Will

Simpson

 

Olympic Experience: 2008: Gold medalist in Team Jumping 

Horse:     Carlsson vom Dach (12-year-old Holsteiner gelding; Owned by El Campeon Farms)

Will Simpson and Carlsson vom Dach jumped into the Olympic scene with an impressive string of performances at the 2008 USEF Selection Trials for Show Jumping. The pair jumped three clear rounds out of the four they contested, winning the $100,000 FEI World Cup Qualifier and Zada Enterprises LLC Masters Cup and the WEF Challenge Cup in the process. Simpson made the trip from his base in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to Wellington, Fla., worth the effort; he was named to the Show Jumping Short List for the 2008 Olympic Games. During the first leg of the Samsung Super League series in La Baule, France, Simpson and Carlsson vom Dach assisted the U.S. team in a second place finish.

A native of Peoria, Ill., Simpson was one of six kids and his mother shuttled them all around to activities growing up. His sister was taking riding lessons and Will's mom decided to sign him up as well.

"Anytime she could find where she could get two for the price of one she would load us up and sign us up," said Simpson.

Simpson's riding career outlasted his sisters. He headed to the East Coast where he worked for Rodney Jenkins and then set out on his own in California. He has been based there for 25 years. His business is mostly based around riding and training and selling horses.

"I really enjoy starting young horses," said Simpson. "I like the whole process of breaking them and getting them going. I don't do very much teaching; I teach a little bit, but I think I'll save teaching for a few years down the road when I don't want to ride as much. Right now it doesn't really matter what I'm riding, young horses or grand prix horses, I just love to ride."

Simpson has been active on the Grand Prix Circuit in California for almost two decades. Highlights include wining six Grand Prix (on both sides of the country) during the 2001-02 season with El Campeon's Ado Annie, winning a leg of the 2000 Olympic Selection Trials and a leg of the 2003 Trials for the Pan American Games. He won a Grand Prix at the prestigious Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary with El Campeon's Tosca in 2006. He then spent the late fall in Europe with the horse winning a class at CSI Oldenburg.

In 2007, Simpson kicked off the year winning the $30,000 Ariat Grand Prix at Desert Circuit II with Tosca again, and followed it up with top honors at the $50,000 Antares Saddlery Grand Prix in September.

As soon as Carlsson vom Dach came into Simpson's life in November, the winning began to snowball. They were the International Grand Prix Champions at the Los Angeles National after winning the $50,000 International Grand Prix in November and then kicked off 2008 with a string of dynamite performances at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida.

When he's not riding or training, Simpson plays tennis and skis although prefers the former at this point in his career as far as risk of injury in concerned.

"I think tennis is really important for your reflexes which helps for show jumping," said Simpson. "I try to stay really active in all other sports, and over the past five years I've gotten into cooking, I make the best ribs anyone's ever had. I do it for fundraisers - we have a lot of fun with it."

Simpson is married to fellow show jumper and hunter rider Nicole Shahinian-Simpson, and the couple has two kids, Sophie who's 10 and six-year-old Ty.