Top eventer Tamra Smith got “leg up” from Broussard grants

The first time Tamra Smith came to the Event at Rebecca Farm, she was a groom for another rider. That was around 2005, she’d guess.

Now Smith is at the top of her game, hot off a win at the 5-star Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in April with horse Mai Baum and ranked as the top American eventer in the world. She was the first American rider to win the event in 15 years and first woman to win since 2011.

She credits her success in large part to grants awarded by the USEA Foundation in memory and honor of Rebecca Chaney Broussard, who passed away after a battle with cancer in 2010.

“It's been extremely instrumental in the development of my career,” Smith said.

Smith was a recipient of two grants: The Rebecca Broussard National Developing Rider Grant, also known as the “Little Becky”, which awards $10,000 for the educational development of an international quality rider based on competition in eventing on the national stage, according to the Rebecca Farm website, and the Rebecca Broussard International Developing Rider Grant or “Big Becky,” which awards $50,000 for the educational development of an international quality rider based on competition in eventing on the global stage.

“When you don't have unending funds, it's an expensive endeavor to try to get to the top of the sport and produce your horses and have the horses and then be able to make a team,” Smith said at Rebecca Farm Friday. “I would say that Becky being able to have this vision of helping riders who potentially have the ability but don't necessarily have a leg up, was extremely just unbelievable to have that — I don't know that I would've necessarily believed in myself without having the committee believe in me.”

Smith, based in California, has racked up a long list of accomplishments since that first visit to Rebecca Farm in 2005. In 2019, she was part of the U.S. team that won gold at the Pan-American Games; in 2021 she was an alternate for the U.S. team at the Tokyo Olympics; and in 2022 she won silver with the U.S team at the World Championships and was second at the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill with mount Danito.

“It wasn't too long ago that I was just riding anything that anybody would let me ride,” Smith said. “And most of them were rank and difficult. Back then, if you would've said, ‘Oh, Tamie’s going to be on Olympic and World Championship teams,” it would've been like, ‘Yeah, no chance,’ You know? So to me, I hope it really inspires these people to really go for what they dream about, because it's possible. And it's really great that the Broussards give that to these people and to somebody like myself."

She’s riding two horses this week at Rebecca Farm, Kynan in the CCI4-Short and CCI3-Short with Crafty Don.

As of this writing, Smith is holding on to second place in CCI4-S after cross-country and is third with Crafty Don in the CCI3-S ahead of today’s show jumping finale, which also happens to be Smith’s birthday.

“I've been celebrating my birthday here for a very long time,” Smith said. “It's awesome.”

Smith’s daughter, Kaylawna Smith-Cook, also competed this week and won the Open Modified B division with mount AEV Zara.