These days, we often view each other’s lives through the lens of a highlight reel, glimpsing the incredible trips, impressive jumps, and moments we’re proud enough to share on social media. What we don’t often discuss is the immense pressure this places on athletes on both ends of the news feed. Whether professional or not, riders feel compelled to post content that portrays them as cool and successful. As consumers of this content, we are left with a distorted perception that the sport is easy and that failure might suggest one isn’t cut out for it. These interviews are part of my mission to shed light on the reality of the challenges faced by everyone, regardless of their level, at some point in their journey.
On this edition of Between the Ears, I caught up with CCI5* rider Ema Klugman. At just 26 years old, Ema boasts an impressive resume of horses that she has produced herself. She was the highest-placed youngest rider at the Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2021 with her self-made horse Bendigo, and recently added a successful completion of the same event on Bronte Beach, another horse she produced herself. If that’s not enough, Ema also has an impressive resume outside the saddle. She holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University and recently completed her J.D. from the George Washington University of Law in May of this year. How does she do it all? Let’s go Between the Ears to find out…
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Ema Klugman and Slieve Callan Alpha. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Can you give us a brief history of your career and how you got into eventing?
I guess my journey really started in Australia because my mum had a keen interest in horses when she was growing up, but I didn’t ride when I was really little. My brother and I truly caught the horse bug when our family moved to Nairobi, Kenya, for a couple of years. During that time, we leased ponies and participated in pony club, which got us hooked on riding.
When we returned to Washington, D.C., we continued riding and joined a local pony club. Although I hadn’t done eventing per se in Kenya, we had done some cross-country and plenty of show jumping. Once I started eventing, I realized it was the most fun sport you could do on a horse. I’ve been eventing at the FEI levels since I was about 16. It’s an amazing sport that demands a ton of work, but it’s incredibly addictive.
You’ve managed to balance your education and professional pursuits with your riding career. Why did you choose this dual path, and how has it been to juggle those interests?
In my family, there wasn’t a question about whether I’d do both education and riding – it was always clear that we valued education. I wanted to go to college, and I continued riding during that time. I had Bendigo, who would eventually become my first 5* horse, and a horse called Joker’s Win, at the time, and we were stepping up to the advanced level on both of those horses. I worked with my trainer, the late Packy McGaughan, during high school, who was an amazing mentor and coach, and I got to check in with him during school breaks, but a lot of my riding was done on my own. Riding advanced horses with little experience at that level was a bit nuts, but it was also empowering and I think it taught me a lot of important lessons.
If you’re just focusing on one thing, you can get really good at it, but I think you can still get very good at something if you are multitasking. In my brain, I think of it more as task-switching (rather than multi-tasking), meaning I put my brain in a different mode for school and for the barn.t is a lot to manage, but I got good at focusing on what needed to be done for either. When you think about it, there are very few riders who just ride and compete– most are running a business, doing sales, and teaching lessons– you sort of have to do a second thing to make the business work. I’m not that different, it’s just that my “other thing” has been college and law school, and soon it will be working as an attorney.
Ema Klugman and Bronte Beach Z. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Have you ever lost your confidence in riding or competing? How did you overcome it?
Yes, several times. One notable instance was in 2018 when I qualified for the four-star long at Bromont. I went to the competition without a solid plan, and the course was huge. I ended up crashing my horse in the arena, got concussed, and felt pretty shaken. However, with some recovery and the help of my coach, Packy, I got back to training. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and that I was a better rider than I was that day. We practiced specific challenges, like big downhill jumps, to rebuild my confidence, and I was able to compete at Great Meadow successfully for my next event, which was only about a month later. One thing I learned from crashing at Bromont is that I gain confidence from having a really good plan. Having a good plan doesn’t guarantee that everything will go perfectly, but it makes it much more likely that you will have a successful competition.
Confidence isn’t just about recovering from falls; it’s also about competence. Practicing and improving your skills is crucial. Sometimes you need to step down a level and work on basics to regain confidence. It can be difficult to build confidence and competence for jumping around the big courses when you can’t necessarily practice them all the time, but as a rider, you have to be disciplined to prepare in a way that helps you go to an event without questioning if you’ll be successful.
What are your thoughts on burnout, and how do you manage it?
I think that burnout can happen when there’s too much going on concurrently, making it hard to process everything. It can also happen when nothing seems to be going your way; just the feeling that everything, for some reason, is going wrong. I’ve had moments where I felt like I was on a treadmill, running without a break. The sport can be exhausting. However, I also thrive on being busy and having multiple goals. In a weird way, it helps me focus. I tend to have the opposite issue with burnout; I feel a little itchy if I don’t have enough to do, and I find it hard to relax if there’s no task at hand.
When things go wrong, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. However, having a clear goal and loving what you do can keep you motivated. There are days when riding feels like a job, especially if it’s freezing cold or pouring with rain, but pushing through those days is essential to achieving long-term goals.
Ema Klugman and Bendigo. Photo by Shelby Allen.
What advice would you give to someone in the sport facing adversity?
Remember that everyone, no matter their level, faces challenges. It’s easy to think top riders have it all together, but everyone deals with setbacks. I think it’s also important to remember that our sport isn’t very diverse, and we need to work on having some perspective on the types of adversity that we face. As a bit of an aside, I would love for our industry to find a way to be more inclusive. But try to keep it in the back of your head that the challenge and adversity that you have in this industry is one that you are privileged to have–many people don’t have access to the kind of lifestyle that we live as Equestrians.
If you’re struggling with resources or your horse’s performance, realize that not every horse is suited for top levels. It’s okay to recognize when a horse isn’t going to meet your expectations. Having a good coach who is honest about your horse’s potential is crucial. Financially, the sport can be accessible if you work hard and have the right support system. You don’t need a million-dollar horse to succeed; good training and good basics go a really long way.
It’s important to stand firm in who you are and what you’re doing. Keep chipping away at your goals, and don’t be afraid to reassess your situation if things aren’t working out. Every rider faces obstacles, but with determination, hard work, and a bit of creativity, you can overcome a lot of them. Eventing is a tough but gratifying sport, and loving what you do makes all the difference.
