Unlike its younger counterparts, this species does not inhabit the barn out of routine or proximity. No, it arrives by choice often after a full day spent navigating offices, obligations and the quiet chaos of adult life. And yet, here it is. Boots in hand. Coffee in tow. Heart already beating a little faster.

Observe closely.

There is a tension to its movements—not fear exactly, but a cautious respect for the thousand-pound partner it approaches. The adult amateur is both brave and aware of its own fragility. It knows the stakes. It has read the headlines, paid the bills, iced the injuries. And still, it swings a leg over into into the saddle.

A study in contradiction.

Watch as it warms up: a flicker of doubt passes through its posture, a question whispered in the language of tight shoulders and careful hands, "am I ready for this?" And yet—it's there. A deep breath. A quiet correction. It asks again. Tries again. There is no effortless confidence here, only something far more interesting.

Earned courage.

Further along the rail, you’ll notice others of its kind. They gather not in competition, but in camaraderie. A nod. A laugh. The exchange of small, sacred phrases:
“That felt better.”
“He’s being a bit strong today.”
“You’ve got this.”

These bonds are not loud, but they are unshakeable. A herd of sorts bound not by dominance, but by shared vulnerability.

Time, for this species, is a peculiar adversary.

It does not have endless hours to train. It steals them. Early mornings when the sky is still bruised with night. Late evenings under arena lights humming like distant stars. It fits riding into the margins of a life already full and treats those margins like gold.

And resilience… ah, yes. Perhaps its most defining trait.

For the adult amateur will fall. It will doubt. It will plateau in maddening, invisible ways. But unlike creatures driven by instinct alone, this one possesses something deeper: intention. It chooses to return. Again and again. To the saddle. To the challenge. To the quiet, stubborn pursuit of better.
And when it gets it right, even for a moment, the transformation is unmistakable.

The shoulders soften. The rhythm locks in. Horse and rider move as one, not through force, but through understanding.

It is fleeting. It is hard-won.

And it is everything.

God made the Adult Amateur…


to love the horse more than the sport.


to obsess over our show hair, whether under a helmet or cowboy hat.
​

to have a mild panic attack every time we see the vet calling.


to have support system from fellow Horse Girls™️ who “get it.” 


to keep trainers on their toes with our sometimes questionable decisions in the saddle.


to work hard so our horses can have a better life.


to ask our farrier, vet and trainer the same 1,001 questions just to get similar feedback.


to overanalyze every lesson and show, only to be better than we were yesterday.


And most importantly…


to live out our adolescent Horse Girl™️ dreams!

The last time you heard anything about my time with Zellie was last August after we won the Marshall & Sterling League Bit O'Straw Hunter Classic at HITS Commonwealth Park​ in Culpeper, Virginia. It was a great show for us as we had secured a class win in the Low Adult Hunters – our first blue ribbon over fences together – and they moved the Bit O'Straw Hunter Classic to the main hunter ring which I thought was AWESOME! An opportunity to ride in the main ring AND in a shadbelly? I'll take it!

We had a lovely first round of the classic. The second round was listed as a handy so I tried to be as smooth and handy as possible. I was impressed with Zellie on how rideable and soft she was. Apparently the judge was too giving us our highest ever score of an 85 and held the lead throughout the second round, securing the overall win!

I was on such a high after this show! Even more so a few weeks later in a Bernie Traurig. He loved Zellie and even rode her in a demo on the second day. She was FABULOUS and I was such a proud adult ammy owner of a young horse!

Fast forward another month and here's where the major adulting comes into play which would screw up the next year of my life. Don't worry, it was nothing horse related, thank goodness.

My husband noticed some soft spots in our master bathroom wall and called someone out to take a look at it. The culprit? The pipe/drain from our master shower had come completely detached from the house and was dumping all the water into our crawlspace. Great.

We made an insurance claim and had the pipe fixed. FYI if you don't know, homeowners insurance, at least our policy, does not cover the pipes, we had to come out of pocket for that fix. Anyway. Insurance scheduled a remediation company (name withheld for reason) to come out to deal with the standing water in the crawlspace and take a look at how extensive the damage was. 

Luckily we have a second bedroom we could sleep in as they demoed the bathroom and into the master bedroom. A tarp door was put up to help mitigate the noise from the dehumidifiers that were running nonstop. About a month into this, the damage was found to be so extensive that we had to get a field insurance adjuster to come out to evaluate. 

Turns out our ENITRE subfloor and about 2 ft of the bottom of the drywall throughout the house was compromised. We had to schedule moving out ALL of our household goods and find a place to live in the interim while remediation, demo and reconstruction was done. Insurance wanted to put us in a hotel and we said absolutely not with our three dogs. Especially not knowing how long we'd be there. We ended up in an Airbnb with a backyard for the dogs.

We had issue after issue with both the insurance company – our first agent was terrible at her job and I ended up screaming at her, not my finest moment, but it got the point across to her and her supervisors so much so that they assigned us a new agent – and the remediation/reconstruction company. Without getting into too much detail, they walked off the job then slammed us with a bill of "work" that was "completed." 

The work they claimed was complete was done so in a half-ass manner and in no way acceptable to how the home was pre-loss. It took MONTHS of negotiations before we settled with them for an amount a fraction of the initial bill all while the house sat empty and in complete disarray.  Then, it took about a month to find another contractor willing to complete the work.  

All this time, Zellie had been listed for sale so I was dealing with those emotions. 

All in all we spent SEVEN MONTHS IN THE AIRBNB from November 2023-May 2024. The house is still a little bit of a work in progress, but at least we're back in our own home. Shortly after moving back into our house, Zellie found an amazing new home local to us so we will still see her at  the Virginia/North Carolina/Maryland shows.

Equijet handled the transport logistics and they were wonderful. From right after purchase and his journey to Liege, Belgium to board his flight to JFK, through the quarantine process and shipping him to Steadfast Farm , my Equijet agent Neva was very communicative and answered all my questions.

​He was supposed to fly on Sunday, July 28. That flight was delayed to late Monday and that flight was delayed to Tuesday evening.  Each update from Neva about the travel delays, while unfortunate, was timely and descriptive. 

Ollie finally boarded the plane around 11 p.m. local time in Liege on Tuesday July 30 and made it to JFK and into USDA quarantine early morning EST Wednesday, July 31. 

Per a USEF email sent to membership June 6, 2024:

In 2021, the USEF Board of Directors approved a rule change that allows members from certain breeds and disciplines to accept modest remuneration for activities including teaching beginner riding lessons or serving as a social media brand ambassador or social media influencer without jeopardizing their amateur status. Currently, the portion of the rule that deals with teaching beginner riding lessons applies only to the Arabian, American Saddlebred, Andalusian/Lusitano, Morgan, National Show Horse, Paso Fino, Saddle Seat Equitation, and Western Divisions.

On May 21, 2024, US Equestrian received a request from the USHJA Board of Directors to include the Hunter, Jumper, and Hunter/Jumping Seat Equitation Divisions in the list of breeds and disciplines that allow amateurs to teach beginner riding lessons, subject to certain conditions, without jeopardizing their amateur status.

Additionally, USHJA requested that hunter, jumper, and equitation amateurs who are attending an accredited educational institution and serving in an internship position for course credit or as a result of course requirements be allowed to accept a stipend (at a rate that does not exceed the Federal minimum wage) and/or expense reimbursement during the period of their internship without compromising their amateur status.

As a result of USHJA’s request, US Equestrian has issued a Presidential Modification to GR1306.2.b. and GR1306.3.d.i (click here) adding the Hunter, Jumper, and Hunter/Jumping Seat Equitation to the divisions allowing these teaching and college internship activities. This Presidential Modification becomes effective with the start of the 2025 competition year. A standard rule change will be entered into the system for 2025 that will amend the rule accordingly within the rule book.

Presidential Modification Details
Starting December 1, 2024, in addition to the other permissible activities, amateurs in the Hunter, Jumper, and Hunter/Jumping Seat Equitation divisions may accept remuneration for teaching riding lessons under the following conditions:
a. The amateur must register with USEF prior to performing any instruction.
b. Total lesson time cannot exceed 20 hours per calendar week.
c. Lessons must be given under the oversight of a USEF Competing Member in good standing who is designated as a Professional.
d. Lessons cannot be conducted at a competition, including Federation Licensed Competitions and non-licensed competitions.
e. Student must be a beginner who has not competed and is not competing at any level of competition, and lessons must not exceed the basic beginner level.
f. Teacher must maintain a log of all lessons. Log must include lesson date, lesson time, and name of student.
g. A USEF Competition Member designated as a Professional must review the teacher’s log and verify its accuracy.
h. The teacher and professional are responsible and accountable for compliance with this rule.
i. USEF may request proof of compliance and refusal to provide such proof constitutes a violation of the rule.
Additionally, an amateur attending an accredited educational institution and who is serving an internship position with that institution may accept a stipend (at or below the Federal minimum wage rate) and/or reimbursement of expenses incurred during the internship. This opportunity is available only to students who have never held professional status with USEF or any other National Federation, and the internship must be related to college credit or course requirements. At the request of USEF, the student must provide certification from the accredited educational institution under the auspices the student is pursuing an internship to verify the internship is undertaken to meet course or degree requirements.

This tee was dreamed up by @oxers2oncology x @adultammystrong, brought to you by the little online store that really loves adult ammies, Left Lead Collective.

This comfy cotton tee features a sassy slogan on the front and silhouette of Sarah Caswell and her horse, Ocelot, on the back accompanied by the #AdultAmmyStrong hashtag.

There's no doubt this is the ultimate tee to show off your amateur pride!

Comes in sizes S-3XL and four colors: black, navy, charcoal and heather black.

After our last show at Loudoun, we decided to incorporate a weekly pro ride and break up my lessons into two a week where we'll focus on jumping in one and flatting in the other.  Zellie has been "easy" and I like to say that she came "pre-installed" with a lot of features. For example, we really didn't have to TEACH the lead change, it comes quite natural to her.  Her brakes are phenomenal and she mostly understands moving off the leg. An amateur's dream.

Now, with all that being said, Zellie is SMART.  Because she's so smart and she came with some features "pre-installed" I expect a lot from her despite her age.  Every ride, no matter if it's a jumping or flat lesson, or just a hack day, I start out with a nice walk warm up and incorporate some lateral work; moving left, moving right, etc. Typically there are no issues so I KNOW SHE KNOWS those aids. Some days it takes some time for her to abide, but there is rarely any disobedience at the walk.

I came across this quote from dressage rider Thomas Ritter and it really hit home after a hard flat lesson on Thursday before my trainer left with some horses to show in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The lesson was hard for both of us. Like I said, at the walk Zellie will move willingly off my leg in both directions. At the trot it gets dicey. We were working on circles and bending. During a circle to the left, I'd put my left leg on and she'd lean against me. I'd add outside (right) leg behind the girth to keep the circle and she'd go left. I get it. She's left handed. But why is it so much different at the trot from the walk?! Not to mention that any forward movement of my body in the saddle will make her suck back behind my leg then everything falls apart even more.  I get super frustrated because I KNOW SHE KNOWS.

To mitigate things, we worked on sitting trot a few steps to help collect her and get her to focus on her body more. It was hard for me because her trot has so much suspension that right now I don't feel super efficient sitting it for too long. *note: it's on the list of things to work on for me*

We definitely butt heads some times. She's a chestnut mare – enough said – and I'm a stubborn Taurus. Frustrations abound on both sides. While I know she knows, I have to work on being more clear and concise. I need to praise her when she does things correctly. I need to correct more accurately. I have to work on keeping my body back, leg on, reins steady and contact solid.

The list for me could go on and on, but Zellie also needs to develop a work ethic. The way we started her under saddle was slow and positive. Rides where short and doing something properly once was praised and rewarded with being done. I'm not at all upset at that as I believe it's best for the young ones. However, with Zellie's smarts and wit, she's learned that was one and done. Not any more baby girl, time to be a big kid! *yes, there are exceptions.

I know not everything will go smoothly and that there will be issues and setbacks. That's horses. With as many frustrations as I have sometimes, we always end our rides on a good note. I have to shake off whatever dissatisfaction I have and give a positive ride.

My last post about showing Zellie at WEC garnered some questions about how she was prepped and a little bit more of our daily routine, so here it goes!

*please do not offer training advice, I am working with very competent trainers and professionals. I'm sharing this because I was asked how I prepped Zellie to show.

We trailered to the show on Tuesday June 14, set up the stalls and ticketed in Grafton Ring 2. We went straight from the stall to the ring with no lunging. We walked into the ring with 10 or so other horses and riders and started flatting. While she was good, I felt she was a quite distracted by the surroundings and since the rings are close to the Route 50 I felt it best to add some ear plugs into the situation.  From then on I felt like I had her attention and we flatted quite nicely.

Zellie is not one to really be affected by the jumps themselves, but I walked her up to the jumps to let her take it all in. We started jumping and there were a few long spots, one flyer, but we were doing quite well. The singles and ins of the lines were set at 2'3" but most of the oxers were larger so for a few of the lines I just jumped the verticals.  One of the outside lines had both fences set at 2'3".

Right now, Zellie has a left bulge when jumping that I'm learning to ride through. As we approached a five-stride outside line set going home off the right lead she would bulge to the left and we'd jump in wonky. I would either have to woah and add or try to make it out on the real step.  Because she's still so green she can be wiggly down the lines which can make it harder for me an amateur to be accurate. A few of the times we attempted the real stride we jumped out L-O-N-G.

We ended on a good note and called it a day. I had a work call at 4 p.m. and thanks to my amazing barn family they helped me untack and bathe her so that I could make my call.

Wednesday morning was the first day of the USHJA 2'3" division. We would have two over fences rounds and the under saddle class.

Horses were fed at 5 a.m. and I got to the barn around 5:30. I cleaned the stall and filled water buckets then took her to lunge. We walked to the other end of the show grounds to lunge and she was nice and calm with no ear plugs.

I had to wait about 10 minutes to get into the lunging area. Zellie got a bit fidgety but was overall very well behaved. As soon as I let her loose on the lunge she bolted, bucked and farted. I praise that kind of behavior as I want to her know that this is the safe place for those kinds of antics. She quickly settled into the lunge session which lasted for a total of 10-15 minutes.

When I got back to the barn I put in her ear plugs and tacked up to hack in the ring. She walked through the showgrounds calmly again and marched into the ring. We had a very nice hack in the ring and I was back in the barn by 7 a.m.

After our hack I bathed her and let her sit in front of the fan to dry before I put her back in her stall. The ring was set to start at 8 a.m. with the USHJA 2'3" division going first. I gave Zellie a tube of Equine Elixers Sudden Comfort and let her chill in her stall until it was time to tack up. I was in the 5th rotation with a scheduled 30 horses to see. The ring started out S-L-O-W so I figured I'd be going later than anticipated. With five horses scratching they started calling for me to get to the ring ASAP. I hate that rushed feeling, but I was given plenty of time to warm up before heading into the ring.

Our over fences rounds weren't great. We had a some chips and long spots along with one missed lead change and a few times where I felt she was paying more attention to things outside the ring than to me. Could I have ridden better? Absolutely. So I was a bit disappointed in myself, but overall I was happy with her.

I dismounted and got ready for the under saddle class. This was one of the largest flat classes she's been in but handled it with grace. I was very happy with our ride. It was consistent and flowy. Something was wrong with the PA system and at certain parts in the ring we could not hear the announcers calls to change gait. The entire class kept looking around to see what the others were doing. When the class was called to line up in the center of the ring, we could still not hear the announcer. The judge, from behind us, helped by yelling out the results by back number. There were some very nice horses in the division and to my surprise we were SECOND!

We walked back to the barn, untacked, bathed and grazed for a while. She was poulticed and wrapped for the night, given ulcergard and a kiss good night.

Day two of the division was just one over fences round. The morning started out the same as on Wednesday: lunge, this time without the bolting, bucking and farting, and a hack in the ring. My division was first to start the day again so she was given another tube of Sudden Comfort and we waited for our time to tack up.

This time I watched the ring a bit closer as I knew there would probably be a few more scratches and I didn't want to be rushed. My trainer and I decided to get tacked up a little early and head to the ring to see if we could bump ourselves a few in the order.

She schooled well and I really tried to manage the left bulge. Day two's course started with a right-lead diagonal single going away from the gate on a short approach.  As we cantered up to it, I was thinking about managing the bulge but I could feel her not really paying attention to me so my default was to micro-manage the step and we ended up with a long spot to the first fence. The rest of the trip was ok. We added in each line so I could keep her attention but that back fired a little and she started jumping a little harder. We missed a lead change and counter cantered to an outside line. The last line, a right-lead diagonal coming home was very nice and we got a very smooth, clean change to end the trip.

I made some of the same mistakes on day two as I did on the first day, which annoyed me, but I knew this show would be a learning experience for both of us. I can confidently say that it was overall a very positive experience. We have quite a few things to work on, but that's riding, especially an amateur with a young horse.

I am committed to riding better to provide the best experience for Zellie as we grow together.

The rest of the week started similar to our show days with feeding, stall cleaning and hand walking. Two of the three days I hacked her. Once in the ring and the other day was a long walk around the show grounds. When she had time in her stall I was at the ring watching my barn mates show. It was actually quite nice to be the first rider done and sort of relax the rest of the week. I think Zellie enjoyed it as well!

Zellie will get a few days off then it's back to our regularly scheduled program. We will be adding in some pro rides and separate flat and jumping lessons. I'm not sure if we'll show again this year, but if we do it won't be until the fall.

I sat down with Jessie to ask her all about her equestrian dream wedding.

Tell me a little about yourself. Where do you live, day job, horse(s) you own/lease/ride, divisions you compete in, how you manage "real life" with riding and showing. What are your riding goals.

ANSWER: My husband and I just recently moved to Georgetown, Kentucky for my job. I am the Executive Office Coordinator for the United States Hunter Jumper Association. I also teach private music lessons virtually for Vibe Music Academy. 

We currently own one horse together, "Perfect Cadence," aka Caden, a 16-year old chestnut off-the-track Thoroughbred (OTTB). I show Caden in the 3' Adult Amateurs and TB Hunters at the A shows. Tyler has been riding for a few years now too and has goals of showing in the jumpers.

Managing riding and "real life" can be difficult at times, but I will say it has gotten easier moving to Kentucky because the barn is much closer to our home and the Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) hosts so many large, rated shows. Living here will now  help me reach my goals because before, every rated show was at least a two and a half hour drive away when we lived in Indianapolis. It was a large time commitment to leave for a week, have to use vacation days and a large monetary commitment when it came to paying for hotels. Now that KHP is in our backyard it will be much easier and cheaper to show, time and money wise. This year my goal is to compete in the World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) program. I also show IHSA Alumni in this region now and the shows are also much closer and more convenient. 

Tell me a little about your husband. Is he an equestrian as well? 

ANSWER: Tyler started riding a few years ago because we went to WEC Ohio and watched the grand prix one night and he thought the jumpers were super exciting. He is an adrenaline junkie, so he said he wanted to learn to ride and jump. His birthday present from me a few weeks later was boots, half chaps, and a helmet to get him started in his lessons. He is amazing with animals and all of the horses adore him. He has goals of doing the jumpers. Tyler is a full stack developer for PulseM and works fully remotely. This makes it easy to travel to shows because he can still work from wherever we are showing. He is a beautiful artist and loves hiking, camping, traveling, and the outdoors. 

How did he propose? Did you expect a proposal or did it come as a bit of a shock?

ANSWER: Tyler proposed in the back of his truck under the stars in Brown County State Park in Indiana. We were laying in the back of the truck looking at the stars when he pulled me up (I thought we were leaving) and there he was down on one knee holding my ring. At first I thought he was not going to say anything, but he finally did and asked me to marry him. I proceeded to cry and kiss him and completely forgot about putting the ring on for the first few minutes. We took some of our engagement pictures at the barn with our previous 5-year-old bay OTTB Dolce Dajio and the rest in Brown County State Park since that is where we got engaged.

How did wedding planning go? Did you always know you wanted an equestrian-themed wedding? Was your then-fiance ok with this theme? If not, did it take some convincing? 

ANSWER: Wedding planning was a process, especially with COVID happening. We got engaged on September 21, 2019 and had begun to plan our wedding for a date that included some of those numbers and landed on October 9, 2021. We had begun planning a normal wedding and had no idea we would have to navigate planning a wedding during a global pandemic.

Tyler knows that being an equestrian is a big part of my life that is very special to me. I have been riding since I was four years old and showing since I was six. My first horse (a chestnut OTTB of course) was my christmas present when I was seven and we had him for 18 years until he passed. He took me from my walk-trot days at local shows all the way through showing on the A circuit in my children's and junior days. I rode for my college's IHSA team and continued riding and showing after college on the circuit and as an IHSA Alumni. I have owned three OTTBs throughout my life, two with Tyler.

I don't even know who I would be without riding in my life so it was pretty clear my dream wedding was equestrian themed. Tyler embraced the idea and we settled on the Kentucky Horse Park as we had both been there as children. The ceremony was planned at the Man o' War statue because all of the OTTB's I have owned have had a little Man o' War blood in them. Little did we know at the time we would end up moving to Kentucky and my office would be at the horse park. We tried to make the details all equestrian themed; everything from the centerpieces being made out of old horse show ribbons, to custom ribbons from Hodges & Badge for the seating assignments and making a full-size personalized horse jump for our guest book. Horse show ribbons were even weaved throughout our floral vinery.

Tell me about your magical day!

ANSWER: It was absolutely perfect weather out at the park and honestly it was absolutely magical. I was marrying my best friend at my dream wedding venue. What more could I ask? We wanted the wedding to reflect who we are as a couple so we chose our favorite colors, our favorite shoes, our favorite music, and did things a bit untraditionally because that is who we are. 

Bringing along a young horse takes a village and I am lucky to be part of the best!!

First it takes a great breeder and start to life. Thankful to Jen Moskal with Invictus Farm & Sport Horses of Florida for breeding such an amazing filly. Grateful to Tiffany Catledge with Allforit Farm, LLC for selling us such a well-rounded and great-minded young horse.

Then comes the “fun” stuff of starting them and putting in a great foundation. Stacey Belcher-Archer has done a phenomenal job with Zellie in bringing out her super star qualities.

She was started nice and slow in May last year after turning 3. We showed in the hunter breeding classes at a few shows and took home at Sallie B Wheeler East and 4th at USHJA Zone 3 Championships.

We popped her over a few small cross rails and verticals before giving her a few months off. She came back into work a few weeks ago and I had the crazy idea to take her to World Equestrian Center - Ocala for week 5 with no expectations other than to give her a good experience and getting to play with her in the Florida .

We had the BEST week with our Steadfast Farm family.

Zellie blew us away with her demeanor and performance. Never having jumped a full course before we entered the Future Hunters (2ft with no oxers) and she cantered around like it was no big deal, and even got her lead changes!

Ribbons were the last thing on my mind but she ended up with two 2nds and an 8th over fences and a 4th on the flat!

If that wasn’t enough she was overall division CHAMPION!