By JENNIFER PIGUE
When I sat down and started thinking about how much I loved, admired, and appreciated my trainer of two years, Karen Peterson Marsh DaPrato, I couldn’t help but think of a few trainers that had come before her during my (very non-illustrious) junior career.
Growing up a crazy horse girl with non-horsey parents, we were definitely in a ‘blind leading the blind’ situation. Fortunately, we got hooked up with the local 4-H program (shout out to the Somerset County, NJ Horse groups!).
Now my dad, Dick Schmidt, may not have known anything about horses, but he was supportive and knew that further education was needed. (For all that support and love, I am eternally grateful.) In the beginning, shows were just for fun and family time. While there was a little success—I’m talking pink/green success—I eventually wanted a little more.
At one show, the judge went down the lineup for a flat class and spoke to each rider with some critique. She told me that my cavesson was on the outside of my cheekpiece on the right side, and that I was on the wrong lead during the second canter. I thanked the judge for the feedback and walked out of the ring.
I told my dad what she said, and Dad asked me what a ‘lead’ was.
“Dad, I need lessons!” I said, because I also didn’t really know.
“Okay, but from who?” my dad replied.
I told him that I should take lessons from “Michael’s mom,” because Michael wins, and so she must know something. My dad agreed, so my 13-year-old self walked up to her to ask.
After that, Michael’s mom would drive down to my house and give me and a few of my friends lessons. After about six months, she told me that she’d taught me about everything that she could, and that it was time to move on to someone else.
Michael’s mom sent me to Brenda, who quickly sent me to Karen. Now, here is the funny part of this story: Karen’s mother, Nell Peterson, was the judge who first took the time to help out some pitiful 4-H kids. That perfect chain of events has literally changed my life!
Karen has made a difference in my career in numerous ways. First, she took an uneducated, backyard rider with no real formal lessons in my early teenage years and gave me a true start. I know I had a lot of riding experience, but I was definitely more of a ‘ride by the seat of my pants’-type!
My dad would take our whole 4-H group to the Puissance Night at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden to watch all the legends. It was one of the most fun evenings of the year. When we learned about the Maclay Finals occurring during that same show, we would come into the city on Sunday mornings to watch. I decided that’s what I wanted to do.
As I started lessons with Karen, it became obvious that I had a lot of room for improvement. She was very patient with me. I learned a lot from watching the other juniors who rode with her, but I was most definitely a fish out of water. My horse wasn’t as nice as theirs. My budget wasn’t anywhere near theirs. My previous riding education was pitiful by comparison.
One day, early on, Karen asked me what my goals were, and I told her that I wanted to go to Maclay Finals. She barely made a face—maybe a little eyebrow raise?
Karen said, “Okay, we need to work on some things,” meaning, probably, a new horse, a million lessons, etc. But she never said, “There’s absolutely, no freaking way!” as she could easily have. She could have laughed in my face and dashed all my hopes. Compared to the other riders in the barn, I didn’t have the background, the money, or the body type.
What I did have was a whole lot of determination and a supportive father. Over the next two years, I got a ‘decent’ horse, worked hard, and learned a lot. I actually got a little good! Occasionally, we won some ribbons in some decent company—I was the littlest fish in the Big Pond.
We also ran up a pretty big bill.
My senior year of high school, even being an ‘A’ student, I hadn’t applied to any colleges; I didn’t want my first semester of college to interfere with competing at Finals. That fall, Karen asked if I could come work at the barn for two weeks while a new groom was hired, but gave notice to her previous employer. Well, I just happened to be ‘free,’ and it worked out great. It was a perfect way to start paying off our bill.
I appreciated that Karen was so helpful to us and had faith that we would pay off what was owed. What was supposed to be a short-term job for two weeks turned into three weeks… and eventually, morphed into a full-time gig. I got to help everyone prepare for Indoors.
One day, Karen asked if I would be able go to Florida with the farm that winter. I’m pretty sure my response was, “Heck yeah!” So that fall, I got to go to Indoors, then went off to Florida. Although I was a groom, I was occasionally able to hack some horses, and I learned so much and had a lot of fun.
I spent my days caring for the horses, learning time management, and watching the rings and the schooling areas. I watched so much that certain trainers thought I might be a stalker!
I’m not sure I knew this at the time, but I was honing my eventual skills as a trainer. Karen took the time to explain what bits she used on which horses and why. I learned different training techniques and how she managed her show hunters and jumpers.
I really do feel that things happen in our lives for a reason. It’s very cliché, I know, but I truly do believe it’s true.
The chain of events that different trainers advised me to take is how I ended up at Karen’s barn. What should have been a two-week job working for Karen to pay off my bill turned into two years. And there, I learned way more than I could’ve learned in college (although I finally did go after those two years).
Karen gave me a strong foundation that has stayed with me all this time. I may not have been a stellar rider, but what Karen said to me once will be forever ingrained in my mind: “What you lack in talent, you make up for in tenacity.”
She wanted me to know that hard work would get me somewhere. It’s just one of Karen’s many lessons that I frequently repeat to my own students. In fact, some 40-ish years later, Karen and I are still friends, and she remains a mentor to me.
When she lived in New Jersey, every time I ventured north, we would have dinner or I would go hang out at the farm. Now that she’s in Ocala, she comes out to the show when my students compete. We still have dinner, and talk about things that are going on in our worlds, and in this industry we love.
To this day, I am forever in Karen’s debt (although fortunately, no longer in the monetary sense anymore!)
This was a submission to the 2024 Equestrian Voices Creative Writing Contest sponsored by The Plaid Horse. The goal of the contest is to promote fine, literary prose involving horses and the equestrian experience. This contest is open to writers of fiction and non-fiction, regardless of any previous publications, and awards 16 prizes. To learn more about the 2024 contest click here.
