104 SIDELINES SEPTEMBER 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Emily Riden
Watching Greg and Jessica Crolick walk across the sand with
their daughter, Ava, the youthful family appears as though they’re
enjoying a beach vacation. In actuality though, the sand isn’t that
of a seaside getaway, but rather of a hunter warm-up ring where
Greg is about to get on his next horse of the day. He’s been up
since 5:30 a.m., riding, showing and managing the horses of his
Top Call Farm. For Jessica and Ava, the day started just a few
hours later as soon as two-year-old Ava awoke from sleeping
in their camper, parked in the campgrounds adjacent to the
horse show. They’ve been on the go all day, but somehow the
refreshingly down-to-earth couple still manages to make it look
like a walk on the beach.
Building a Career and a Family
Greg grew up riding in upstate New York, before going to
Cazenovia College. At the age of 24, Greg made the move to
Bloomfield, Michigan to take over a Bloomfield Open Hunt Club
beginning riding program. Sixteen years later, Greg has gone
from teaching five or six lessons a week to overseeing a growing
string of clients and top mounts. This winter season, Greg rose to
the top of the leaderboard throughout Florida, finishing both first
and second in Ocala’s $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby
and earning championships at the Winter Equestrian Festival,
HITS Ocala and the Tampa Equestrian Series.
En route to where he is today, while juggling business and
building a career, Greg met Jessica Hogan, now Jessica Hogan-
Crolick. The couple met at a horse show, but the horse world that
brought them together also kept them geographically apart. “She
worked full-time for Ford and I was on the road traveling a lot and
worrying about my career and maintaining that. Because of that
we dated for a long time,” Greg shared. (For seven years to be
more exact.)
Now four years into their marriage and with a young daughter,
things haven’t slowed down one bit, but it’s a perfect fit. Jessica
left her desk job to come on board full-time with Greg and the
horses and together they further developed Top Call Farm.
“Once we had Ava, my role in the business really decreased.
We wanted to go with more of a hands-on mom approach, as
opposed to hiring a nanny so that I could continue to work full-
time,” Jessica explained.
That required turning over some responsibilities to someone
whom both Greg and Jessica trusted. Fortunately, they didn’t have
to look further than Jessica’s sister, Katie Hogan, who had been
working with the Top Call Farm team for several years. Increasing
her responsibilities was a natural fit and today she’s a vital part of
their success.
Finding those little ways to squeeze in extra family time is
another important part of the equilibrium for the Crolicks. It’s also
why Jessica and Ava pack up the family camper and travel with
Greg for four to five months of the year.
Bringing up Babies
Part of the reason they’re taking advantage of that time now
is because things are about to change again very soon – Greg
and Jessica are enthusiastically expecting their second child in
October. “We’re still learning, and we’ll keep learning with the
second one,” Greg said. “I always look at people with multiple kids
and think how do you do it? Because how do we plan on doing it?”
The answer to that question is one that’s sure to continually
evolve for the Crolicks, but for the time being, they have several
fundamental solutions. Those ideals are also what Jessica and
Greg are instilling in their young daughter – who is turning into a
precocious young rider herself.
“I taught her how to do a two-point on the rocking horse at home
and she’s always counted strides between jumps with Jessica.
Now she goes ‘1,2,3, jump and she two-points! It’s really cool,”
Greg extoled. “She’s only two-and-a-half. There’s no forcing it. It’s
got to be just fun for her for the next ten years.”
No matter what is thrown their way as the future unfolds, the
Crolicks are excited to keep learning and realigning that integral
balance. “It’s an interesting life this horse business. It’s not an
easy life for most people. You’ve got to work hard at it. You
have to work hard with family, and you have to work hard at the
business itself and try to find a way to get the two to mesh,” Greg
acknowledged. “It’s a learning curve and we’re learning every
day.”
A Walk on the Beach
e
Greg and Grey Street
Photo by Emily Riden
Greg and Jessica
Crolick with their
daughter Ava.
Photo by Emily Riden
