Arielle and Dutch are on their way along two tracks

Buying a weanling as a sport horse prospect is a long road. But the trip has been worth it so far for eventer Arielle Aharoni, who earned the best placing of her career with the multi-talented Dutch Times at the MARS Equestrian Bromont 4-Star Long in Canada this month.

She finished second, just a little more than a rail behind eternal Olympic medalist Phillip Dutton and the exciting Azure, as that mare logged her first FEI victory.

“I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes,” Arielle remembered about her reaction to a very special accomplishment.

“I was a little bit in disbelief of how well we did. It definitely didn’t feel real. I knew it was in there, but I definitely didn’t think it was all going to be put together,” commented the recipient of a Bromont Rising Under 25 development grant in 2019.

Her mother, Christina Barna Aharoni, said, “We were thrilled. It will put her on the map a little bit. Sometimes you have to wait for the stars to align for that perfect result. And you know what, how do you beat Phillip? But we’ll take it.”

While Dutch’s Bromont ribbon was a milestone for Arielle, who finished 10th in that event last year, the 23-year-old Bedminster, N.J., resident is a long way from the finish line. The professional trainer is hoping to take her 15-year-old son of Good Times (by Nimmerdor) to the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star next year, and eventually ride on Nations Cup teams for the U.S.

That’s plural for a reason — “I have ambitions to make multiple teams,” said Arielle, referencing the inspiration of German superstar Michael Jung, who does it all. Dutch is a powerful show jumper, as well as an eventer.

Eventing and show jumping are in her sights at the moment. She admits, “dressage is not quite there yet but I’m thinking one day…”

Then she conceded with a smile, “We have to get a little bit more training in us.”

Arielle began sharpening that discipline this spring with respected trainer Heather Mason, who said, “I have been very impressed with her dedication to improving her dressage. It’s clear she works hard between lessons, and the hard work paid off at Bromont.” (Arielle was eighth in that phase.)

“She has a great relationship with her very talented Dutch. It’s nice to see a young professional training and riding their own horses up the levels.”

Erik Duvander, who is involved in training such top riders as Boyd Martin and Liz Halliday-Sharp, watched Arielle at Bromont.

“I am always talent scouting, and Arielle caught my eye a few years ago,” he said.

“The girl has grit!  And you can’t teach that. With a decent horse and perseverance, you can learn the rest. This is Arielle,” he said, and at Bromont, “she did a super job.”

Arielle focuses on getting around the cross-country courses safely when she events, and that’s how she handled the Bromont route laid out by Olympic course designer Derek Di Grazia.

“I never really go for time, I never really pushed the envelope,” she said, explaining her priority is getting around safely, while she knows exactly where she could have made up time if that had been her plan.

Based at Aharoni Equestrian on a scenic Branchburg, N.J., farm, where she oversees care of 14 horses, Arielle works closely with her mother, who selected Dutch as a brash weanling out of the glamorous palomino Alino Queen (by Michellino) at Lauren Efford’s Goldhope Farm in Pennsylvania.

“He was just full of himself,” recalled Christina, “and I said, `This horse is going to be a star’.”

Arielle chuckled as she remembered the reaction of her eight-year-old self when Christina got Dutch.

“I did every sport under the sun except for riding,” she reminisced, citing ice skating, taekwondo and playing soccer.

“I didn’t want to do the same sport as my mom. And then she bought Dutch and I was upset she didn’t buy me a horse and that’s how I got started. (Toby, her first pony, still lives in the Branchburg barn.)

Christina began riding at the old Claremont stable in New York City, where she was born the year after her parents emigrated from Ukraine. She continued riding on Long Island before she wound up teaching at Winterbrook in Montville, N.J. and evented a bit, even competing at the Essex Horse Trials in its heyday. She had some lessons with Marilyn Payne and knew Denny Emerson, Bobby Costello and others still prominent in the eventing world.

Christina broke Dutch, and then turned him over to Tik Maynard, who went on to ride him in FEI competition in 2014 and 2015, before Arielle took over.

A member of the Amwell Valley Pony Club, Arielle got her A ratings in dressage and eventing. She has taught at Pony Club camp as a give-back, under the theory, “they gave you a start, you have to give them a start.”

Arielle graduated from Bernardsville, N.J., High School in three years by filling in blank spaces in her schedule with courses. She immediately got a Young Rider grant to work with Phillip Dutton for a month, then moved on to a working student job with Boyd Martin for two years before starting her own business.

Although Arielle is definitely in charge, her mother plays a major role, even though she works as a visiting nurse.

“She cleans, she organizes, she yells at me when I’m on my horse to put my heels down,” said Arielle.

“If there’s a horse with a cut, she tells us how to deal with it. She’s like a vet who hasn’t gone to vet school. Usually she’s right. She knows way more than I do, so it’s, `Yes, mother’.”

While it was a big decision to leave Boyd and go out on her own, Arielle reflected, “I’m glad I took the opportunity. It’s a long process building your own business. I’m glad I did it young, so could rely on my mom a little bit.”

She noted her mother handled the situation in such a way that “I didn’t notice I was taking over.”

Arielle’s father, Yuval, who emigrated from Israel, works for Torsilieri Inc. in Gladstone, N.J. That’s the company for which he has cut the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and put it up in New York City. But Arielle notes he pitches in with the horses, doing a bit of everything: “He knows how to groom, tack up a horse; he will feed, he’s quite handy, he fixes the fencing.”

Christina likes the fact that Arielle is involved with three disciplines, thinking that what she learns in each makes the others stronger.

“On a whim,” as Christina put it, after Arielle got more into her relationship with Dutch, they went to Andrew Philbrick for lessons a year ago. Though these days he’s best known as the impresario of Princeton Show Jumping, Andrew also has been a rider and trainer.

Christina called that relationship, “The best thing that ever happened. That accuracy in show jumping pays huge rewards on cross-country. Dutch literally skips around the 4-star now like it’s a gymnastic. Andrew is very positive and that helps the rider’s confidence, which makes them ride better.”

Andrew called Arielle “a worker. She is not a dilettante of any kind and will get on a 3-year-old or just about anything that needs a ride.”

He mentioned she has ridden in FEI show jumping classes at Princeton. Her talent has been noticed in the right places and he thought there was a possibility the eventing team for this autumn’s Pan American Games could be on her horizon.

Christina noted the Aharonis have had offers for Dutch “that would make us financially solvent. And the answer is, ‘No thank you,’ because he’s a family member. All of our horses become family members.”

While Dutch is the lead player in Arielle’s band of horses, she has others who are coming along. A pair of 5-year-olds also came from Lauren. Notorious, a buckskin, is Dutch’s full brother. Veni Vidi Vici, also known as Pickle, is by Valentino out of Dutch’s half-sister. She hopes to get them to their first events by the end of the season.

Lauren believes in breeding all-around horses: “They can jump, they can think, they can move. And that’s what I think is so important.”

Then there’s Chumley, bought as a hunting horse for dressage rider Alice Tarjan, who named him after her friend, eventer and dressage rider Lauren Chumley. Arielle has evented Chumley, but feels his real strength is show jumping.

She also is involved with Fantom, who came to her from Andrew. She is looking for sponsorship to help support her relationship with that horse, a show jumper.

Andrew calls Arielle, “Extremely talented. She has determination and real talent and all I really needed to do was take someone that was really concentrating on cross-country and try to then educate her in the mind of a show jumper. She has the potential to ride for both teams. It’s not very usual, but she absolutely could do this.”