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There are very few 22 year olds in the world who can already say they’ve accomplished a good portion of their dreams. And in the notoriously diffcult horse industry, it’s a very rare feat to own one’s own business – and see it succeed. But for a rider who began paying all of his own show expenses at 16, won a USET Final at age 17, and went pro at 18, dreams are simply goals within reach. Nick Haness knows how lucky he is. He holds the reins of his own business, a healthy-sized stable of 30 high quality hunters and jumpers. He enjoys the perks of having his own private facility in a small community outside Los Angeles. And in 2011 he has begun to emerge as a talented rider in the hunter divisions, enjoying recent success on the HITS Thermal winter circuit.

But for Nick, luck started with hard work, and knowing exactly what he wanted at a very young age. The Southern California native comes from a close family of fve boys where mainstream team sports were the norm. His parents, doubtful of Nick’s passion, saw horses as a passing phase. But while his brothers earned varsity letters, Nick sought out riding lessons, knowing that all he ever wanted to be when he grew up was a trainer.

Without the funds to buy him a high-dollar equitation horse, Nick’s family helped him in other ways, shuttling him to various trainers in the area. He trained with Allison Sherrad, catch rode ponies for Wendy Carter, and began his equitation career with Jim Hagman. But it was frustrating for him to watch friends with less riding experience – but more fnancial support- get farther in the equitation rings than he could.

And then Nick got lucky. In 2005 his parents scraped together the funds to buy him Carson, an 11-year-old Westfalian that would be his equitation prospect. For his Christmas present that same year, Nick was given a week of showing in Indio. After earning a big championship in the junior hunters during that week, Carson caught the eye of a buyer who made Nick and his mother an offer that they couldn’t refuse. Selling his frst horse was hard, but Nick saw it for what it was – a chance that would open doors for him.

With the money from that sale, Nick leased a fancier horse and began training with notable West Coast hunter rider John Bragg of Bridgeport Farms. And from there, things began to happen very quickly. He won the 2006 USET Show Jumping Talent Search – West, was Grand Champion at Capital Challenge and placed 4th in the 2006 Maclay Finals.

At 18 he turned pro, transitioning from being John’s student to his assistant. Bridgeport Farms, a large, three-facility training enterprise, opened Nick’s eyes to the details of running a training business. But after two years with Bridgeport, Nick felt ready to step out on his own. “I’ve always been an independent person,” Nick explains. “It was great experience working for someone, but I always wanted to do it my own way, and I always knew I could do it my way.”

With a group of very supportive clients who stood behind

the young trainer, 21-year-old Nick leased a barn, hired one of the best private grooms in the state, and went to work. His mother became his bookkeeper, and Nick’s family fnally began to see that horses were much more than a passing phase for his son. As he learned frsthand the challenges involved in managing a business from start to fnish, Nick promised himself that he would never settle for the mediocre.

Or become too big for his britches. One year after opening his Hunterbrook Farms, Nick wisely brought on industry veteran Richard Slocum as a partner. The noted trainer and judge from Virginia adds an element to the business that Nick knew he needed for long-term success.

“Last year at Thermal I had 13 horses and just me,” he says. “It was hard to be everywhere at once, and I knew I had to have help as the business grew. Richard has been in the industry a long time, and he brings an element to the business that makes is so much stronger.”

2011 already appears to be a breakout year for Nick. He has ruled the qualifying classes for the $500,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix Final, fnishing with the frst place ribbon and four others in the top eight during Week 3’s Hunter Prix Classic.

Nick looks up to John French, Peter Pletcher, and other riders who have experienced the vast success in hunters and jumpers that he dreams of. He sees himself as one of the next generation of hunter/jumper trainers, he aspires to follow in their footsteps. “I live and breath all of this, and if could do 20 horses in the class I would,” he says. “I would love to be one of those riders at the top of the WCHR Finals, at all the Indoors, winning in the hunter and jumper rings. With a few more years of experience, I can get there.” No doubt.