During his long-running career, show jumper Eddie Blue probably is best known for a surprise second-place finish in the 2018 FEI World Cup finals, before going on to be part of the U.S. gold medal team at the FEI World Equestrian Games later that year.
He was a presence at the top of the sport for years, until his final FEI competition last September at HITS in Saugerties, N.Y., with his regular rider, Devin Ryan.
The 16-year-old Dutch-bred son of Zirocco Blue is still winning this year, but now he’s at the national level with a new rider.
“He doesn’t need to jump at the 5-star level anymore, but he’s really enjoying having a job and still having a purpose,” said his new rider, 27-year-old Lizzy Traband.
This month, Eddie took the $25,000 VFC Grand Prix at the Virginia Horse Center under Lizzy’s guidance, while achieving the only clear round in the jump-off.
Lizzy started working with Lori Larrabee’s horse after the Florida circuit, getting pointers from Devin.To keep Eddie tuned up, it’s poles, flat work and cavaletti, all helping the horse mesh with his new rider. Eddie obviously knows how to jump when the time comes.
“He doesn’t need to jump any extra jumps,” Lizzy observed.
“Eddie is an incredibly smart horse. He kind of takes care of me and teaches me quite a lot. He taught me trust,” she said.
“He has all the scope and power in the world. It’s so easy for him, you certainly don’t get that feeling on every horse,” she said.
Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue on the gold medal team at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games. (Photo © 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)
Lizzy faces an unusual challenge, because she doesn’t have a left hand, a situation that could be daunting — but not for this rider.
“In a weird way, I think being born without a left hand has helped me, because my horses have to ride out of a really impeccable balance. They have to have the basics down pat.
“They have to go straight, they have to be equal on both sides, they have to be well-broke on flat, adjustable and ridable.”
While those qualities are important for every rider, “because I’m missing a hand, there’s emphasis put on it,” she pointed out.
Her horses “have to maintain a good quality balance, because I can’t manufacture it without a left hand,” Lizzy explained.
She uses a manual prosthetic that has a strap around her right shoulder.
Lizzy wears a prosthetic when she rides.
“I am able to hold both reins equally and can adjust the reins, but not while I’m on course,” she said, because to do that “I have to stop to adjust the rein.”
That’s obviously not practical during a competition.
“I train in all situations, having reins too long or too short,” Lizzy noted, saying she has “the reins pretty well marked-up on each horse, so I know on each horse what number I need to be in.”
It’s not easy, but Lizzy is good-natured about the effort it takes.
“It definitely adds some complexity to it,” she said, in a masterpiece of understatement.
Her victory in Virginia marked the second year in a row that she won the class. In 2024, she did it on a horse she produced from the ground up.
“I generally don’t win things,” she confessed, saying she often tends to finish third or fourth in a competition.
“I don’t always like to go fast enough,” she confessed.
Lizzy Traband and Eddie Blue at the Virginia Horse Center. (MK Photos)
Last year’s win was on Ocho Cinco BC, owned and bred by Blue Chip Bloodstock, which is Tom Grossman’s business.
If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he was the owner of McLain Ward’s sensational ride, Sapphire. The great mare died 11 years ago, but Ocho carries on her legacy, since he is out of one of Sapphire’s clones, as is another of Lizzy’s mounts, Pura Vida.
Lizzy is based for six months of the year at Newstead Farm in Virginia, formerly owned by the Firestone family. The rest of the team she’s at her family’s Carousel Farm in Ocala, Fla.
She is stepping up to FEI level for the first time at the Hampton Classic, which begins next weekend on Long Island. Riding Regina Liu’s Rublin VD Berghoeve, Lizzy will be competing in the 2-star classes.
Lizzy rode early in her career with the late Elizabeth Solter, and has worked with a variety of trainers. They range from Olympic double gold medalist Joe Fargis, to Will Simpson (an Olympic team gold medalist), german trainer Karl Beyer and Australia’s Thaisa Irwin.
As far as Eddie goes, she said, “We just want him to be happy and enjoying his job. He’s really doing that right now.”
