As she spoke from her winter base in Aiken, South Carolina, the 30-year-old coach and trainer took the chance to reflect on where she has come from and where she’s going. With years full of learning, mentoring, toiling, and finding creative ways to support her love of horses and riding, she is taking on the role of mentor to the next generation.
Wright in her element ringside with clients in the warmth of the sun.
Photo Credit: Mackenzie Clark
The Foundational Spark
“I didn’t come from a riding family,” Wright said. “My mom was a nationally ranked figure skater, and I think she hoped I would go in that direction, but I hate the cold.” Supportive of her daughter’s choice, Wright pursued being around horses, and converted her mother who went on to be a contributing writer for Horse Sport.
She and her mom lived in Oakville, then Burlington for five years where she started out doing lessons and found it easier to get to the barn. “When we moved out to Port Hope, it was a little harder, but you just find a way.”
Originally located east of Toronto, Stoney Fields became a second home for Wright where she rode with Lois and Peter Mulligan for five years. An ‘A’ Circuit hunter/jumper stable that has since moved to Schomberg, ON, she feels that her time spent there was foundational. “I owe a lot to the Mulligans in my riding,” said Wright. “They are all about getting the best out of horse and rider. It is what originally sparked me wanting to get into coaching.”
A Working Student
When the Mulligans adjusted their focus, it was time for a new challenge. “When they got into ponies I had to move on as I was too tall!” Wright mused. Throughout high school she worked every summer, learning every step of the way. “I bounced around a bit and worked at KingRidge and with the Ballards (Looking Back Farm), which was a great base for my riding, and gained so much knowledge from all of them,” she said.
Wright competing in the 5 year old jumper series with her mare Serafina.
Photo Credit: Ben Radvanyi
“I am very grateful for the opportunities everywhere I worked. I got lots of catch riding in and lots of home riding and schooling. I never had a bad job, I just could only work in the summer because of school.” With many competitive barns heading south for the winter months, that meant she started anew at the beginning of every summer. “They’d have to rehire and find someone else because you can’t ask them to wait for you during a winter season.”
Always a hard worker, Wright enjoyed learning by doing. With the cost of riding and showing it was also somewhat of a necessity. “I was at the grace of what a lot of people would offer me because financially I just didn’t have it. I was from a single parent family,” she said. “I just wanted any opportunity I could get. So, I often was a working student and wasn’t really able to subsidize my own shows.”
To make the best of her experiences Wright made it a goal to prove herself and earn rides. “Every time I started a new job, it was like, okay, I just need to get them to see me ride a horse and then they’ll want me to ride a horse a little bit more!” she explained. “Like how I distinctly remember asking Hugh Graham when I was at KingRidge if I could ride Mr. Epstein’s (the farm’s owner Seymour Epstein) old Fox hunter one day, and he was like, absolutely. And I was like, ‘Yes!’ this is my foot in the door. So, I’m riding him around and Hugh just kind of keeps looking at me like, go ask for a change. Okay, go jump that jump. And I’m like, yeah, here it is. He’s seen it. He’ll let me do more.”
The earning was real, because she is a great rider, evidenced by some of the highly regarded and experienced equestrians she has worked with over the years like Graham, a two-time Olympian and one of Canada’s most successful show jumping competitors. Extremely humble, she continued to focus on the gratitude she feels towards those that provided the opportunities. “I’m so grateful because honestly, everywhere I went, every person that I worked for, they always gave me opportunities and that has just helped build me to where I am today.”
Somewhere in the middle of the hunter/jumper work, she took a detour and worked at Dreamcrest Eventing for Canadian Olympian eventers Kelly Plitz, Ian Roberts and their son, Pam Am games silver medalist Waylon Roberts. “I learned so much from eventing,” she expressed. “I loved getting really technical and through the dressage test preparation. It was a great experience. I’m just more fond of jumps that fall down.”
A true athlete, she played high school rugby, volleyball, and track and field, in addition to her competitive riding. “Equestrians, we are athletes,” she said. “But, doing other sports, it doesn’t always help the riding.” When deciding on post-secondary school, she made the choice to focus on her passion and won a scholarship to ride.
Riding State Side
Wright attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD from 2010 to 2014 on a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) equestrian scholarship, where she set many records and took home several MVP honours. It also helped ensure she could keep riding and give her some financial freedom. “If I had done university in Canada, I’d still be in debt and would have lost all that time with no riding.”
Wright representing South Dakota State University in the intercollegiate tournament at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL.
“As an NCAA athlete you are very busy. Your time management skills are put to the test with early morning team workouts at least twice a week, riding four or five times per week, a full academic class load, mandatory volunteer hours, and plenty of team activities,” she explained. “Then once you start travelling to other schools you have to keep up with your assignments and exams.”
In addition to time management and planning skills, her experiences south of the border were also a good training ground for coaching, and in a variety of ways helped push her towards that goal. “While I was there, I figured out that I liked the coaching aspect of the sport. I was junior and senior captain, so I used to help the other girls warm up,” she said. “I found I could help them practice for their tests and hone their memory retention because of what I had learned from eventing. It got me started with helping people with their riding.”
Deciding to coach
Post university, she decided to emphasize coaching while grooming, riding and training and garnered several clients. “At the time my clients weren’t really interested in showing, just interested in bettering themselves and doing lessons.”
She then worked at the Selke Family’s Caledon based King’s Grant Farm, which she loved. “That job was so awesome. We went to shows and I got to ride a bit, but I also had time to have a couple clients on the side and got my foot the door that way. Then after a couple years I kind of hit my ceiling.”
Ready to take on more responsibility, she got connected with the well-known horse family the Burns, equestrian matriarch Paddy Ann and her daughter Cawthra. She took on management of their farm while also taking on the job of coaching Cawthra’s two daughters, who at the time were at the short stir up and cross rail level. “That got me further into coaching and it just grew from there.”
“Eventually Cawthra brought her show horses home, and I started training her on the show horses and then it just blossomed.” The pair have joined forces and now have partnered on a small business venture they have called ‘Larking About Stables’.
“So, she does the boarding side. I do the training side. And now we have a couple clients that board with her and I train.” They are now based out of the Stables at Fairfields in King City, ON owned by the Hansen family, who have also become clients of Wrights. Both the Burns and the Hansens have farms in South Carolina, so it is a great fit. “Karen (Hansen) has owned the stables for just a few years now but she has done a fabulous job, upgrading things as needed.”
Wright with Sydney Hansen and her own Commonwealth preparing to head into the ring at The Royal Horse Show in November 2022. Photo Credit: MacKenzie Clark.
If the results are any indication, she’s doing a lot of things right. Like one of the Burns’ horses trained by Wright ̶ Buckingham with rider Kelley Robinson, were crowned Combined Hunter Champions and together won the Killer Tom Award for the highest score of the 2022 Royal Horse Show this past November with a 90.
Modeling the behaviours
When asked about her coaching, she references her own learning path. “I’m a quiet watcher. I would just observe,” she explained. “Then when I got a little more out of my shell, I’d start to ask questions. Margie Gayford and Hugh Graham have been two standouts that always had time for my questions. Even as super busy trainers when I was growing up, they always had time for me. They would always explain something.”
“Hugh in particular would break down exactly what he was doing. I’m a visual learner and then when I’m riding, I ride through doing. So I’m a little bit of a weird combination, which I think helps my coaching because I can use it to figure out how my students learn best.”
Having watched and learned from so many talented trainers has helped her be able to assess what avenue one of her students might excel in. “Because everybody’s a little different and an individual,” she explained.
Wright, is an all-around horsewoman. In addition to coaching and supporting her clients ringside and riding herself, she’s an expert braider and groom. Seen here with her well-known beaming smile doing what she loves. Photo Credit: MacKenzie Clark
The other thing that helps, is a win-win for Wright. “Funny enough, I have discovered one of the best things is to have the kids see me ride. They ask more questions when they can see me go do things. They walk the courses with me, I can explain things with those bigger classes, the things that they’re aspiring to do. So, while it might sound a little roundabout because it’s not exactly me on the ground coaching, the opportunity of me getting to ride a horse kind of pushes the girls in another way and grow themselves by watching and questioning me on things, which I think is great.”
Wright with Sydney Hansen’s Shakespeare winning the 3’6 hunter Derby at Ten Sixty Stables in Uxbridge, ON. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Santana Wright
Continually grateful, she showed the Hansen’s younger horse Shakespeare this past season including riding at the Royal where she competed in the Combines. As happy as she is to have the chance to ride him, there is a plan for the nine-year-old Westphalian gelding, and she’s optimistic she’ll be able to find a partner of her own. “I’ve been super fortunate to have such a wonderful ride. But for this year, I’m kind of hoping that I can get a ride for myself.”
EC Coach Status
When Equestrian Canada started rolling out the Coach Status Program, Wright took notice.
“At first I read it all and learned about the longer-term plan to have everyone licensed, which I thought was brilliant,” she conveyed. “I think it’s just a great way to know who’s out there, and make sure everyone has the proper education and tools they need to do this job at this level. When I saw that it was going to become mandatory, I decided that I should get on it.”
Although she obtained her registered status when it was first offered, she was worried that even though she’d graduated with degree that included equine management studies, was on the NCAA team, had been coaching in some capacity for 15 years and had so many years of mentorship with some of the best in business, she wouldn’t qualify for the licenced status. “When I was younger, I had been interested in doing the rider levels,” she explained, “but never really found the time or anyone in my area to get them done.”
She learned that like her, many coaches’ paths are unique and that there are alternative routes to obtaining licensed status. After connecting with the EC team and finding out that her education and experiences met all the requirements, she completed her application and got her status. “I was absolutely thrilled to receive that congratulations email,” she asserted. “I am so glad that EC prompted me to do it. I think it’s something that needed to be done and I wholeheartedly support it. I think it’s a great program.”
Diversity in Equestrian Sport
As a Black Equestrian coach, having spent most of her life in a predominantly white sport, she hasn’t felt hindered or held back by her identity. She’s glad that things are changing so that more riders of colour can start to be seen in competition.
“You know when I was growing up, it wasn’t really something that was talked about a lot, very similar to safe sport or coaching regulations,” she expressed. “It just wasn’t anything that was really addressed and maybe some things were swept under the rug. I distinctly remember being the only person of color on the ‘A’ circuit at Palgrave growing up, from age 12 to 16. There were times where I heard comments made of course, but I can honestly say all in all, I had a great experience everywhere I went. I did not ever have a place that I went where I felt ostracized or there were any problems.”
“I think it’s just gotten better and better as the years have gone on as everyone’s very aware and making an effort. I think I was pretty lucky. I think it’s great now to see so many different ethnicities, so many different kinds of people are getting into riding, it’s becoming more the norm and I’m so excited about that.”
Training in Aiken
For the equestrian that is not a fan of the cold, Wright is happily preparing for the upcoming show season coaching and training in Aiken, South Carolina. She ventured down at the start of February with nine horses and plans to go with three clients to the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida on March 1st.
In addition to looking to expand the client roster with Burns, she’s also keeping her eye out for her own partner. “I’ve been sending X-rays to my vet, he’s probably sick of me at this point,” she laughed. “I just haven’t found quite the right fit yet.”
While they keep the doors open to new client opportunities, she remains focused on her mentorship plan and challenging her students to be the best they can be. “I’ve got some young riders who are itching to start climbing the ladder of life,” she said. “They were really successful last year and qualified for the Royal. I’m now quite excited to push them and see how they can thrive this year and grow.”
Based on all she has accomplished with passion, grit, positivity, and an open mind to learning from great mentors along the way; they have an exceptional example to follow.