She died riding her beloved horse. Now, it will be on Olympic stage in her memory.
Equestrian is a sport of two hearts: the rider and the horse.
Although Annie Goodwin’s heart stopped beating three years ago, Bruno, her beloved horse, will realize her dream by competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“It's a tragic story,” said Boyd Martin, a Team USA eventing rider who will be on top of Bruno at the Games. “Maybe with a little bit of a happy-ish ending.”
Goodwin died during a training accident while riding Bruno at her farm in South Carolina in 2021. Martin, her friend and former coach, took Bruno into his ownership. Together, they have reached the sport’s biggest stage and made Goodwin’s highest wishes a reality.
“I hope Boyd does realize that he's already won, you know what I mean?” said Tara Stoker Bostwick, chief operating officer at the Aiken Horse Park Foundation, where Goodwin trained. “He's already got Annie's horse to the Olympics.”
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'She was such an amazing rider'
The smile is what they remember. Even on the bad days, it was there. Martin recalled Goodwin’s “absolute dedication and obsessiveness” of becoming a better rider.
“This sport is lots of early mornings and cold days and rainy days, and there's hours and hours and hours of practice when no one's cheering and no one's watching,” Martin told USA TODAY Sports. “And I'd say the thing that I admired most about her is how resilient she was and how much she loved her horses.”
Goodwin died on July 14, 2021 following a schooling accident while trying to jump over a training-level obstacle. She succumbed to her injuries shortly after the accident at Aiken Regional Medical Centers. Bruno was not injured.
Martin, a four-time Olymipan, was about to depart for the Tokyo Games when he heard the news. He carried the combination of shock and devastation through that competition.
“The horse is such a good jumper and she was such an amazing rider,” Martin said. “You think accidents happen with untalented horses and riders that don’t know what they're doing. I just didn't ever think that this could happen.”
A Wyoming native, Goodwin stayed true to her roots after moving to South Carolina. She grew up on a family-owned dude ranch called Rafter Y Ranch & Outfitters. Her business’ name was an homage to that: Rafter Y South.
She catered primarily to clients in the competitive eventing industry. Goodwin gave lessons and boarded her students’ horses at her farm. She had a small staff and did most of the work herself. A covered arena on the farm allowed people to ride in rain or extreme heat.
“She was a hard worker and just a wonderful person that always had a smile on her face,” Martin said. “And the sport's such a hard sport to make a business out of.
“She was just at the point in her career where it was about to really crack on for her.”
Outside of work, Goodwin played polo and show jumped along with her eventing, which combines jumping, cross-country and dressage into one competition.
“She was, if there ever was, a Renaissance woman,” said Bostwick, who helps run the Annie Goodwin Rising Star Fund & Grant, which financially supports aspiring equestrian athletes.
Clients supported Goodwin when she competed in major events; she was doing her final training session before a four-star (five is the top level) event in Montana when the accident happened.
He's turned into one of the best horses in the world
Goodwin had purchased Bruno from Europe as a three-year-old and was passionate about developing him into a champion-level horse. Goodwin’s father, Putter, was responsible for distributing his daughter’s horses upon her death. He asked if Martin would take on Bruno, and Martin and his wife Sylvia, also a rider, welcomed him into their syndicate.
Bruno is an eye-catching horse, Martin said. He has a big, white face and white legs.
“He's a lovely laid back character, but he's hard to catch,” Martin said. “And so you've got to ride him first thing in the morning before you put him out in the paddock because sometimes it takes six or seven hours to catch him to bring him in at night.”
The beginning of the partnership between Martin and Bruno did not begin on the right hoof. Bruno didn’t understand the way Martin rode. The horse was suspicious. Bonds between riders and horses take a long time to form.
“I think my ego got to me as well, as I tried to basically start at the level that Annie was at,” Martin said, “and I had a quick realization that I had to go back a couple steps.”
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For the first six months, they were all over the place. Bruno would refuse jumps. They were disqualified multiple times.
“It was a real mess,” said Martin, who was born in Australia – and has the accent to prove it – but has American citizenship.
Eventually, something clicked. The understanding between human and horse took off.
“The last 18 months, he's turned into one of the best horses in the world,” Martin said.
Riders and their horses qualify separately, and the U.S. Equestrian Federation named Martin with the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood. Commando 3, an 11-year-old, is the rider’s direct reserve.
Jumping is part of Bruno’s DNA, Martin likes to say.
“He just pounces off the ground and flies over the fences higher than any of the other horses that I've ever sat on – and that's not me doing something special,” Martin said. “That's something he was born with. And every jump's the same where he comes to the jump and he’s almost got springs on his feet. He just has got amazing power and push off the ground.”
#RideForAnnie is the sentiment at Paris Olympics
In May 2022, Bruno and Martin rode to their first victory at a four-star event in North Carolina. They were victorious at the Aiken Horse Park Foundation four-star event, home turf for Bruno and Goodwin, a year later.
Martin sits on the application committee for the grant in Goodwin’s name. But he had mixed feelings while experiencing that initial success aboard Bruno.
“I almost felt a bit guilty like Annie had put in all the hard work and the training and, I'm sure with Annie's parents watching me, they would've – I'm sure deep down – they were thinking that really should be their daughter in the saddle,” Martin said.
He continued: “This horse is amazing in our small sport, our small bubble. I think everyone's sort of cheering for this horse rather than me just because of his story and he's almost like a living monument for Annie's hard work and dedication and love for the sport.”
Putter Goodwin (whose father, Wally Goodwin, coached some guy named Tiger Woods on the Stanford men’s golf team in the 1990s) will be in Paris to watch Bruno and Martin.
Martin and members of Aiken will often tag their social media posts with #RideForAnnie, especially the photos that feature Bruno.
Bostwick wants Martin to know that everyone who loved Annie Goodwin already holds him in the highest esteem.
“I think he's carrying a lot on his back and he knows it,” Bostwick said. “And so my hat's off to Boyd for not only seeking his personal destiny in terms of an Olympic medal, but knowing what this means to everyone back home. So we're fortunate that with Annie being gone, we do have something to continue to hold onto. Between the Rising Star Grant and Bruno, we have these memories to cherish.”
Two hearts. Both beating for the person who brought them together.