Top Lakewood Ranch equestrian athlete changes her competition focus

During a practice ride Jan. 9 in the Polo Club with her four-horse team, Misdee Wrigley Miller had to react when her horses wanted to break into a sprint because they were startled.

Because of one falling acorn hitting her favorite horse, Alonzo, the scene was about to resemble an 1870 stagecoach being chased by bandits.

But they call it "four-in-hand" driving for a reason.

Wrigley Miller, a fourth generation horsewoman who won gold with the U.S. Four-in-Hand team at the 2018 Fédération Equestre Internationale World Championships in Tryon, North Carolina, quickly calmed her team through the reins in her hand, and by making a vocal clicking sound.

Disaster averted.

In those few seconds, Wrigley Miller showed the skill that made her one of the world's top competitors in combined driving events.

Photo by Jay Heater

"She is a natural, and the horses feed off that," said Tristen Aldrich, who joined Wrigley Miller's competition team a year ago as a "bottom step" who trains horses and provides balance on the cart when they are turning those sharp corners. "Her dedication starts in the stable, where she builds relationships with the horses."

When adversity strikes, either during a competition or practice, Wrigley Miller handles it with what outwardly seems like relative ease.

"Misdee has an elegance," Aldrich said. "She is like a swan, elegant on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath the water."

Wrigley Miller said that is one part of combined driving competitions.

"You try to make it look as effortless as possible," she said.

A year ago, Wrigley Miller and her team of Tristen Aldrich and his wife, Dee Aldrich (Wrigley Miller's navigator), took first place in the Four-in-Hand division at the first Combined Driving at TerraNova event.

Myakka's TerraNova hosts its second combined driving event Jan. 22 through Jan. 25. Combined driving is divided into three categories — Dressage (Jan. 22-23), Marathon (Jan. 24), and Cones (Jan. 25).

Wrigley Miller will not defend her title, at least not this year.

At 68, she has decided to back away from combined driving, and instead will seek out less physically demanding "pleasure" division events. On Jan. 9, her horses were pulling a Brewster and Co. carriage that was built in 1898. Wrigley Miller, who will use the carriage in "pleasure" events, called it the "original station wagon." 

Photo by Jay Heater

"We are all another year older so I am stepping back from (combined driving)," she said. "It will be easier on me and my horses."

But she urges those who want to find out more about combined driving to attend the free event at TerraNova, which hosts multiple divisions and levels of competition. There will be one- and two-horse carts along with the four-in-hand division.

"But there is nothing like four-in-hand," said Wrigley Miller, who lives in Lakewood Ranch and co-owns the Sarasota Polo Club with her husband James Miller. "It's like the difference between a Rolls Royce and a Volkswagen Bug. There is something about the power, four horses all working together. It's a special feeling."

She said she enjoyed last year's debut of Combined Driving at TerraNova.

"I was very pleased, and it was so much fun," she said. "But on the first day, the dressage was freezing cold. All four horses were shivering and there were snow flakes."

Photo by Jay Heater

Wrigley Miller grew up in an equestrian environment. Her great-grandfather was William Wrigley Jr., who founded the William Wrigley Jr. company and eventually made a fortune selling chewing gum. He had a passion for horses, which he used primarily for pleasure. He named his favorite horse Spearmint.

One of his best friends was William Monroe Wright, an entrepreneur who made his money through his ownership of Calumet Baking Powder. He eventually founded Kentucky's famous Calumet Farm in 1924.

Wrigley Miller, who also owns Hillcroft Farm in Paris, Kentucky, mostly was involved in show horses before inheriting two carriages from her grandparents, which made her decide to learn driving skills in 2008. She began competing in 2009 and moved up to advanced levels in 2010.

"I fell in love with it," she said. "It was a whole different sport. You communicate with your horses through your voice and the reins. It was a whole new challenge."

Piquing her interest was the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games coming to Lexington, Kentucky in 2010. She was named to Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's advisory council for the event.

In combined driving, Wrigley Miller said drivers are judged by how well they communicate with their horses and how responsive horses are to what the driver wants.

Photo by Jay Heater

"(The horses) are 90% of the operation," she said. "We train and train and train."

While she would admit to being competitive, Wrigley Miller said her involvement in the sport is about maintaining tradition. 

"What did you do before automobiles?" she asked. "Where do you think "horsepower" came from?"

In four-in-hand competitions, the team is led by two "leaders" in the front and two "wheelers" in the back. On Jan. 9, her team included Morro and Marley in the front and Mr. Arie and Alonzo in the back.

"The leaders are special horses, typically slightly smaller horses, and slightly showier," she said. "Sometimes they have a little more emotion.

"The wheelers are a little heavier, and they do all the work."

While she said she shouldn't have a favorite horse, she does in Alonzo.

"He is just so reliable for me in all the competitions in combined driving, all three stages. We are fortunate to have a special bond."