BAYLEE
McKEEVER
Earning Her
Spot at the Top
Marta Renilla &
Anartz Chanca
Living Their Wildest
Dressage Dreams
Braden Speck
From Heartbreak
to Youngest 2026
K3DE Rider
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EVENTING
BRADEN SPECK
Enduring Early Heartbreak to
Reach the Bluegrass Five-Star
24
SHOW JUMPING
RALEIGH HILER
Clear Rounds and Quiet Strengths
30
DRESSAGE
MARTA RENILLA
& ANARTZ CHANCA
Living Their Wildest Dreams
36
SHOW JUMPING
GABY REUTTER
From Fear to Top Female
Chilean Show Jumper
44
COVER
BAYLEE MCKEEVER
Earning Her Spot at the Top
52
ADVERTORIAL
DR. STEFANIE MAZER
Licensed Psychologist,
Real Equestrian World Experience
On the cover:
Bananas are a favorite treat of
Baylee McKeever’s horse Formidable,
aka Formi.
June 2026
44
About this photo:
It rained through the entire photoshoot
of Baylee McKeever and Formi at
Castle Hill Farm in Wellington, Florida.
Photos by Melissa Fuller
Volume 38 Issue 6 SIDELINES (ISSN 1071-3859) is owned by TRAUB CAPITAL PARTNERS and is published ten times a year.
SIDELINESMAGAZINE | June 2026
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24
Raleigh Hiler
Photo by Melissa Fuller
IN EVERY ISSUE
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54
HUNTER-JUMPER
ASHLEIGH KLOPPMAN
Getting Back On to Find Her Forever Horse
62
HUNTER-JUMPER
RYAN BALDWIN
The Gift of a Young Horse
66
HUNTER-JUMPER
AMY CENTER
The Business of Friendship and Horses
76
HORSE SHOW
FAMILIAR PLACES, FAMILIAR FACES
Lake Placid with Lori Martin
36
Gaby Reutter
Photo by Shawna Whitty
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DRESSAGE
BRITNEY GROVER
Editor
Stay in touch by emailing editor@sidelinesmagazine.com
and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @sidelines_magazine
Baylee McKeever
Photo by Melissa Fuller
Braden Speck
Photo by Adrienne Morella
Anartz Chanca and Marta Renilla
Photo by Kristie Scholten
Riding Whatever Comes
n life—especially life with horses—things rarely go the way we plan. The trick is to learn
to make the most of what comes, in the face of curve balls large or small: Ride the horse
underneath you that day. Take a breath and make a new plan. Accept life as the adventure it is.
This issue is full of amazing stories of equestrians who are embracing life as it comes,
whether that means overcoming heartbreak or smiling in the rain—the latter quite literally, in
the case of Baylee McKeever on our cover. Due to scheduling, we had a limited time in which
to complete Baylee’s photo shoot—and it rained the entire shoot. It may have drenched her hair,
but it didn’t dampen Baylee’s spirits.
Baylee is used to being open with both the picture-perfect and less-than-ideal on her
social media. Even for Baylee, who grew up with show-jumping legend McLain Ward as her
godfather, things aren’t always perfect rounds and blue ribbons. “Instagram can seem like a
highlight reel, and that’s not always reality,” she said. “One moment, you may want to give up,
but you have to keep going or you’ll never experience the sweet parts.”
Amateur eventer Braden Speck knows all about enduring the hard to get to the good.
Braden was the youngest rider in this year’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, so it would
be easy to assume he’s had things handed to him to get there. Nothing could be further from
the truth: Losing not just one but three horses early in his riding career nearly put an end to it.
Though Braden had to cope with so many heartbreaking curve balls, his story also shows
how sometimes things don’t go the way we plan—they go better than we could dream. With
a kind nature, BSF Liam was simply meant to be a horse Braden could enjoy, perhaps to the
Preliminary or Intermediate level. “He was kind of a big fat pony when I first met him,” Braden
laughed. Their journey resulted in more than Braden could have imagined—and Braden is
even using his heartbreak to help others as he studies to be a vet.
For dressage riders Marta Renilla and Anartz Chanca, unpredictable life change came in
the form of a simple inquiry into boarding a horse. “When I first talked to him on the phone, I
already knew,” Marta said. “And when I saw him, I knew even more.” Anartz agreed: “I felt it,
too—something just clicked immediately.” For them, the curve ball led to their dream life: Now,
Marta and Anartz are married and raising three boys, riding Grand Prix dressage and running
their successful dressage sales program.
There are many more inspiring stories of rolling with life’s changes in this issue and I hope
you read them all—and gain a little extra courage to trust that you, too, can ride whatever curve
ball life throws you, whether unimaginably hard or beyond your wildest dreams.
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t would be an understatement to say that
spring 2026 was special for Braden Speck.
In April, he and his horse Liam stepped
up to the CCI5*-L at the 2026 Kentucky
Defender Three-Day in Lexington, where
23-year-old Braden was the youngest rider in
the field. Just weeks before, he was accepted
to the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary
school. These milestones carried even more
weight considering Braden faced three major
setbacks early in his riding career and still
chose to stay in the sport he loves.
Horses have always been a big part of
Braden’s life. The Speck family lives in
Unionville, Pennsylvania, the epicenter for
eventers including neighbors Phillip Dutton,
EVENTING
BRADEN
SPECK
Enduring Early
Heartbreak to Reach
the Bluegrass Five-Star
By Helen Townes • Portraits by Adrienne Morella
Bruce Davidson and Boyd Martin. Braden
joined his older sister Kaelen in riding
lessons when he was 6, and rode alongside
the grandsons of venerable equestrian Jimmy
Wofford, Hudson and Walker. Braden’s
parents, Stefan and Sally, never rode but were
always avid supporters.
However, Braden’s introduction to riding
was hardly an indication of his future career
as a gutsy eventer. Kaelen and Sally both
remember that Braden was terrified to canter
on his first mount, Rosenharley Romello—
affectionately called Weasel—a Connemara
pony. “We would take Braden and Weasel to a
sloping hill and make him canter up it; the first
few times, he was petrified. Luckily, he started
loving it,” Kaelen laughed. Before long Braden
was hooked on eventing, and the Speck family
was always his devoted cheering section on
the sidelines.
“My mom is at all my events, and my dad
comes to some of the bigger ones. Mom
helps groom, and she’s learned a lot about the
sport—and even gives me advice sometimes,”
Braden chuckled.
For her part, Sally Speck is open about her
commitment to Braden’s success—as well as
her nerves. “It’s exciting when he’s done with an
event, but during the cross-country, especially,
it’s not very fun,” she admitted. “I have to put
on my poker face, but my heart is racing, and I
can’t really eat anything until it’s over!”
Braden Speck with his
horse BSF Liam.
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A DIFFICULT STRING OF LOSSES
As they progressed in their riding, Braden
and his sister, Kaelen, remained with eventing
trainer Erin Kinara. However, before he turned
18, Braden faced an unimaginable series of tragic
events that tested his commitment to the sport.
Braden was in eighth grade and had
outgrown Weasel when he began riding Regal
Dancer, a Thoroughbred mare. The pair had
just completed Braden’s first Preliminary-level
competition in 2017 when tragedy struck.
“We were schooling at Windurra when
Dancer collapsed on course with a ruptured
aneurysm,” Braden remembered. The mare died
immediately. Although Braden was not injured,
it was an intensely traumatic experience—and
also a turning point: Braden had been juggling
sports and had to choose between continuing to
ride or pursuing hockey.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but I decided to
commit to riding,” Braden recalled. Soon after
he began leasing his next horse, a mare named
Moondance. Unbelievably, tragedy struck again.
Moon suffered two bouts of colic, and the
second was fatal. Again, Braden questioned his
path—but then recommitted to the sport.
When Braden was 15, he started riding
American Fortitude, aka Wolf, a horse Kaelen
had also ridden. Braden and Wolf had two
successful competing years before Wolf suffered
a freak accident, cutting his leg on a jump
cup while schooling and seriously injuring his
superficial digital flexor. Even with surgery,
the prognosis was bleak. The family made the
heartbreaking decision to euthanize the gelding.
An average teenager might have been
discouraged by these three major losses, but
Braden endured. Today, Braden acknowledges
that while this period was difficult, it also
inspired his academic pursuit of pre-veterinary
medicine in college at the University of
Delaware. “Those experiences, losing those
horses, motivated me to want to help others
prevent what I went through,” he said.
“That played a big role in what he chose to
study in college,” Kaelen said. “Losing those
horses was such unfortunate luck and definitely
influenced his decision to study animal science.”
TEAMING UP WITH LIAM
Fortunately, a special horse came along that
would take Braden to the pinnacle of his sport.
The late Annie Goodwin shared with Coach
Erin that she had a young horse in training
that she thought would suit Braden perfectly.
They traveled to Aiken, South Carolina, to see
the 6-year-old Connemara-cross gelding, BSF
Liam, and the connection was immediate.
Braden was drawn to Liam’s kind, steady nature,
and after his string of challenges, Braden was
simply looking for a partner he could enjoy. At
the time, the expectation was modest: Everyone
agreed the horse might reach the Preliminary or
Intermediate level.
“He was kind of a big fat pony when I first met
him,” Braden shared, laughing. “He reminded me
of a big dog. But when he gets into top training
form, he slims down and has the fitness of a
Thoroughbred. He has an amazing engine and
remarkable intelligence.”
Since partnering in 2019, Braden and Liam
have climbed steadily through the levels. In 2020,
2023 and 2024 they earned the USEF McKenna
Trophy as the top-performing Connemara or
part-Connemara event horse at the Preliminary
level and above. They made their Advanced
debut at Fair Hill in 2024.
The upward trajectory continued after Braden’s
selection to the USEA Emerging Athletes U21
program, where he trained with Shannon Lilley
and later spent a week at national camp under
David O’Connor. The pair had a setback when
competing in the Advanced at TerraNova, when
Liam sustained a minor injury during the cross-
country that kept them out of the Kentucky Three-
Day 4*S and the 4*L at Rebecca Farm that year.
Again, Braden faced the setback with
equanimity. “I knew we had to get more qualifier
four-star longs in; however, our only remaining
options were at Morven Park and TerraNova in
Braden was the highest-placing
young rider at the 2026
Kentucky Three-Day Event.
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It was surreal crossing
through the finish flags
after a clear round on the
cross-country.
~Braden Speck
the fall. I was worried Liam wouldn’t be ready
in time to qualify for the five-star at Kentucky,”
Braden remembered. The pair officially qualified
for the five-star level with their top-20 finish at the
US Equestrian Open Eventing Final at Morven
International Horse Park and their eighth-place
finish at the four-star long at TerraNova. Kentucky
was in their sights again.
JUGGLING LIFE’S DEMANDS
As remarkable as the pair’s ascent through
the ranks has been, Braden’s ability to juggle a
demanding school schedule with year-round
training and competing has been impressive.
During college, he spent January through
March of each year commuting between school
and Aiken for training and competitions on the
weekends, waking at 3 a.m. to travel from the
University of Delaware to South Carolina and
back again for classes on Monday.
In addition to the support of his family,
Braden credits his girlfriend, Gabby Nguyen,
a fellow eventer who also trained with Coach
Erin, for her deep involvement in his riding
career over the past four years. Gabby is a
vet tech with Sports Medicine Associates of
Chester County, with Dr. Ashley Taylor, whose
clients are mostly eventers. Gabby accompanies
Braden and Liam to all their competitions,
walking the course with Braden and pitching
in as groom. She acknowledged that nerves can
be strained at these high-pressure events.
“Braden is very focused when he’s in
competition mode,” Gabby said. “When he’s
nervous, especially about cross-country, he
likes to walk the course together and talk me
through his thought process.”
“When I’m waiting to go out, I usually run
through my plan for the course, fence by fence,”
Braden explained. “For big events, I memorize
all the minute markers and check my watch in
the gallops between fences to see if I need to
make up time. Trusting your plan is the best
way to stay calm, and usually the nerves go
away after the first couple of fences once we’re
in a groove.”
Braden and Liam were among the fan
favorites in Lexington at the Defender
Kentucky Three-Day Event in April. Braden
completed his first five-star dressage test on day
one with huge smiles and lots of pats for Liam,
and fist-pumped after making it clear through
day two’s grueling 29-obstacle cross-country.
On the final day, he and Liam completed
the show jumping phase to a huge crowd of
cheering spectators in the Rolex Stadium.
“It was surreal crossing through the finish
flags after a clear round on the cross-country,”
Braden said. “While I made a few mistakes,
Liam kept trying his hardest and his confidence
never faltered. He made the cross-country feel
easier than I thought it would be. I couldn’t be
prouder of him.”
Coach Erin is thrilled with their success.
“I still remember when Braden was learning
how to ride, when he was a little peanut! And
it’s been so neat to watch him develop into the
person and rider he is, and see Liam rise to that
level as well.”
Even with vet school and a busy career
on the horizon, Braden isn’t ready to give up
competitive riding. “I hope to get back to the
upper levels with Liam once I’ve graduated
and started working as a vet. It will be tough
balancing it, but it’s possible with good
planning.”
Follow Braden on Instagram @bradenspeck_
Photos by Adrienne Morella, adriennemorellaphotography.com
Braden and Liam have
been together since 2019.
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