”

Two years later, at Tryon, Liz mentioned she had a horse that was brought in for training—Miks Master C. The moment Rob connected the dots, we knew it was fate. Liz rode him for a few days and called to say, “This horse is incredible.”

“We didn’t need convincing,” Rob remembers, “but we’d just purchased Cooley Nutcracker, ‘Bali,’ when Mikki came into the picture. Common sense said wait, as Liz had just sold us on Bali and predicted that he would be her Paris horse. But in eventing, the right horse doesn’t wait around. Top riders could have easily found backers ready to write a check on the spot for this horse. We knew if we hesitated, Mikki would be gone. So within 24 hours, we made it happen.”

That moment set in motion a journey full of joy, heartbreak, and, ultimately, shared triumph.

“For us, ownership isn’t about buying horses—it’s about being part of a dream,” Chris explains. “It’s sharing the journey with people who are chasing something extraordinary.” On this horse, that dream also meant bringing in a few of our close friends, Debby Palmer and Rachael Carter, to go along for the ride—the more, the merrier!

Chris and Rob grew up as athletes—both competitive but never Olympians. “Owning gives us a chance to live that dream from another angle,” Chris says. “We get to help riders like Liz go after greatness and be part of something bigger than ourselves.”

Owning event horses, he adds, takes equal parts optimism and grit. “The highs are incredible, but the lows can knock the wind out of you. Still, you stay in it because of the team around you—riders, grooms, vets, coaches, friends. When we invest in a horse, we’re really investing in that whole circle of people who make the magic happen.”

A Full-Circle Moment

Nothing could have prepared us for last summer. Liz’s accident at the American Eventing Championships was one of those moments that stops time. She’s not just a rider to us—she’s family. Watching her recovery unfold has been humbling beyond words. Liz’s determination is unmatched. Even while navigating the long road back from a traumatic brain injury, she never once lost her focus or her fight.

As Liz began her recovery, it became clear her top horses needed to keep moving forward. We wanted to be sure they were in the right hands—and there was really only one person we trusted to take on that responsibility, someone Liz herself would have chosen: Boyd Martin.

Boyd had always admired Mikki. He used to joke that he was jealous when Liz bought him—Miks Master C was exactly his kind of horse: athletic, gritty, and just the right amount of “crazy.” As Boyd put it, “He moves like a warmblood but thinks like a Thoroughbred.”

Boyd took his time with Mikki. He didn’t rush. In fact, he started small—training-level events, riding against teenagers and amateurs—just to get to know the horse. He entered only a handful of competitions before the inaugural U.S. Equestrian Open Final, the richest eventing competition ever held in the U.S.

And then, magic.

A double-clear show jumping round sealed the win. Miks Master C and Boyd were crowned the first-ever champions of the U.S. Equestrian Open of Eventing Final CCI4*-L. It was a surreal, emotional moment—not just because of the victory, but because of everything that came before it.

“It was overwhelming,” Chris adds. “After everything—the accident, the uncertainty—to see that horse and that rider finish on top felt like the universe giving something back.”

Even Boyd was quick to share the moment. “He said, ‘This was Liz’s horse. The owners have been through a lot. I’m just grateful to be part of his story.’ That meant the world to us,” Chris says. “He gave Liz full credit for the foundation she built. She brought Mikki to that level.”

“At the end of the day, this is why we’re in it,” Rob says. “This is a sport built on partnership—between horse and rider, between athlete and owner, between everyone who believes in what’s possible.”

Chris adds, “We’ve been lucky enough to experience moments that will stay with us forever: watching Liz at the Paris Olympics, Cooley Nutcracker place third at Pau, seeing Liz smile again from the saddle, and now, watching Miks Master C soar to the top of the leaderboard.”

But none of those moments happen without ownership. Owners are the unseen gears turning behind every headline. We take the risks, shoulder the heartbreak, and share in the glory—all because we believe in the dream.

“For us,” Chris says, “owning these horses isn’t about the medals—it’s about teamwork and the joy of being part of something bigger than ourselves.”