Beginnings
I was fortunate to have two incredible trainers when I first started riding.
Gincy Bucklin, trainer and owner of Lion Hill Farm in Easton, Connecticut, started beginners on horses wearing hackamores and barback pads. I didn’t ride in a saddle for six months.
When I was 12, I moved on to the Fairfield County Hunt Club where I met jumping and event trainer Sarah Dalton-Morris.
Gincy and Sarah gave me a solid foundation of general horsemanship, which has stood me well throughout my riding career.
When I was 16, Judy Richter, owner of Coker Farm in Bedford, New York, saw me ride at a Pony Club rally and invited me back for a lesson.
What followed was several years as a working-student at Coker. Thanks to Judy, I won the Rolex/ASPCA Maclay National Championship and the Rolex USET Show Jumping Talent Search-East Finals in 1991.
After graduating from Yale in 1996, I rode and showed sale horses for Sam Edelman at S&L Farms, eventually establishing my own training and sales stable with business partner Mary Manfredi.
