Ms. Jacqueline B. Mars accepting the R. Bruce Duchossois Distinguished Trustee Award at the 2017 Gold Medal Club Reception with Tucker Johnson (left) and Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. (right). Photo courtesy of the USET Foundation.

Ms. Jacqueline Mars, a beloved longtime supporter of the sport of eventing, was awarded the USEA President’s Lifetime Achievement Award during the virtual USEA Year-End Awards Ceremony on Friday. Ms. Mars has been involved with countless facets of the eventing industry, supporting the careers of riders such as Karen and David O’Connor, Lauren Nicholson, and Hannah Sue Burnett, breeding quality sport horses, administering millions in grant funding to further U.S. eventing, and much more. She is a true champion of and believer in the sport of eventing and has never missed a chance to put her full weight behind that belief.

“It is perhaps her emotional and physical support that means the most to us,” USEA president Max Corcoran said during the ceremony, which can be viewed in its entirety here. “Having her at the events both local and international watching and cheering her horses on, whether it’s Beginner Novice or at a five-star event, she’s always there to lend a hand, to give a pat on the shoulder, wipe away a tear, or celebrate a victory.”

“She is compassionate and encouraging,” Max continued. “It is not just her own horses she celebrates, but the victories of all competitors. She is a true supporter of the sport at every level and we are so lucky to have her presence. She is willing to share her wisdom gained from years of experience being around horses and always stays on the forefront of wanting more for the sport, for both horses and riders.”

Ms. Mars was inducted into the USEA Hall of Fame in 2015 and was awarded the USET Foundation’s R. Bruce Duchossois Distinguished Trustee Award in 2017

Please join us in congratulating Ms. Mars on this award and in thanking her for her ongoing generosity and unwavering support of our sport. Go Eventing.

What comes to mind if I were to tell you to picture the origins of equestrian sport? In my mind’s eye, that origin looks a little something like this:

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The roots of the sport of eventing, among others, are heavily military-driven. Originally designed as a fitness and suitability test for cavalry horses and the officers riding them, the sport of eventing has since evolved into the iteration of the sport that we see today after first becoming an Olympic sport in 1912 (and even then, only open to amateur riders in the military). It’s a noble beginning for any sport, but there is one undercurrent worth noting: cavalry riders were men, the officers training them were men. Indeed, a woman would not enlist in the U.S. military for the first time until 1917; women were not made a permanent part of the military until 1948. Even throughout the sport’s evolution, its foundational male influence can be seen in the way we now think about and train our horses.

This year, three women are setting out to show the world that there is another way – “how women do it” – and in the process, they hope to create more empowered, confident female riders ready to accomplish their goals and conquer their fears.

The C-6 Equestrian Energy for Confidence and Connection symposium series is the result of a collaboration between sport psychologist Dr. Jenny Susser, PhD, international dressage rider Mette Larsen, and international event rider Sinead Halpin. Jenny and Mette had begun teaching clinics together previously, and it was at one such event that Sinead was first introduced to the concept of energy-focused teaching.

“I was so moved by the energy, so impressed by the concepts,” Sinead recalled. “The funny thing is, I wasn’t one of those people who felt strongly about or felt influenced by the presence of men – until that clinic. Things there just felt totally different – not better or worse, just different.”

Sinead, who together with her husband, Tik Maynard, live in the same area of Citra, Fl. as Jenny and Mette, asked if there was a way she could be involved in the clinics in the future. After a few brainstorming sessions, the women emerged with a powerful new idea and a way to promote the concept to an even wider audience. The group has since signed a production deal with Horse & Country TV, who will film and produce the first Energy for Confidence and Connection in Horsewomen symposium, happening January 23-24, for distribution on its streaming platform.

The Six Cs

At the core of the teaching and the symposium lie the six Cs, the core values around which the three women chose to build their messaging.

• Confidence
• Connection
• Commitment
• Communication
• Community
• Culture

“For 10 years, I’ve been helping scared, terrified, self-punishing women,” Jenny explained. She described how a male-driven, male-originating model of training that encourages strength and brawn over compassion and connection can create less confident riders. “What these women have done is they’ve had to violate their own instincts. The idea of strength and force is a model that doesn’t fit – it’s like wearing a man’s shoe.”

Of course, this isn’t intended to label all male-driven training models as wrong; indeed, there are countless examples of compassionate male trainers, and much of the foundation of horse training centers around a relationship and partnership with the horse. However, the reality is quite simple: women understand women, and from this place of mutual understanding emerges a different school of thought, a different way to find solutions rather than simply adhering to what’s always been done.

Mette drove the notion of compassion and connection with the horse home as she recounted her early riding days and how her career has shaped her current path. “I don’t think I’ve ever used the word ‘submission’,” she explained. “Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t want my horses to work hard. I want them to perform, but I want them to leave the arena feeling like they weren’t ‘done to’, that they were an active, engaged participant. So many of the dressage clinics I attended through the years were so much about ‘don’t let them get away with that’ or ‘make him listen to you’ – all very dominant concepts. And that kind of ride can leave you feeling bad after a hard ride.”

How many times have we all gotten off our horses after a particularly difficult ride, feeling like we’ve let them down? Maybe we’ve struggled, maybe we’ve “made” the horse do something, but at the end of the day we don’t feel like we’re on the same page, and this leads to guilt. “That’s not love,” Mette said. “We always want our horses to feel ‘with us’, even after a hard work.”

This is where the C-6 symposiums will differ. “We didn’t even want to use the word ‘clinic’ as we know that even just the word can elicit a negative connotation,” Jenny said. “And it’s really about tools and using them well. You can use a tool well, but it also depends on who is swinging the hammer, which is where our model comes in. We may use the same tools as a man, but we’ll use them differently.”

The symposium will take place with a small group of riders and will include riding demonstrations, candid conversation sessions, and riding instruction with an eye to connect to each rider and help them through their uncertainties. The group also plans to host regular clinics beyond this month and add virtual options in order to reach as many riders as possible.

Sinead says her visit to that first clinic Jenny and Mette invited her to changed her life, and now the group is working furiously to share what they’ve discovered – and seen the results of – with a larger audience. They hope the project will empower more women to feel safe, seen, and heard. Indeed, this has already begun: as word spreads about the project, more women reach out, eager to finally feel understood.

“The thing we don’t get, especially as women, is to explore what the relationship to ourselves means,” Jenny said. “And whatever sort of fishbowl you’ve been raised in shapes what you believe that you’re supposed to think about yourself. You should be confident, quiet, calm, reserved – whatever it is. And when internal doesn’t match external, you get problems. So what we do is work with people to help them bring out some of that – our swirling private voice that is just so bad to ourselves – and understand how to manage it, to understand that there is another way.”

For the most current information about C-6 Equestrian, follow them on Facebook here.

Tamie Smith & No App For That. Photo by Kim Miller.

Whether or not you subscribe to the idea of New Year’s resolutions, the idea of a “fresh start” brought about by the turning of the calendar is enough to get any goal-oriented individual thinking about what’s next. On the opposite side of the see-saw, however, lies the inherent fact that in life, things tend not to go according to plan. Add horses into the mix and, well, you might be better throwing a handful of darts at the wall in hopes one might stick.

All of this to say: making – and keeping – resolutions tends to be…challenging. Indeed, statistics show that about 80 percent of resolutions made on January 1 tend to fail. If you’re struck by the depressing nature of that statistic, you aren’t alone – but there’s also hope. We had a conversation with renowned sport psychologist Daniel Stewart, well-known for his work within the equestrian community, to help our fellow eventers set their “GPS” for the year ahead.

Tiana Coudray and Cabaret. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The GPS Approach: Goal, Problem, Solution

“For starting the new year, there’s a technique called ‘GPS’, or ‘Goal, Problem, Solution,” Daniel explained. “Everyone has goals, short and long-term. And generally, they say that the majority of goals are only 60 to 80 percent likely to happen. If a goal is 100 percent likely to happen, that goal is not ‘uncomfortable’ enough. So there is going to be something between you and your goals: a problem. And what we do too often is focus entirely on the goal itself, closing our eyes and becoming blind to the problem standing between us and that goal.”

For those who try to subscribe to a manner of positive thinking, this problem-focused mentality seems counter-intuitive. Let’s look at this concept in riding terms – and yes, it is as simple as it sounds.

“Say my goal is to learn how to do a flying change,” Daniel said. “The ‘goal’ is to do the change. The ‘problem’ is that my horse doesn’t yet do flying changes. The ‘solution’ is to start working on these changes. When you begin to incorporate work on half-halts, simple changes, canter departs, and so on, then the likelihood of achieving that goal develops. By identifying and focusing on this problem, you then achieve the goal.”

Having the courage to be vulnerable, to truly identify the ‘problem’ part of the equation, Daniel says, is the sweet spot. “This is the one exception to the rule of thinking positive,” he explained. “We have the courage to be vulnerable and allow ourselves to search out problems that stand between us and our goals, and when we identify that problem we work entirely to solve it. It’s when we lose that vision and it’s only all about the goals that we never solve the problem.”

Erin Kellerhouse and Woodford Reserve. MGO Photography Photo.

Finding Our Fears

In his forthcoming book, his fourth on equestrian sport psychology, Daniel writes about a deeper side of mental coaching. “My first books were more pump you up, cheerleader type books,” he explained. “This one even surprised me; it goes deeper into mindfulness and awareness and the need to have a definition for our rational and irrational fears. The book addresses some deeper concerns – envy, shame, fear of failure, making mistakes – and I do my best to deliver the important information in such a way that perhaps we can see some brightness and humor attached to those things that make us fearful.”

We’ll dive more into the concept of fear and how it affects us as riders in a future column, but for now take a moment to go a little deep within yourself. It may feel uncomfortable, but ask yourself these questions:

• What do I fear as a rider?
• What do I fear as a human?
• What are my short-term goals for the new year?
• What are the problems standing between me and these short-term goals?
• What are my long-term goals?
• What are the problems standing between me and these long-term goals?

Write these answers down – this helps not only with accountability but also helps you separate swirling thoughts from logical reasoning. Coach Stewart will be contributing to future columns here on EN on the topic of improving our mental strength for riding, so stay tuned for much more.

If you’re interested in learning more from Daniel Stewart, you’re in luck! He’s currently booking virtual webinars aimed at helping all riders find their true potential. Click here to learn more about booking or participating in a webinar.

There are some stories that just seem to stick with us, and one of “that little girl”, Alexiea Blake, first captured our hearts five years ago in the story “A Little Girl Finds Love in Amy Tryon’s Former Ride”. We’ve enjoyed updates on Alexiea and her love of eventing that first surfaced standing by the cross country warm-up at Richland Park in 2015, and this Christmas it feels perfectly fitting to add another chapter.

Lauren Ferguson and Alexiea Blake with Leroi. Photo by Jennifer Blake.

Alexiea Blake first met Kentucky-based Lauren Ferguson in 2015 when she was enraptured by Lauren’s ride, Landretti, one of the last remaining horses from the late and great Amy Tryon’s competitive string. “Alexiea was just ‘stuck’,” her mother, Jennifer Blake, recalls now. “After Lauren came over and offered to let her pet her horse, I don’t think I could get her to move.”

Jennifer remembers a gut feeling washing over her as she watched her then-eight-year-old daughter rooted in the spot, transfixed by the horse in front of her. It wasn’t just the general atmosphere or the multitude of horses in the warm-up – it was that specific horse.

What transpired from there is a story both Jennifer and Lauren love to relive even now, years later. Talking to each of them separately, they tell the story exactly the same, a sign of how well they remember their chance meeting and how much they mean to each other now. Jennifer had, much to her chagrin, gone on an all-out barn stalking mission with Alexiea after the cross country had concluded that day, looking for the rider they’d met in the warm-up. After an unsuccessful search, Jennifer was able to locate Lauren’s email address and sent her a quick message, unsure of whether the rider would see or respond to it. Yet a few hours later, stuck on the side of the road with a blown tire, Lauren scrolled through her emails and came upon Jennifer’s.

“I was actually hiding in the corner of the warm-up at Richland because I was running a little early on ‘Leroi’ and I didn’t want him to get nervous,” Lauren says with a laugh as she recalls the meeting from her point of view. “I looked over and little Alexiea and Jen were standing there and Alexiea just had these stars in her eyes looking at the horse. So later when I was reading Jen’s email, I knew I wanted to reach back out and we have just kept in touch from there.”

Alexiea Blake and Leroi. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Blake.

And so, the two families became fast friends, quickly turning phone conversations into weekend trips down to Lauren’s farm in Lexington to groom at a competition or just spend time around Leroi and the other horses. Alexiea, meanwhile, began eventing herself, making her Beginner Novice debut last year. The Blake family has gone on to build horse facilities onto their sprawling property in Michigan, room to grow with Alexiea’s riding goals. But there was some extra room at the farm that could use some filling – another lucky coincidence, as fate would have it yet again.

“I absolutely love that horse,” Lauren says of Leroi, the 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, who was sent to her to ride by Amy’s husband, Greg, following her passing in 2012. “He can be a little tricky, but I absolutely just fell in love with him. But he wasn’t super brave with the jumping, and he got very frazzled with the pressure. He’s very sweet – he’s perfect on the ground – but the pressure just gets to him.”

As Leroi’s competitive career began to wind down, Lauren made the decision to retire the gelding for a less demanding life. While she had the ability to give him a retirement home herself, a thought occurred to her. Just a few hours north lived a girl who loved this horse more than anything. Could she and Jennifer pull off an epic surprise?

After a few calls and arrangements were made – Greg Tryon gave his blessing to sign the ownership of Leroi over to Alexiea – Lauren loaded up the gelding and headed north. Jennifer had told her daughter the news earlier and Alexiea, though typically one to keep her emotions in check, could hardly believe her ears. “Seriously? Can he come home?” she asked her mother.

“Well, it’s 2020,” Jennifer laughs as she recalls the conversation now. “So we said, ‘why not?’”

Alexiea Blake with Leroi. Photo by Jennifer Blake.

There wasn’t much of a dry eye to be found when Lauren arrived at the Blake’s farm, Leroi in tow. The bill of sale, for a price of one dollar which Alexiea proudly handed over to Lauren as Leroi’s official new owner, was signed and Leroi was, at last, home to stay with his own little girl.

Alexiea tells her mother that she wishes she could have met Amy Tryon, who undoubtedly would be smiling at this turn of events with one of her beloved horses. For Lauren, finding the perfect soft landing for a horse that represented so much to her – she’d spent over six years working for, traveling the world with, learning from Amy – was the ultimate goal. “Amy loved that horse so much,” Lauren says. “And for me he is a connection to one of my longtime mentors and friends. Lex had always wanted him and when they had the room to take him, I just thought this is exactly what Amy would have wanted.”

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Blake.

It’s an equally special ending for the Blakes, who say that the whole story began with just the five minutes that Lauren took to say hi to Alexiea during that chance meeting at Richland and, later, to respond to her email. “It’s made all of us better people,” Jennifer says of the ever-growing network the family has been lucky to be a part of within the eventing community. “It’s given my daughter a lot of opportunities, and we’re so incredibly grateful. I think the horses – and Leroi in particular – have made all of us better people.”