Emily Wagner-Miles' WakeUp Passed Away

Dressage

U.S.A.

American Grand Prix rider Emily Miles (née Wagner) said goodbye to her career starting FEI horse, WakeUp.

Wakeup was an 18-year old American warmblood by Wagnis out of Maiden Montreal (by Macho). He was bred by Beverly McLean in Augusta, USA.

Triple U.S. Champion

WakeUp became one of America's national dressage stars, bred, reared and trained in the U.S.A. He also won several of America's biggest national titles.

The black stallion was acquired as a 3-weeks old colt by the Wagner family, who is based at Wally Woo Farm in La Cygne, Kansas, and trained by Emily and her mom Jana Wagner fro the start.

He first came into the picture in 2010 when he was selected to represent the USA at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden, where the pair finished fourth in the 5-year old consolation finals.

In 2011 the pair won the U.S. Young Horse Championships for 6-year olds. He tied in first place with a total of 8.736 points with Caroline Roffman's Bon Chance, but the tie was broken in favour of Wakeup thanks to him being born and bred in the U.S.A.

At the 2015 U.S. Developing Grand Prix
Horse Championship

In 2013 the duo won the Developing Prix St Georges Horse Championships and two years later he claimed his third major national title, the U.S. Developing Grand Prix horse Champion.

Wakeup made his international small tour debut in 2013 at the CDI Lexington, where he won the Inter I kur. He also competed at the 2013 and 2014 CDI Estes Park in Colorado.

Untimely Passing

In 2014 Miles got a grant to train in Europe, where WakeUp pulled a suspensory. The road to recovery was long with returning, niggling injuries. He also underwent splint bone removal surgery before returning to full fitness.

In 2018 Miles rode him in two national shows, before making a come back to the international arena, in January 2019, at Temecula, where he scored 67.043 and 66.979% percent in the Grand Prix and Special. It was his last CDI as Emily retired him from sport that year at age 16.

Wakeup unfortunately passed away on 18 July 2021.

"He had a hernia which caused an impaction colic," Emily told Eurodressage. "He went through surgery with some complications but was recovering well and two weeks after he had adhesions of the small intestines which caused another impaction at which point he wasn’t a candid for surgery again. We we absolutely shocked and devastated."

Described as "the poster child for the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s young horse and developing horse pipeline throughout his career," Wakeup was Miles' career starting dressage horse.

"He taught me so much, gave me so many opportunities. I owe him," she stated.