At the age of 23, Reed Kessler’s legendary Olympic partner Cylana (Skippy II x Darco) has passed away. Together, Kessler and Cylana made history in 2012 when Reed became the youngest showjumper ever to compete at the Olympic Games, the same summer she turned 18.
Between 2011 and 2016, Kessler and Cylana formed one of the sport’s most celebrated partnerships. Their breakout year came in 2012, when they won the U.S. Olympic Trials, the U.S. National Open Jumping Championship, and the CSI3-W 1.60m World Cup of Washington*. A year later, the pair triumphed in the CSI5 Queen Elizabeth II Cup* at Spruce Meadows, following several podium finishes at the venue, and closed their season with victories in Munich and Stuttgart.
Their success continued with runner-up finishes in the CP International Grand Prix (2014) and the RBC Grand Prix (2015), both at Spruce Meadows. In their final season together, 2016, they captured two wins in the CSI5 1.50m WEF Challenge Cup* in Wellington.
In 2016, Cylana was sold to the Hymowitz family, where she continued competing up to three-star Grand Prix level with Cloe Hymowitz, before her sister Lilli took over the reins. In 2020, after retiring from competition, Cylana returned home to Kessler for her well-earned retirement.
In a heartfelt tribute, Kessler reflected: “What to say about someone that has had such a profound impact on your life—and left an even bigger mark on the sport and on little girls everywhere who watched us and said, ‘I’m going to go to the Olympics too.’ No one is luckier than me to have been paired with you.”
Cylana spent her final years happily retired in Virginia with Elizabeth Boylan and her old stablemates. Surrounded by those who loved her most, she passed peacefully. “Saying goodbye to you is like saying goodbye to a piece of myself,” Kessler wrote. “I’ll see you on the other side, my friend."
