“My Toughest Year By Far” – Calder Hoping For Much-Needed Tonic At Arqana

DEAUVILLE, France—Nothing good usually comes from constant scrolling on Instagram. That was until last week, when a poem popped up from none other than Muhammad Ali, widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all time–and not a bad poet and philosopher it would seem. 

The poem read, “Friendship is a priceless gift, that cannot be bought or sold but its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold. For gold is cold and lifeless it can neither be seen nor heard. In times of trouble, it is powerless to cheer. Gold has no ears to listen to. No heart to understand. It cannot bring you comfort or reach out a helping hand. So when you ask God for a gift, be thankful if he sends it.” 

Anna Calder was dealt what many would deem a knockout punch when breaking her leg in two places, rupturing her shoulder and suffering a concussion when one of the younger horses bolted and unshipped her in a freak fall on the gallops back in January. 

When you run a small breeze-up operation, you tend to drive the box, ride out, muck out, do the administration, etc. But what happens when the person responsible for all of those jobs is sidelined indefinitely? Good friends are required. 

“A horse bolted the wrong way down the gallop at home,” Calder recalls of the horror incident. “It was a January morning so the ground on either side of the gallop was frozen rock solid. The horse couldn't make the bend he was going that fast and he just slipped and fell over on top of me. I was stuck underneath him with a shattered tibia and fibula. I also ruptured all the ligaments in my collarbone and got a concussion. It was a proper job.”

X-Ray of Calder's broken leg | Anna Calder

She added, “Roger Marley took a lot of my horses as I could literally do nothing. He had an injury himself last year-he did his pelvis. But Roger was lucky in that he had the staff and a long established system that the horses could slot into. I didn't. 

“Not only that, I was renting a yard 15 minutes away but wasn't able to drive so I couldn't even get there. Roger put his hand up straight away and said he'd take as many as he could and [Brendan] 'Blarney' Holland was also very good to take some horses as well. 

“Between Roger, Blarney and John Cullinan, who is without doubt one of the kindest men in the industry, I have been very lucky to have benefited from some great help. I wouldn't have been able to get these horses here without them and the girls-Helen Cronin and Gwendolyn Ghrist-at home in the yard.”

It's not just the physical pain that comes with such a bone-crunching fall that Calder has had to negotiate this year. Along with many consignors, the woman behind Leamore Horses has been left hurting at some of the domestic breeze-up sales. 

But Calder has a habit of picking herself up off the canvas and her Bolt D'Oro colt [lot 158, who was bought for $95,000] in particular caught the attention of some shrewd judges in the breeze on Thursday. 

“To be honest, the Bolt D'Oro was one of those horses I never expected to be able to buy,” Calder explained. “We sat in the ring for about 20 minutes after he went through and were like, 'did we really just buy that horse?' I have a bunch of American horses this year. I really like the sales over there and Chad Schumer helped me out a lot. We got the Justify [lot 14] out there as well. He breezed very well and galloped out well as well. He's a very good mover and wants a mile-and-a-quarter.”

Given what Calder has been through this year, a good result or two when the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale gets underway on Saturday would mean the world. In many ways, it would make things extra special.

She said, “It's been a really hard year. It's been my toughest year by far-physically and mentally. Trying to train horses from your bed is a pretty challenging thing. It felt like everything had been going right, and I was delighted with the bunch of horses I had, but then found myself lying on the ground waiting for an ambulance in January. 

The one thing I knew was that I had a lot of friends around me who were willing to help me out. The people at the breeze-ups have an amazing way of rallying around each other and just making things happen. When somebody is in trouble, there is always a person there to help. That's a real testimony to the industry. It really warms the heart.”