Gina Miles is on the Board of Directors of Horse Park at Woodside. She won an Olympic Silver Medal in 2009 and was named “Eventing Horseman of the Year.” She is chairman of the U.S. Eventing Association’s Professional Horseman’s Council and the Eventing Standards Task Force.

Gina Miles is on the Board of Directors of Horse Park at Woodside. She won an Olympic Silver Medal in 2009 and was named “Eventing Horseman of the Year.” She is chairman of the U.S. Eventing Association’s Professional Horseman’s Council and the Eventing Standards Task Force.

When she was 10, Gina attended the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and had aspired to compete at the Games ever since. She worked her way from the Hobby Horse Pony Club to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Young Rider Program, also serving as a working student for David Adamo in Petaluma, Calif. She then began riding with Brian and Lisa Sabo while earning her crop science degree at California Polytechnic State University. They helped her attain her A Pony Club rating and compete at the 1993 North American Young Riders Championships, where she placed sixth individually.

After college, Gina and husband Morgan took over the management of Thom Schulz and Laura Coats’ Rainbow Ranch in Creston, Calif. Schulz and Coats would soon after unite Gina with their 5-year-old Irish Sport Horse, McKinlaigh.

During the next 10 years, Gina had Austin, McKinlaigh began competing, and Taylor later joined the crew. Schulz also shared his passion for planes with Morgan, who’s currently in the process of joining the California Highway Patrol’s Pilot Division.

Unstinting support from Morgan, who has made countless trips across the country with a horse trailer, as well as from her mother, owners and friends, has allowed Gina to compete all over the world with McKinlaigh, eventually culminating in their Olympic medal. After a decade together, she said her bond with the horse is nearly telepathic.

“The two of you are just going, and you know what the other one is going to do,” she said. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s the most fun ever. Every course is just such a real pleasure.”