When a parent raises a child there are two things that parent must give to them – roots and wings. Giving them roots takes work and time and patience. But giving them wings can be even harder. How does it feel to give them what they need and then watch them leave the nest? And is it any different when that child is your horse?

There is a responsibility you feel as the owner of a talented horse. It is the responsibility to allow that horse to be the best that it can be. It is the job of the owner, like a parent’s responsibility to a child, to give that animal the best education you can so they may truly excel and use their gifts. First you must give them roots…and then, often, you must let them go and give them wings to fly.
In May of 2007, at the Showpark Ranch & Coast Horse Show in Del Mar, CA, professional rider Erin Duffy saw Rumba for the first time.

He was 7 years old, and Cam Smith had just imported him from Denmark the month before. He was at the show getting some experience, but not competing.
Erin was sitting on a horse and saw Mosegaarden's Caramba trot across the warm up arena. She realized this was the horse that Mandy Porter had told her about; Cam had a new gray jumper that looked more suited to the hunter ring. Erin went straight up to Cam and asked him about Rumba. Cam told her the horse was for sale as he was a little more horse than he had expected for his client (a junior jumper rider). Erin immediately asked to sit on him and asked for first right of refusal. Once she rode him, she said, "There was just no question in my mind that he was 100 percent genuine and had all the quality that you are lucky to find once in a lifetime! " She knew it from that first day.

Once Erin tried him, she mentioned to her client, Wendy Wilkinson, that there was a grey horse she really liked. They were going to test him out in the arena once the show had finished. Wendy didn’t get to see the test but Lori DeRosa described him as "amazing" and assured Wendy that she needed to see him.
Wendy said, “I was intrigued at this point, though in no way looking for a hunter as my daughter, Chelsea, was going off to college in the fall.
“When I saw Rumba the next day he floated across the arena to me, and I signaled to Erin that I wanted to see him go. Erin put my daughter, Chelsea, on him and they got along beautifully. Chelsea has a very calming affect on horses and Rumba was not strong with her at all.
“I talked to my husband, Philip, that night and looked him right in the eye as I said, ‘He is the hunter that I've been searching for since I was 14 years old.’ I grew up riding hunters and seriously, he was that horse. We vetted him the next day.”
Erin and Lori planned out Rumba’s future from the start. As much as Chelsea wanted to start him in the junior hunters that year, the trainers knew they had to build Rumba’s foundation. They saw and felt the potential in the big grey, and they wanted to give him everything they could to help him realize that potential. When Erin heard about the Hunter Derby she knew that was the goal for his future.
That first year, his education was filled with dressage work, and getting him balanced so that he was ready for anything the derby may throw at him. They wanted him slow, and quiet, and they gave him show experience in the Pre-Greens and the Modified Jr. Hunters. Their plan was to launch him in the First Year Green division in January at Thermal.
“It was a brilliant plan,” said Wendy. “When I watch Rumba go, I feel intense pride to know that we took the time with him to really enhance his spectacular jump, movement and balance so that he could excel to the top of his sport. We never pushed him too hard.”
Erin stuck to the plan, building Rumba’s foundation and finally rode him in the first Derby at the Oaks in March of 2008, and he won the Classic round in a scary, indoor ring. Wendy remembers, “He got a little wake up call in the handy round, and they ended up 6th overall, but we knew the Derby Final was going to be the goal for him. Then he went on to win the $25,000 Hunter Challenge at The Del Mar Horse Show, under the lights, in a two-round competition.”
It was the beginning of Rumba’s successful, and wildly consistent career in the hunter ring. Wendy said, “Erin won so much on him, but the Grand Green Champion award at Capital Challenge was the highlight of our year. He was spectacular, and Erin rode him beautifully.”
The Wilkinson’s reluctantly sold Rumba to the Siebel family last December, but they knew it was the right home – and the right ride with John French in the irons - for the talented horse. Erin helped John with Rumba at Thermal early in the year, answering his questions and then she worked with him, hands on, in week three at the Derby. Erin encouraged John to ride all the four-foot options and take the inside turns and they won.
Wendy remembers, “Erin sent me a text from Thermal to tell me, and we were both thrilled for Rumba and John.
John and Rumba have since gone on and had an undefeated season in the Second Year Green division and in August Rumba made Erin’s dream for him a reality when he won the Hunter Derby Finals.
“Watching the Derby Finals last month I got a chill at seeing him go so well,” said Wendy. “It was our dream and goal for Rumba to win that Derby Final and John rode him masterfully.”
It was in that moment that every ounce of planning and work and time paid off, like watching a child on their college graduation day or walking them down the isle at their wedding. Wendy continued, “Rumba has matured, and is much more focused than he was when we purchased him over two years ago.
"It was Rumba's innate confidence that truly captured our hearts and led us to believe that he was capable of everything we dreamed of for him. He is truly a once in a lifetime horse and we wish him a long life filled with enormous success.”