By Britney Grover
Portraits by Melissa Fuller
They say you can’t have it all, but Mallory Hogan seems to be doing exactly that. She recently completed her undergraduate studies, passed the LSAT and is starting law school—having also competed in eventing up to the CCI4* level across the country. Most remarkably, she’s done it all with—and perhaps thanks to—one horse.
“Growing up with her made my life look different: I stopped traditional school in seventh grade and transitioned to online school, and everything that I had to ‘give up,’ like not having a normal school experience, never going to prom or missing my graduation to move across the country, was all worth it,” Mallory said. “It taught me from a young age that anything worth having requires hard work—a lot of it.”
Often, that hard work doesn’t just come from the one pursuing it. “Everyone in this sport says that it takes a village, and it cannot be more true,” Mallory said. “I’m very lucky to have an amazing village, most notably in my parents, Michael and Kristin.”
Both parents grew up on the East Coast, and neither had any connection to horses before raising their daughters, Mallory and her older sister, Madison, in Sonoma County, California. Madison began taking pony lessons, and, of course, young Mallory didn’t want to be left out. “I so badly wanted to ride as well, so for my 4th birthday my mom and dad threw me a party complete with pony rides,” Mallory recalled. “After that, there was no looking back.”
Madison and Mallory shared a pony until Madison got her own horse, and they moved to train with Andrea Pfeiffer at Chocolate Horse Farm in Petaluma, California. “Riding with a sister in the sport has been really fun and unique,” Mallory said. “We grew up riding together, and it was really special to have someone to learn and grow with.”
The girls spent over 10 years riding with Andrea—with the full support of their parents. “For them to have supported me through the ups and downs is truly amazing, especially since they both come from non-horse backgrounds,” Mallory said. “They have pushed me to pursue my academic goals and my riding goals, and have made it possible for me to excel at both. All the long drives to horse shows, early-morning before-school lessons they got me to rain or shine, weekends spent at the barn when I’m sure they had other things they would rather be doing, and countless other ways they showed up for me, day in and day out—they have always been the ones cheering from the sidelines on the good days, and picking me up on the bad days. That type of support has never gone unnoticed, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to truly thank them enough.”
With her parents behind her, her sister at her side and a great trainer, Mallory was set up for success in the eventing world—all she needed was the right horse.
One Horse
Mallory was in seventh grade when the horse search began. She had been competing in eventing through the Novice level on her pony, but it was time to move up. Andrea helped Mallory find Clarissa Purisima, a 7-year-old Holsteiner mare who had briefly competed at Training level, but hadn’t evented for over a season. “I purchased Clarissa with the hope that I could get to Preliminary, and if I could make it to the Young Rider Championships then that would just be icing on the cake,” Mallory said. “And at every question and every level, she delivered.”
Mallory and Clarissa began competing through the levels, learning both the sport and each other as they went. “She’s such a funny horse, a real girly girl! In true mare fashion, she likes what she likes and makes it known when something is hard for her or she has a distaste for something,” Mallory said. “Her personality is larger than life. She hates the rain, only eats her apples when they’re cut up for her, and refuses to be dirty. She always has a long list of demands. She’s the type of horse where one day, she’s an angel, and the next, she’s spooking at the same bush at the end of the arena that’s been there for years. We always joke that if she was a human, she would blame her mood swings on her astrological sign and mercury being in retrograde.”
By 2017, their partnership was paying off. Mallory and Clarissa competed at the NAJYRC as part of the gold-medal-winning Area VI two-star team, with an individual bronze medal. The following year, they returned at the three-star level for a team bronze and participated in the US Equestrian Emerging Athlete Eventing 18 Program; in 2019, they joined the U25 Training Sessions.
“It really was like a fairytale,” Mallory said. “I think after having a horse like Clarissa for so long, you get to know them like the back of your hand. She’s a bit of a different horse every day, which makes it hard to learn how to ride, but I came to learn how to ride every version of her. I believe that’s the reason we came so far together: We had complete trust in each other and we could almost predict one another’s next move, especially out on cross-country. And once we formed a partnership, like a true good mare, Clarissa gave me 110% every time we left the start box.”
Two Coasts
Mallory loved the close-knit barn at Chocolate Horse Farm and the California eventing community, but she knew from a young age that she wanted to go outside the state for college. “As many people know, West Coast Area VI eventing is like a family, and it was a hard decision to move east to attend school,” she said. “I wanted to be in a place with a wealth of opportunities and networking, and Washington, D.C. fit the bill.”
College was non-negotiable between Mallory and her parents, but she took a gap year first to ride full time on the East Coast and experience life similar to professional—with her parents’ continued support. In fact, they were the ones who drove Mallory’s empty truck and trailer from California to Pennsylvania so that Mallory and Clarissa could fly across the country. Mallory began training with Lillian Heard Wood in Cochranville, Pennsylvania, and she and Clarissa were invited to compete at the Futures Team Challenge at Bromont that same year. “Making the transition from the West Coast to the East Coast was really challenging,” Mallory said. “Everything is so different, and Clarissa and I were coming from West Coast eventing which is all both of us ever knew. It was scary to come out here alone at 17 and leave that close-knit community of the West Coast. It was also challenging to move, start school and navigate a pandemic all within a year of moving!”
Mallory’s first year of school at American University was online, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic—enabling her to continue riding and competing in Pennsylvania and Aiken, South Carolina, with Lillian. But when classes started back up in person, things got more complicated. “I was faced with the challenge of needing to be in D.C. for class four days a week, but my horse was in Pennsylvania,” Mallory said. “I wanted to stay with Lillian because of the progress Clarissa and I were making, so I decided to just commute between school and the barn. I had a crazy schedule of going to class in the morning and driving to Pennsylvania in the afternoon. I would ride, stay the night near the barn, and get up the next morning to ride early before making the drive back down to D.C. to attend my afternoon classes. It was exhausting, but I couldn’t imagine not riding through school. It keeps me grounded and excited to get out of bed in the morning; it’s truly my happy place.”
And through it all, Mallory had Clarissa. “She has just been my rock,” Mallory shared. “She’s my best friend, and I can’t tell you how many hard days I spent just sitting with her in her stall, or all the long walks we took to clear my head.”
In 2022, Mallory decided that, at 16, Clarissa needed to step down from the highest levels of eventing. “She has given me everything and then some, and now I’m just so grateful that I get to be her forever home,” Mallory said. “Clarissa really made me fall in love with not only the sport, but the training. Every early morning and late night was worth it to get in the ring and have the training pay off. She has taught me patience, trust, tenacity and a list of other attributes that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my riding career. This little horse, who was probably never meant to do what she did, never shied away from a challenge and always gave it her all: She taught me how to be courageous and take risks.”
Those attributes have served Mallory well as she makes more transitions: from undergraduate to law student, and from eventing to show jumping.
Two Passions
Her final year of school, Mallory traded in the commute to Pennsylvania for a shorter commute to Upperville, Virginia, to ride with show jumper Kimberly Prince—and flying to Wellington every weekend during this last winter season. “I can safely say I’m hooked!” Mallory said. “The pure show jumping is so different from the show jumping phase in eventing, but going to Wellington this past winter with Kim I felt like my love for showing reignited—it’s something that I lost a little when I retired Clarissa from the upper levels. Kim has been so significant in helping me get my groove back and she really wants the best for her students. She has put me on some amazing horses and allowed me to start growing into a show-jumping rider. I can’t thank her enough for the time and effort she’s put into my riding.”
In May, Mallory graduated with a bachelor of science in business administration, specializing in marketing, and a minor in legal studies. “After finishing my undergraduate journey, I can say I’m so thankful to my parents for pushing me to pursue my education!” she said. “I decided to pursue school with the same passion that I put into my riding: I never felt like it was black or white, like I had to pick one or the other. I made it work doing both. I think in this sport, a lot of people feel like they have to choose between the two.”
Mallory still doesn’t feel the need to choose between her passion for riding and her newfound career passion. As part of an internship last year, she was part of a government affairs team that worked in lobbying at the U.S. Capitol. “I felt like I found my professional passion,” she said. “I decided to take the risk and quickly take the LSAT and apply for law school. To my surprise, I got in! I’m really looking forward to becoming a lawyer and making a positive difference in the world while continuing to pursue show jumping.”
While Mallory attends Washington College of Law at American University, she continues making the trip to the barn with her cattle dog sidekick, Tito, and enjoys spending time with friends or traveling with family when she’s not studying or riding—which is rare. Clarissa is still in Lillian’s program, being leased by one of Lillian’s working students—and remains the only horse Mallory has ever owned. “Of course, I got lucky with Clarissa, but I also think that for someone like me, I worked best putting all my attention into one horse,” Mallory said. “I know now that I want to have a small string of horses—one or two, maybe three—to really focus on while pursuing my passions in the workforce. I feel so grateful to have such great mentors who have always wanted to see me succeed, and I want to see how far I can go in show jumping. I know I’ll be temporarily busy for the next three years in law school, but that won’t stop me from riding!”
Follow Mallory on Instagram @mhequestrian__
Portraits by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixies,
