By Diana Bezdedeanu
Portraits by Pam Jensen
In the fall of 2025, Juli Sebring stepped into her wedding dress for the first time since her nuptials eight years earlier. The occasion? A Sidelines photoshoot. “The photographer said to pick an outlandish outfit,” she laughed. “So I decided to wear my wedding dress to symbolize the fact that I chose marriage and kids. But in some ways it’s almost like my break from riding never happened, because I picked up where I left off at the three-star level, with the horse and partnership I thought I’d given up on.”
For much of her life, Juli feared she would eventually have to choose between motherhood and riding competitively. “My mom had scared me into thinking I couldn’t do it all. I would have kids and that would be it,” she continued. “I had to prove to myself that this would not be the path I was going to take, that I could still event.” Not only does she still event, but Juli went on to qualify for the Maryland 5 Star at the three-star level with a horse she sold once, bought back and leased out, after multiple miscarriages and the birth of her two daughters.
Horse Country
Juli grew up in Landenberg, Pennsylvania, an area synonymous with top-level eventing. Her family’s farm sat near Fair Hill, close enough that riding there was a frequent pastime. “One of my earliest memories is my parents picking my sister and me up from preschool on horseback,” she recalled. The preschool was run out of Mrs. Joann’s home less than two miles down the road. “One of us would be sitting in front of my dad on his horse, and the other would be in front of my mom on her horse. I remember them galloping—I’m pretty sure now we were only cantering—but we were racing home on either side of the road. My mom would also drive us to preschool with our pony hitched to the cart!”
Juli’s mother, Kate Hutchings, had operated a large riding school but stopped shortly before Juli was born. Once she became a mom, Juli found herself following a strikingly similar path. “History definitely seemed to repeat itself,” she said. “I had a horse business that I ran for almost 10 years, and I closed it down as well to focus on my kids. It’s funny how we often follow in our parents’ footsteps.” Those parallels extended into the next generation. Juli’s first pony, Penny, came from her mother’s riding school. Years later, one of Juli’s daughters began on a retired lesson pony from her own program.
Juli joined Delaware Pony Club at Fair Hill at 7 years old, though she had tagged along informally as early as 5 with her older sister. Her first event pony was Shorty, and one summer she earned the coveted “most pampered pony” award at Pony Club Camp. Eventing was a natural choice, in part because Kate had evented through Preliminary before stepping away from the sport after having children—a history that reinforced Juli’s early belief that high-level riding and motherhood did not coexist.
In addition to being an active Pony Club rider, Juli was also a young entrepreneur. “I started teaching riding lessons with my sister to neighborhood kids when I was 10. Lessons were split between unmounted learning—parts of the bridle, for example—and riding. We got $20, split it and thought it was fabulous!” She continued teaching through high school, eventually running her own lesson business with two lesson ponies and an older event horse. “I taught adults and kids, and in the summer I ran an eventing camp. I was convinced I made more money each week than most kids did working all summer long!”
At the same time, her competitive career advanced rapidly. While in high school, Juli was selected for the Area II North American Junior Young Rider team and competed at the two-star level—then considered one-star before the system changed—with her horse Fling. It marked an early high point, one that made her future in the sport feel clear and linear. She and Fling went on to compete in multiple three-star events before leaving for college.
To help afford college, Juli sold one of her event horses—her first sale. The mare, Pye, was homebred and named by her sister, who had trained her before leaving for college and losing interest in riding. The sale helped fund Juli’s education. Years later, the mare returned and today enjoys retirement at Kate’s farm in South Carolina.
Juli attended the University of South Carolina (USC), starting at USC Aiken before transferring to the main campus. Winters spent in Aiken—where Kate bought a farm in 2007—deepened her connection to the area.
The upper-level trajectory shifted when Fling passed away during her second semester at school, a loss that quietly reshaped her upper-level dreams.
Throughout college, Juli and Kate worked together buying and selling horses. “She’d usually buy them, I’d take them to school to train and compete, and then we’d sell them,” Juli said. “I’m very appreciative of my mom for doing that with me; it wasn’t always easy for her to afford my education but that helped a ton.” She continued teaching during college at Hickory Top Farm in Eastover, South Carolina.
After graduating in 2012 with a degree in visual communications, Juli tried the corporate world, working in both Charleston and Charlotte. “I don’t know that I had ever fully found what I was looking for,” she admitted. In 2013, she moved to Maryland and took a live-in position at Reddemeade Farm. “That’s where I really got the backbone that I used to build my business.”
That business—Appleton Equestrian, based in Fair Hill, Maryland—carried both personal and local history. “It was actually where I did my first horse show when I was 4, so that was a very full-circle moment for me,” Juli said. The program included lessons, camps and event teams for both children and adults. “Any way I could make money from horses, I certainly did! It was my dream job.” While building the business, Juli slowly returned to upper-level competition. “After losing Fling, it took me a solid 10 years to get back to the three-star level,” she said. That return came with Wells.
“Wells is a horse I got about a year after I started my business in Maryland,” Juli said. He initially arrived as a horse in training, owned by people who intended to sell him. A student of theirs had purchased one of Juli’s lesson horses, and during a visit, they realized her farm might be a good fit for their own horse. “Once they sent him, they asked me if I had any horses for Rick,” she said, referring to the man who brought Wells—registered as Welbourne—to her barn. What followed was an unexpected trade. “They wanted my best lesson horse, a horse I had actually gotten for free, and I really didn’t want to give him up. They pretty much convinced me that we needed to do this horse trade.”
At the time, Juli viewed Wells primarily as a sales prospect. “We did the trade, and I like to joke that Wells picked me,” she said with a laugh. She halfheartedly listed him for sale, but no one ever came to try him. Initially, Wells was part of her lesson program. “I taught a lot of lessons on him, but he was a very particular horse—he wasn’t very trusting of riders who didn’t use enough leg.” When he began stopping and unseating students at jumps, Juli made a decision. “I’d better take him over, because he was going to learn too many bad habits.”
That shift marked the true beginning of their partnership. “Once I started focusing on eventing him, things surprisingly came easily to him. Before I knew it, we went Advanced,” Juli said. “Aside from spooking at the first fence on our show jump courses for years, and a profound fear of large ditches, he otherwise never found anything too difficult.”
In 2019, Juli and Wells competed at the final Fair Hill International 3 Star, just before the event transitioned to a five-star. Fair Hill had first run the 3 Star in 2008, when Juli was already competing at that level, but she had left for college that fall. “I always felt like I just missed out on it timing-wise. So getting back to that level and riding in that competition became a career goal for me.”
Shortly after Fair Hill, Juli felt ready for another shift. “I told my husband, ‘OK, I’m ready to have kids now.’” She paused before adding, “I wouldn’t say I regretted it, but I got to the pinnacle of my career with Wells, and then I feel like I gave up on him—or gave up on us—and chose to have kids.”
Starting a family, however, was not immediate. Juli experienced multiple miscarriages. “When I finally had my first daughter, I felt like I had lost a lot.” During that time, Wells was leased to one of her trainers, who ultimately chose not to buy him. The lease ended just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Wells returned home. “After that, I sold him to a student of mine, but it didn’t work out,” Juli said. “Within a year, he’d turned rather feral. He started bolting at the mounting block when people were getting on him. It just went downhill very quickly.”
After another miscarriage, Juli bought him back. It became clear that rebuilding the partnership would take work. That effort paid off in the fall of 2021, when the pair qualified for the inaugural Maryland 5 Star at the three-star level. But just before the competition, Juli found out she was pregnant again. “This time it wasn’t excitement—it was fear,” she said. “I was afraid I’d lose the baby again and lose my dream, both at the same time.”
The pregnancy continued, and she welcomed her daughter the following spring. Ironically, both of Juli’s daughters were born during our country’s two five-star horse events—the Kentucky Three Day Event and the Maryland 5 Star. “I think it’s funny that both times when I was released from the hospital and home recuperating with my babies, I was sitting there watching all the action on the TV!”
Over the next three years, Wells was leased out again. “Between selling and leasing him, I joke that he’s my $100,000 horse. He took care of my family,” Juli said. “Not bad for a free trade!”
In 2024, Juli and her husband decided to sell the farm and return to South Carolina. It was a strenuous process, with the farm under contract for eight months. With winter approaching and Juli’s life in boxes, Wells spent much of the season idle. She sent him on a short-term, free lease to a friend to keep his competitive edge sharp.
Maryland 5 Star
By April of the following year, Juli was ready to bring him home to her new farm in South Carolina and set her sights on the Maryland 5 Star once again. Their return was far from polished. “He was stiff. I was nervous,” she said. “We were jumping out in my field, and he’s always been kind of spooky. I’m clinging on as he’s stalling at the base of Novice-sized jumps. We were definitely not looking the part in May.”
Yet the pieces came together quickly. As an established pair, they needed just one three-star to qualify. “It still took all summer to get back to that level but he’s a champion horse. Cross-country is his bread and butter. I feel like he gave me my dream back—and my family, too.”
Juli credits several key mentors with shaping her development as a rider. She began riding with Boyd Martin when he first came to the U.S. and was one of his regular students throughout high school. Later, she found another pivotal influence in Michael Walton. Based in Pennsylvania, Michael began helping her in 2019 when she and Wells were competing at the three-star level, and his impact was immediate. “He helped me with my show jumping—and honestly, my position in general,” she said. “The lessons Michael gives are second to none. I’ve never met anyone who teaches as well as he does.” She also gave a nod to Carol Kozlowski, who leased Wells from her for three years in a full-circle moment. Carol had been one of her Young Riders coaches in high school, and years later, leasing Wells felt especially meaningful. “She took great care of him and I’m lucky she was able to give him such a great life for a few years when I couldn’t.”
Now 18, Wells shows no signs of slowing down. There is no official record of his breeding, a detail that has long intrigued Juli. Curious to learn more, she tracked down the woman who originally broke him, Lisa Mitchell, based in rural Virginia. Lisa explained that Wells was simply the product of a neighboring farmer’s horse. She had driven by one day, asked if he would sell him—and he did. Despite that humble origin, Juli is convinced Wells has Arabian blood. “I’m 99% sure he has a good chunk of Arabian in him,” she said. “He always holds his tail to the left and he’ll throw his head up and run with his nose in the air. That’s an Arabian quality—they do that so they can breathe with their nostrils above the sand and wind. You wouldn’t look at him and think he’s Arabian, except for those qualities.” The irony isn’t lost on her. “Event riders don’t exactly go out looking for Arabians,” she joked.
Although she has closed her once-busy riding lesson business, Juli now focuses on importing horses through her company, A-Team Imports, alongside select sales and training clients. Her days are quieter, but more balanced—allowing her to live fully in both worlds she loves most. “I get to be a mom, a wife, and still compete at the level I’ve always dreamed of,” she said. “Wells made that possible. That quirky unknown-breed grey horse showed me that you don’t have to choose between your dreams and your family—you can have both.”
Juli thanks her sponsors, PrestigeItalia.com and Freeride Equestrian (ShopFre.com) the breeches and shirt pictured are Freeride Equestrian.
Photos by Pam Jensen, pamjensenphotography.com
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