While riding away from the 2017 GAIG/USDF Region 3 Dressage Championships with a championship title, two blue ribbons, and two reserve championships is certainly something to be proud of, it’s not the most impressive thing about Dr. Kristy Lund of Wellington.
Lund, an adult amateur dressage competitor, trains her three competition horses while simultaneously running a boarding and training facility, working as a full-time veterinarian and owning an animal rescue. Her results at the 2017 GAIG/USDF Region 3 Dressage Championships, held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, qualified Lund for the 2017 US Dressage Finals, to be held Nov. 9-12 in Lexington, Ky.
Ever since Lund decided that the medal podium of a dressage ring was where she wanted to be, nothing has been able to stop her — although life circumstances have certainly tried. “I’m probably one of the most competitive people you know,” she said. “That’s what motivated me to start showing from a very young age.”
Since her first show, Lund has won a championship or reserve championship title at every regional dressage championship except for one in the past 17 years. This year was no different. Lund showed three of her own horses in four different levels, from Training Level to Grand Prix.
“The horses were all pretty phenomenal. I think my Grand Prix horse was the best he has ever been,” she said.
Akvavit, a 14-year-old Spanish Warmblood gelding, competed in both the Grand Prix and the Intermediate II. He and Lund won the Intermediate II Championship, the Grand Prix Freestyle Reserve Championship, and placed fourth in the Grand Prix. On Living Lucky, a five-year-old Westphalian gelding, Lund earned the First Level Reserve Championship. Sake Shooter, a four-year-old Westphalian gelding new to the show ring, placed first in Training Level.
Lund is a small animal veterinarian out of Lund Animal Hospital, the practice she shares with her husband, Scott Lund. Her veterinary services are in high demand, even during championship show weeks. “I actually went to work a few times during the show, and I was taking calls on Saturday in between classes,” Lund said.
When not at her office or in the show ring, Lund is running Blue Marlin Farm, her boarding and training facility in Wellington. Olympian Bent Jensen is the head trainer there, and Lund trains with him regularly. She also bases her own private animal rescue out of the farm, where she welcomes unwanted and often permanently injured animals and provides them with top-quality care.
“When I’m on a horse, that’s my relaxation,” Lund explained. “Even though it can be a very physically and mentally exhausting sport, riding is the only time when I can tune out the outside world.”
Lund is now focused on the upcoming US Dressage Finals Intermediate II National Championship with Akvavit.
