Trainers On The Rise

How do you make it as a pro in the horse world? Find inspiration for your own riding goals from these snapshots of six up-and-coming trainers.

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Talent, determination, and hard, hard work. It’s a well-known formula for success, but everyone applies it in his or her own way. Here, we share the approaches taken by six young horse trainers on the way up in various disciplines. Learn from their experiences, and find ideas to fuel your own riding or training dreams.

COW-HORSE ACE

Rising star: Sarah Dawson, Aubrey, Texas. At last year’s National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity, Sarah placed sixth in the open finals aboard syndicate-owned mare Wright On Hickory, earning the highest fence work score of the event. Including placings on other horses, her total 2016 futurity earnings topped $100,000. The year before, she jumped into the open-division finals for the first time, placing fifth on Shine Smarter, a mare owned by her parents, Richard and Cheryl Winters. The young trainer’s success is founded on solid basics from her father, a renowned natural horsemanship clinician, plus apprenticeships with some of the top professionals in the industry.

Challenge overcome: “Losing a lot more than I’ve won,” she says with a laugh. “You just have to keep pushing.” Before 2015’s Snaffle Bit Futurity, Shine Smarter wasn’t coming together the way she’d hoped. Discouraged, Sarah considered having her husband, fellow pro Chris Dawson, show the mare. But she kept the ride in the end, winning the event’s limited division and the intermediate reserve championship, earning $75,000 overall. “Competition plays with your mind, but you just have to keep moving forward,” she says.