122 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Return To Riding
By Jamie Krauss Hess
M
ost of us would agree that something magical
happens when you get on a horse. It can be superbly
empowering one day and severely humbling the next.
But most of all, once you put your foot in the stirrup, it is the great
equalizer. Everything else disappears. Got a great job? Your
horse doesn’t care. Don’t have a job? Same reaction. Feeling
fierce and fashionable? Super, he could care less. Bad hair day?
He won’t judge you.
That’s what I love about it… the moment my butt touches the
saddle, my focus is single-minded. It is the ONLY time I forget
about the stresses of the world and just focus on “the moment.”
This is why I had to put riding back in my life as an adult.
I rode as a child and young adult, coming up through the ranks
of my junior career with the ambition and determination reserved
for the youthful and their hobbies. Back then, the most important
thing in the world was winning an equitation final. It was the end-
all. When we don’t yet have to pay bills or tend to a career or a
family, these are the types of goals we can prioritize.
I was blessed with an incredibly supportive mother who not only
sat ringside at every show, but also provided me the opportunity
e
Sidelines Shout Out
to sit on some amazing creatures along the way. I trained with Kip
Rosenthal, who (as George Morris would recommend) I revered
as if she were God (isn’t she?). I was a passionate, dedicated
student and the hard work with Kip paid off in exciting wins, from
the WIHS Equitation Finals in 1996 to a silver medal at the North
American Young Riders Championships in 1999. Kip would
often say: “Winning is great, but I know if Jamie had to hang up
her show coat and never compete again, she’d just as happily
continue riding for the love of the sport and the animal.”
I would smile and nod, but in my head I would wonder: “Is that
really true?”
It took me 15 years to figure out the answer to that question.
While the thrill of competing is exciting, nothing will help you
define your love of the sport more than taking time away from it. I
have done this twice.
After graduating college, I gave up riding and joined “the real
world.” I cultivated a career that means a great deal to me, working
in public relations in New York City. My free time was spent at
events, nurturing business relationships and building a name for
myself. Weekends no longer meant 4 a.m. wake-up calls for the
show ring; Rather, I was usually heading home around that time.
Jamie and George’s wedding in Jamaica.
Photo by Alan Smith Photography
Jamie and her mother, TV
journalist Joan Lunden, on the
red carpet in New York City.
Photo by Sara Kerens
Jamie and Joan enjoying
mother/daughter time at a show
in the ‘90s.
Continued on page 124
