Renegade Champion

“If you buy that horse, you’re buying your daughter’s death warrant,” Jane Pohl’s father was warned at the army barracks in the spring of 1941. But the potential that his teenage daughter Jane saw in the small, temperamental Thoroughbred was enough to convince him otherwise.

Earlier that year, when Fitzrada arrived at the army base where Jane’s family lived, the horse was stubborn, unpredictable, and dangerous. Any man who dared addle him up soon found himself face down in the dirt. Jane, excited to ride any horse and up for the challenge, had the most success with Fitz. She was patient and consistent, and the horse responded well at last, showing a great affinity for jumping. Then, inexplicably, a terrible riding accident resulted in serious injuries for both Jane and Fitz, and the army decide that it was time to destroy the horse. Heartbroken, Jane pleaded with her reluctant father: the only way to save Fitz was to buy him from the army.

Jane Pohl’s foresight proved to be correct. Jane and Fitz went on to take the Virginia show-jumping circuit by storm, winning 37 jumper and 6 hinter championships. At a time when women were rarely seen in jumping classes at horse shows and were not taken seriously by male competitors, Jane and Fitz helped to break down barriers against women riders competing in the Olympics. In 1946, Jane and Fitz found themselves at the Jumper Championship at the prestigious National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden—the highest jumping title in North America. The road there for horse and rider was a five-year test of faith, patience, and understanding friendship.

Foreword by Rita Mae Brown
Part I
Chapter 1: Jump-Off in the Big League
Chapter 2: Independent to the End
Chapter 3: A Good Horse Turns Outlaw
Chapter 4: Learning from Calvary Sergeants
Chapter 5: A Death Sentence from Jane
Chapter 6: Lost in Transit
Chapter 7: Drowning in Quicksand
Part II
Chapter 8: Honeysuckle to Skyscrapers: Fitz’s Debut
Chapter 9: Against All Odds: The 1946 National
Chapter 10: The “Young Girls” Take on the Pros
Chapter 11: Horse Sense Deserts Jane
Chapter 12: In the Spotlight
Chapter 13: Shotgun Wedding
Chapter 14: The Way Out
Chapter 15: From the Garden to the Pasture
Part III
Chapter 16: Sowing Seeds
Chapter 17: An Empty Stall
Chapter 18: The Investigation
Chapter 19: Last Class
Chapter 20: The Next Great Adventure