By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Kelly Murdock
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said, “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” Eventer Annabelle Nieman follows this same philosophy that if you believe and work hard enough, you can achieve whatever you want.
Annabelle always wanted to be a professional rider. “I didn’t know exactly what path I would travel in the industry, but from my earliest rides, I knew horses would be a huge part of my life,” Annabelle said. That hard work has paid off, as today, at 23 years old, Annabelle runs her own AWN Eventing in Tucson, Arizona.
Getting Started
As a young child, Annabelle happily tagged along on trips to the barn with her mom. “My mom had a horse when I was growing up. I was going on trail rides at age 4 and by the time I was 5, my parents signed me up for lessons at a hunter-jumper barn,” Annabelle said.
It didn’t take long for Annabelle to have a pony of her own. When she was 6 years old, her parents purchased her first pony, Saki. Annabelle learned to ride and got a taste of the perseverance required to be an equestrian. “I remember getting bucked off at least five times every lesson when I first got Saki,” she said.
Once Annabelle conquered Saki’s bucking antics, the duo began competing at local hunter-jumper shows. Their first jumping show is one Annabelle will never forget. “We went to a show at the Tucson Fairgrounds to do the crossrail division for the first time. The show had decorated the arena with hay bales along the sides. We never made it over the first jump, because Saki ran from hay bale to hay bale, stopping to eat at each one,” Annabelle laughed. “I was just along for the ride, with no control, as she grazed her way around the arena.”
After cruising around in the hunters for three years, Annabelle decided to give it a go in the jumper ring. “My heart was never in the hunters; it was just too slow and not exciting enough for me,” she said. “The jumper ring was definitely more my speed.”
During one of Annabelle’s jumper lessons, her trainer mentioned three-day eventing. “I had never heard of it before, so I decided to research it a bit with my mom. I thought it sounded like fun, so I started learning dressage,” Annabelle said.
Annabelle made her eventing debut at Grass Ridge in Arizona doing the Beginner Novice level. “While I had been practicing my dressage, I had only gone cross-country schooling once before that first event. Not only was it my first event, it was also my horse Prima’s first event,” she said. “It was the most exciting thing I had ever done.”
Immediately hooked, Annabelle went all in on eventing at 14 years old. “I think it’s so cool that you have to be good at dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping. Why focus on just one thing, when you can try to be good at all three aspects of eventing?” she said.
Like most eventers, while Annabelle enjoys dressage and stadium jumping, the real thrill comes from galloping across the cross-country course. “It’s such an adrenaline rush when you’re leaving the start box, knowing that all the hours of hard work I’ve put in will hopefully pay off in the next five to 10 minutes on the course,” Annabelle said.
Exploring Eventing
Horses gave Annabelle independence at an early age. “I moved away from home when I was 16 to go work for Tamie Smith in California. Unfortunately, that didn’t last as long as I hoped because I was in high school,” Annabelle said. “I thought I could do it all: school, ride all day and everything that being a working student entailed.”
Although Annabelle ended up back in Arizona quicker than she hoped, her time with Tamie proved to be invaluable. “Tamie has played a huge role in shaping me into the person and rider that I am today. Seeing how hard she works and how much she really wants to be at the top of the sport really motivates me to keep following my dreams,” Annabelle said.
The California eventing scene also helped fuel Annabelle’s dreams. “The eventing community in Arizona is so small, I didn’t really know what a five-star competition was before I got to California. When I got back home to Arizona, I was ready to get through high school so I could start working on my professional equestrian goals,” she said. “That early exposure to the top of the sport helped cement the importance of hard work and work ethic and put me in the right mindset moving forward.”
In 2019, Annabelle bought the horse, JLo, who would change her career. “When I got her, she was doing the Beginner Novice level. Together we’ve moved up to Preliminary. Moving up and learning together has been an amazing experience,” Annabelle said. “Even though she’s a chestnut mare and has her days, I don’t think I’ll ever have a partnership with another horse like I do with her.”
The road through the levels hasn’t been without heartache. In 2020, JLo injured a tendon. Although heartbreaking at the time, overcoming the injury made their journey that much sweeter when the duo came back and completed their first Preliminary event together.
“When we went through the finish flags on the cross-country course, I was so excited, I felt like I had won Kentucky,” Annabelle said. “It was one of those moments that was really reaffirming. I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life and if I worked hard enough I could make it to the top of the sport.”
Going Pro
As soon as Annabelle turned 18, she turned professional. “I was already getting paid to ride and was teaching lessons, so going pro was the path I had to take in order to keep making money,” she said.
Eager to further her eventing skills and knowledge, Annabelle traveled back to California after graduating from high school and had the opportunity to work with top eventers, including another stint working with Tamie. Annabelle also spent a winter working with Buck Davidson. “It was a great experience to be behind the scenes in these successful operations and see how everyone runs their business a little differently,” Annabelle said.
In 2023, Annabelle established her own business, AWN Eventing, in Tucson, Arizona. There, Annabelle has several horses in training and a few sales horses. “When I first started, I’d take horses in for pretty much anything. I didn’t care what kind of horses I was working with, as long as I was working with horses. I’d put their first rides on them, help with bucking or attitude problems—whatever people brought me, I worked with,” Annabelle said. “Luckily, right now I have a good group of horses and don’t have to do so much of the ‘not so fun’ training rides.”
AWN Eventing currently focuses on buying young horses, training them and matching them with their next partners. In addition to running her own business, Annabelle is the head rider and assistant for Laura DeCesari Dressage. She’s also a certified equine massage therapist.
Originally Annabelle got the idea to get certified in massage so she could treat her own horses. However, once her dad heard about her plans, he decided to get certified, too. “The man cannot sit still, so he decided when he retires, he could do massage. It was really cool he decided to do this with me because he’s not a horse person, and this was a way for us to do something together. Our name is TNT Performance Equine Massage, with TNT standing for The Nieman Team,” Annabelle said.
Underdog No More
While Annabelle is living her dream of being a professional, she admits it hasn’t been easy at times. “Having only competed up to the Preliminary level, it’s been a little more difficult to establish myself as a professional. I just have to be patient and realize that not everyone is going to have the same path to the top of the sport,” she said.
Annabelle admits it can be discouraging to scroll through Instagram and see others moving up the levels quicker than she’s been able to. “Sometimes seeing others’ success makes me think, If only I had the money to buy something that could take me to my first Advanced event. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in comparing yourself to others,” she said.
Before Annabelle got JLo, she was eliminated from more events than she completed. “JLo was my first really nice horse. Would it have been nice to have moved up quicker? Yes, but at the end of the day I’ve learned it’s not about the speed of the journey, but what you learn along the way,” she said.
While money can help advance goals, Annabelle doesn’t believe it can buy happiness. “I like to believe that working hard and showing others that you’re a good rider will pay off and open the door for more opportunities,” Annabelle said. “I’m proud that I’m part of the next generation of riders who truly love the sport and are determined to work hard to succeed in it.”
As Annabelle aims to apply for the U25 program, she’s putting together a group of investors to help her find her next partner. “This next partnership is going to be really special because my family and friends are helping support my dreams. Knowing that they believe in me is going to make the next step of my journey even more meaningful,” she said.
Follow Annabelle on Instagram @awniemaneventing
Photos by Kelly Murdock, kellymurdockphotography.com
