By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Emma Claire Stephens
Vince Lombardi said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” In this simple statement, he reminded us that setbacks are an inevitable part of life, but what defines our character and success is our ability to persevere and be resilient. Amanda Perkowski has had more than her fair share of setbacks; however, each one has only made her more determined to succeed in the sport she loves.
Amanda may have been the only horse enthusiast in her family, but that didn’t stop her parents from always supporting her dreams. “I feel extremely grateful for the upbringing I had in the sport. Both of my parents knew very little about horses, besides the fact that they are very expensive and making a career out of riding can be challenging,” Amanda said. “From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a horse trainer.”
Captivated
Amanda was first exposed to horses through an extended family member who had a farm and dressage business in rural Ohio. “I was captivated by horses from the very beginning. There are lots of photos in boxes of me as a toddler sitting in someone’s arms on a horse, with the biggest smile on my face,” Amanda said.
For Amanda’s 7th birthday, her parents gifted her dressage lessons that happened every two weeks at Rhythm and Blues Stables, a local facility near where they lived in New Jersey. “It didn’t take long for me to find riding once every two weeks wasn’t enough, so I began working at the stable in exchange for more riding opportunities,” Amanda said. “As a kid, I really believed that through hard work and resilience I could make the dream of becoming a successful trainer a reality. With that goal, I learned how to self-motivate and become useful to those I could learn all aspects of horse care and training from.”
What drew Amanda into the discipline of dressage at the beginning was simply her love of horses. As she continued to learn more about the discipline, she began to truly appreciate how dressage enables riders to communicate with their horses.
From the age of 12, Amanda spent nearly all her free time working at the barn. “I never earned actual steady money until I was hired at Helgstrand as a rider at the age of 20; all my former positions were a barter for a stall, riding and training,” she said. “Although my parents weren’t able to help extensively when it came to horse costs, they supported my basic living expenses throughout those years, were generous wherever they could be and, most importantly, never held me back but allowed me to freely pursue opportunities.”
One of those opportunities was working for Lou Denizard in Palm City, Florida, for three months during summer break when Amanda was 16. Amanda regularly took trips with Lou to Wellington so he could take lessons and compete. “I remember being absolutely blown away by Wellington—incredible properties, Olympians standing next to you at the show warm-up, a whole town dedicated to the love of horses and sport. I felt like there were endless opportunities and the chance to make impactful connections if I could find an opportunity to come back,” Amanda said.
Perseverance
Amanda made her way back to Wellington two years later in 2018, to participate in Lendon Gray’s Winter Intensive Training Program (WIT). The three-month-long program consists of daily lessons with two-time Olympian Lendon Gray, fitness training, educational lectures and field trips around Wellington to meet and learn from top dressage trainers.
Long before Amanda was accepted into the 2018 WIT, Amanda and her parents began saving money for the experience. She also was fortunate enough to receive grants from the Dressage Foundation and a few others to fund the trip. There was just one problem—Amanda needed to bring a horse, and the horse she was planning to bring was injured a month before the program began.
Ever resourceful, Amanda turned to Facebook to crowdsource an appropriate mount for WIT. She found what seemed like a suitable Prix St. Georges horse she could lease for the season and attempt to get her USDF Silver medal. “Unfortunately, during a lesson with Lendon the first week of the program, the horse fell and landed on me, breaking my pelvis and sidelining me from riding for 10 weeks. Initially I was devastated, feeling like my one chance to intensively train and participate in the program I dreamed of for so long was over, but that feeling didn’t last long,” Amanda said.
As fate would have it, the day before Amanda broke her pelvis, her WIT group went to see Olympian Ali Brock ride two horses. After she rode, Ali gave a talk about how even though she came from average means, hard work took her all the way to the Olympics. “I approached her afterwards with tears in my eyes and thanked her for being so inspiring with her backstory,” Amanda said. “On the second day in the hospital, Ali surprised me by showing up with a card and a jacket from the Olympics, and shared more words of encouragement.”
After getting released from the hospital, Amanda headed straight to the barn and participated in lectures, went on all the field trips and sat with Lendon as the other WIT riders had lessons. When Amanda was given the green light to ride again with just two weeks left in the season, Amanda’s friend Lara Brady generously offered Amanda the ride on her Prix St. Georges gelding so Amanda could get her Silver medal.
“Lara gave up the rest of her season and lessons to give me that opportunity, and we managed to earn the scores needed despite me being out of shape, not knowing the horse and never having competed at Fourth Level or Prix St. Georges. We are still very close friends today,” Amanda said.
Connections
Thanks to the connection made during WIT, Amanda returned to Wellington to work for Ali in November 2018. During her six months there, Amanda received a horse, Bob, via Lendon’s Dressage4Kids program. Bob’s previous owners, Harold and Wendy Denton, followed their journey in the show ring and offered to support Amanda by purchasing her a saddle and paying her show bills. “I was on cloud nine to have a horse of Bob’s quality, and extremely grateful for the additional financial support as otherwise such showing wouldn’t have been possible,” she said.
Harold believed in Amanda’s future so much that he offered to take her to Helgstrand USA to purchase her a quality horse for the future. “I rode a few horses shown to me by Dr. Ulf Moller, rider of Sir Donnerhall and Sandro Hit. He ran the U.S. and German Helgstrand and after seeing me ride, to my surprise he offered me a job as a rider in Denmark,” Amanda said. “I then moved to Denmark in July 2019 to work for about six months.”
Each day in Denmark, Amanda was given a riding list of 10 to 12 horses a day, of varying ages and levels of training. “Riding in the same arena as Olympians, top CDI Grand Prix competitors and many other riders with great capability from all over the world was very inspiring. I tried to absorb as much as I could and was motivated by the high standard and competitive drive of my colleagues,” she said.
Just two months into Amanda’s Denmark adventure, she experienced the hardest day of her life. On September 3, 2019, her father committed suicide after decades of struggling with anxiety and depression. “My dad was a family man who was always open to me and my brother about what he was going through. Even though he was often in so much pain, he was always loving with us, compassionate, easy to talk to and had a fantastic sense of humor. At his funeral, his coworkers told us he was always upbeat and positive, making coffee for everyone in the break room, and they had no idea he was struggling,” Amanda said.
For the last six months of her father’s life, Amanda and her family knew her dad wasn’t in the best place and tried to help find him better therapies, medicine, anything that could help. Unfortunately, his struggles became too much. “Losing my dad has driven me to be more empathetic and open, and to live a life he would be proud of. You never know what someone could be going through in life. I think in our sport we need to support each other’s success and do our best to judge each other a little bit less,” she said.
Stateside
Amanda returned to Wellington in 2020 to continue her position with Helgstrand stateside. During the four years that she worked for Helgstrand, Harold Denton continued to support her, purchasing three horses from Helgstrand for Amanda to train and compete, all of which have now been resold. “Harold believed in my work ethic from the beginning, which was similar to his own in the journey he took to create his wealth from very modest beginnings. Currently he owns Sonata MF, who has been extraordinary for me to have the chance to develop and compete,” Amanda said. “Harold allows me to give her the best care and support, and gives me the freedom to always make decisions that are best for her.”
In 2023, Amanda decided it was time for her to go out on her own and start her Amanda Perkowski Dressage. “Helgstrand was a fantastic stepping stone for me. I view my time there as my college education,” she said. “I was very fortunate to be able to form a client group and gather sales horses quite rapidly after going on my own.”
Amanda amassed such a large group that this past winter season she had 14 horses between four different training facilities. “As you can imagine, most of my hours each day were spent either in my car or on a horse. I had limited time to be an active participant in my horses’ daily routine,” she said.
On April 1, 2024, Amanda moved her business to Top Meadow Farm in Wellington. “My vision was to create a haven where horses, clients and staff are treated with the best of care and respect. I’ve teamed up with fellow trainer and CDI Grand Prix rider Jennifer Williams, who’s sharing the facility with me year-round and whose horses are in my full-care program,” Amanda said. “We each run our own businesses, but we’re able to support each other and create a shared team environment, which is a great feeling.”
When Amanda looks toward the future, she’d love to help aspiring young professionals bridge the gap from working student to professional. As she learned firsthand, there’s no clear path to becoming a professional. “I’d love to create a program where young professionals could ride, train and compete a group of sales horses while also being responsible for their care. A head trainer would oversee the program, there would be educational requirements and ideally there would be an abroad portion as well,” she said. “This would be a way for young pros to gain more diversified competition experience, build a reputation and earn commissions on their horses. Investors would have the chance to make a profit on successful sales.”
As Amanda continues to build her ideal professional-development program for future pros, she’s got her eye on becoming the best dressage rider and horsewoman she can be. “I hope to one day reach my goal of riding on a U.S. team and competing at the top of the sport, while also giving back and helping the younger generation,” Amanda said. “I hope throughout this journey, I can spread kindness, support others in every small way I can and leave a positive impact on our community.”
Follow Amanda on Instagram @amanda_perkowski
Photos by www.emmaclaire.com,
