Many people, friends included, call me Riva. In years past I used to correct them, but now I just smile and nod. Yes, that’s me, I think. After all, Riva’s Remedies really is me, and I am Riva’s Remedies – besides it’s a great name and, as we shall see, an even greater lineage.

Riva is actually the name of my horse. She is a 1997 registered “appendix” quarter horse, a beautiful sorrel mare with a great deal of speed, lots of fire, and an unusual attitude. When Riva came into my life as a five-month-old foal, she was already confined to a stall in a show barn in Oregon. Once I made the decision to purchase her, the kids and I drove six hundred kilometres the next day to pick her up. She leaped into the back of the horse trailer, surprising the previous owners and the barn managers with her agility since she had never jumped before – not much opportunity to practice in a stall! But she made it clear that she wanted to come home with us and join our family to live a freer and more natural life.

I’ll be the first to admit that our relationship had many ups and downs as I had much to learn from this magnificent fire-driven creature. She was impatient, insecure, and complex, and she bottled up all of her emotions and feelings, only to explode later on from the smallest of triggers. I often went home with my tail between my legs, while hers was straight up in the air. Oh yes, our relationship was anything but boring. She smashed wall mirrors, attacked other mares that she didn’t like, used her back feet like double barrels, and struck out at anything that was in her way if the mood suited her.

But there was also a gentleness about her too. She understood emotions, and she frequently displayed an unusual tenderness toward little children and adult beginners. She also turned out to be my biggest mentor and, over the years, helped transform me from an ordinary rider to a courageous rider – from a mere handler of horses to a skilled horsewoman. But the most profound lessons she taught me were emotional ones as I learned to cope with her many behavioural challenges. At first, I would meet her at her own level of impatience and frustration, and later, when that didn’t work, I was forced to reassess my approach. It had to be about psychology, I told myself, and knew it was time to strengthen both her emotional fitness and my own so that I could be a different kind of role model for both of us.

I remember one day, not long after coming to this realization – I was standing in the outdoor arena with Riva after one of her explosions and coming face to face with her unwillingness to be my partner. I took a deep breath and I looked her right in the eye.

“From this time on,” I said, “no matter what you do, how you react, or how much attitude you show, you will never again cause me to raise my energy or my blood pressure. Our old relationship is over, Riva, and we are going to build a new one.”

Something passed between us that day, and it was as if we flicked a switch. From that day forward, our relationship became calmer and more harmonious. And she tried harder too as I continued to practice something I had always known in my human relationships; that in order to improve any relationship one must first improve oneself.

And here we still are, twenty-one years later. We’re not perfect, and she can still hit air with all four feet off the ground and twist and buck before landing, but at least I’m not on top of her. And she is still very private and chooses the days when she wants to be touched or stroked. But underneath all that fire, she has a tremendously big heart – as ‘fire’ types often do – and her compassionate portrait is what graces our ever-popular Riva’s Remedies homeopathic labels.

But Riva has her own story to tell, an ancestral one, and it all starts with Riva Ridge, an outstanding racehorse with floppy ears and a kind eye from The Meadow, a then struggling stable in Caroline County, Virginia. He was foaled in 1969 with big hopes of being just what the stable needed to ensure its continued existence – and he did not disappoint.

Riva Ridge was mainly ridden by hall of fame Canadian jockey Ron Turcotte, and he could run like a deer. In thirty lifetime starts, Riva Ridge won seventeen races and earned $1,111,497. He had a championship season as a two-year-old, and in 1972 won both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes during which he defeated nine other horses, running away to a seven-length victory. As a four-year-old Riva Ridge won five out of nine races, set track records four times, equaled the 1⅛ mile track record at Suffolk Downs, and set world records at the Brooklyn Handicap.

And then Secretariat (Big Red) arrived.

Secretariat was foaled at The Meadow in 1970, and the two horses were known as the “Gold Dust Twins”. Both Riva Ridge (named after a ski run in Vail, Colorado) and Secretariat were owned by the remarkable Penny Chenery Tweedy, and both wore the blue and white checks of Meadow Stables. The incredible Secretariat was America’s Super Horse, Triple Crown Winner 1973, and setter of various race records which still stand today.

Riva Ridge finished his racing career in 1974 as a four-year-old, but his most memorable race that year was the day he faced off against Secretariat in a 1⅛ mile contest. And while Riva Ridge beat out a lot of good horses that day on the wet turf, he lost to Secretariat by three lengths. However, both horses broke a record that day!

“The saddest day for me,” said Penny, “was when Riva Ridge lost to Secretariat. I have the greatest admiration for Secretariat, but I love Riva Ridge.”

It was Penny who nicknamed the affectionate stallion the “Golden Boy.” Penny loved them both, but she was bonded to Riva Ridge who also had the distinction of saving Meadow Stables from the auction block by bringing home a half million dollars in winnings as a two-year-old. For this reason, Riva Ridge is also credited for paving the way to Secretariat’s Triple Crown win.

“He was fast, thankfully, because Meadow Stable badly needed a winner, and he did whatever was asked of him as best he could. We didn’t always make the wisest decisions for him. He didn’t always win. His two-year-old championship saved the farm for us, and I loved him dearly. He was available to be loved – my pal and hero.”

In 1973 Riva Ridge was syndicated for stud at $5.12 million and stood in Kentucky for his entire breeding career. He was elected to the American Racing Hall of Fame in 1998. Riva Ridge died suddenly in 1985 at the age of sixteen as an unsung hero, Secretariat’s shadow, and the forgotten champion. He was buried in a full-size oak coffin.

But the great Riva Ridge will never be forgotten here because he is my Riva’s great grandsire. My Riva is papered as Zipezriva (and has a fifteen-year-old dun daughter named Riva’s Little Remedy). As I explained in a letter to Ron Turcotte a few years back, Riva, as the business namesake, is a winner to every one of the tens of thousands of horses who have improved their health with her remedies. So you see, Riva’s Remedies hails from a long line of champions and is a name that I will gladly answer to.

~ Marijke

Riva was laid to rest on Thursday, July 07th, 2022 at 11:11 am at 25 years of age surrounded by love and a deep reverence for the spirit of the horse.

 ZIPEZRIVA (RIVA) 

Beloved Horse, Namesake, & Healer 

Riva inspired tens of thousands of people and horses and was a major part of Riva’s Remedies successes in helping horses all around the world. She was one of a kind, and we know that her healing spirit lives on to help many more horses and pets.