Riding for the Team. United States Equestrian Team Foundation

committee gave me the chance to prove Barron and myself again, and we ended up on the Olympic team. Once I was there, he said he expected as many clear rounds from me as from Beezie, McLain, and Kent. His comments obviously were very special and instilled a lot of confidence in me. I was able to hunker down and go on as an underdog again, something I do better than coming at it on top.

      I’m lucky to have already achieved my two main goals in the sport, the WEG and the Olympics. Now I have to set new goals for myself, broader goals. Having experienced the magic of the Olympics, I don’t think it ever will be easy for me to be watching it from the couch. I have to hold out for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics because it’s my hometown, and riding on the team there would be too good to be true. At some point, I’m sure I’ll want to have a family and do everything that is part of that. At the moment, however, I’m pretty career-focused. I’m concentrating on setting myself up to establish a more professional business with the horses as well, not just with The Pony App, but also with my own riding. I’m working for support to sustain it and get some horses to develop.

      The next step in my career is starting to train others. Old Salem Farm provided that opportunity. I never saw myself having a big training stable. I didn’t think I had the patience for that, but in the past couple of years, I’ve taken on a few students and enjoyed those more than I anticipated.

      Riding is my passion. I’ve been lucky to make it into my profession and do it in a way that works best for me. I’ve designed my life around these horses. I’m looking forward to continuing down that road. The nice thing is, you can do this sport for a long time, so I think my involvement will continue to evolve.