By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Mellisa Fuller
Growing up, Lia Screnci always knew her career would be in either the music industry or working with horses. As a passionate concertgoer and horse enthusiast, Lia figured whichever path she chose would bring her happiness, as she truly loved being part of both worlds.
In 2023, Lia’s desire to be a full-time professional equestrian reached a crescendo, with her aptly named jumper, Forte. Although she had initially followed the musical path, after purchasing her dream jumper, Lia realized that all roads seemed to lead back to horses for her.
“While I really enjoyed working in music, I reached a point where I was working so much that I didn’t have much time to see or ride Forte. I was always stressed and I had this incredible Grand Prix horse, who brought me so much joy sitting on the sidelines while I was at the office,” Lia said. “They say you ‘choose your hard’ and I decided that I’d rather deal with the challenges of starting a business I was passionate about than being away from horses in an office all the time.”
Lia made the bold decision to quit her job and move to Florida so she could pursue her professional equestrian dreams and give Forte the attention he deserved. Today she runs her own business, Volado Farms.
Early Days
When Lia was 4 years old, her mother, Cynthia, wanted to find an activity that they could both enjoy together. Having shared a love of horses with her own mother, while riding Western as a child, Cynthia sought to have a similar experience with Lia. Lia’s father, Stephen, who is involved in the racing industry, also had a passion for horses. “Given that both my parents had been involved with horses before I was born, I think it was pretty inevitable that I’d end up getting the horse bug too,” Lia said.
Together Lia and Cynthia started with a 3-year-old OTTB named Rocket, and a little, aged Paint pony called Stormy at a lesson barn in Coconut Creek, Florida. “Things took off from there! We competed together in the hunter-jumper world until I was around 17, when mom had a bad fall that resulted in her becoming a para-dressage rider,” Lia said. “Now she focuses on para-dressage, and I still love my jumpers!”
Like many kids, Lia began in the hunter world competing in the Pony Hunter divisions. However, after watching Cynthia do jumpers and trying it herself, Lia realized that the jumper ring was where she truly belonged. In a full-circle moment, Rocket helped Lia cement her love of jumpers. “My mom’s horse Rocket ended up coming back into our lives when I was around 13. After we sold him, he went on to do upper-level eventing, and then he ended up becoming my first children’s jumper,” she said.
At age 11, Lia moved to Castlewood Farm to train with Alan Korotkin. Three years later, she became a working student there. “My time at Castlewood taught me so much about running a training and sales business, managing a show schedule with multiple clients/horses, and the level of organization and management needed to operate at that level. Being able to ride and show many horses at Castlewood taught me how to be adaptable in my riding between jumpers, hunters and equitation,” Lia said.
Lia found herself in the big equitation classes when she was 15 years old. “While searching for an equitation horse, I happened to sit on a jumper named Volado that had come through the barn for sale, and I absolutely fell in love with him. He was playful and scopey, with a very unique way of going that definitely wouldn’t work in the equitation ring,” Lia chuckled. “But I had so much fun with him that we ended up buying him and I continued in the jumper ring.”
Although Lia bought a jumper rather than an equitation horse, she still managed to compete in the Big Eq classes during her last two Junior years. “I’m thankful for the equitation experience. I learned a lot about balance and finesse in the equitation ring, which translates well to the jumper ring,” she said.
Musical Interlude
Lia went to the University of Georgia (UGA) where she was a member of their NCAA equestrian team while studying sports management. However, during her sophomore year, she decided to leave the team and became an assistant trainer at a farm near Atlanta for the remainder of her college career.
“I loved being on the UGA Equestrian team; I made some of my closest friends there and have wonderful memories, but ultimately it wasn’t the right fit for me long term. With my goals of becoming a professional and developing my own horses, I decided working for a show barn a few days a week would give me opportunities to compete and ride a lot more while staying in school,” Lia said.
Not only was Lia getting an education in the classroom at UGA, she also was learning equestrian skills that would one day help her at Volado Farms. “I really enjoyed working under another trainer; it gave me great insight into running a larger-scale lesson program and essentially taught me how to teach and communicate with students,” she said.
Although Lia began school with the intention of getting a sports management degree and becoming a trainer, she decided to join UGA’s Music Business Certificate Program during her junior year to explore another field she was passionate about. “I ended up loving the program and experiences I had working with artists and labels. I was the VP of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) and Booking for our student-run record label, so I got to sign student artists to record with our label and help book gigs for them at local live music venues in Athens,” Lia said. “During that time, I also interned at an indie label called New West Records.”
After graduating in 2019, Lia decided to put riding horses as a career aside, regain her amateur status and focus her professional energy on the music industry. “I spent some time working at a large entertainment agency in New York City in the Music Brand Partnerships division, getting my master’s certificate in music business and law from Berklee College of Music, then ended up in Nashville for two and a half years working in music-touring business management for some of the biggest artists in the industry,” she said.
While working in the music industry, Lia still made sure she was able to get some saddle time. “Most of the time it was only two to three times a week, but I couldn’t imagine a life where I wasn’t riding and competing. Thankfully, when I moved to Nashville, there was a great show circuit right there in Brownland Farm,” Lia said. “That ended up being a great place to develop a young Grand Prix horse locally without requiring too much travel away from work.”
In 2021, Lia and her father partnered on a 6-year-old horse from Belgium with the intention of developing him as an investment. As a nod to her music background, she gave Puccini Van Orti the barn name of Forte.
Finding Forte
Lia didn’t know it at the time, but purchasing and developing Forte would change the trajectory of her life. “I had a mare, Siena, that I was showing in the Low Amateur classes, but she was getting older, so I casually decided to look for a young prospect. I came across a video on YouTube of a big, gangly, but very scopey 6-year-old in Europe and decided right then that this was the one I had to have,” she said. “I wasn’t able to fly over to Belgium to try him at the time because of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions but decided to take the leap anyway and brought him over without really knowing what I was getting into.”
Within a year, Lia and Forte competed in the 7-year-old classes. “He was taking me to heights I never thought I’d be able to reach again as a working amateur. I absolutely fell in love with him, so safe to say he was no longer for sale at that point,” Lia said. “Since then, he’s continued to make all of my wildest dreams come true.”
In 2023, Forte and Lia were second in the $50,000 Music Country Grand Prix at Brownland. The duo jumped their first 1.50m National Grand Prix under the lights in Wellington this past November. “He has truly changed my world and I’m so unbelievably grateful to have found him,” she said.
Developing Forte hasn’t always been easy. Once imported, Lia discovered he was much greener than anticipated. “It took some time to develop his rideability; he’s almost 18 hands now at 10 years old. He’s been a bit slower to develop through his body because of his size, but it’s been such a fun experience getting to learn with a horse that has as much natural talent as he has,” Lia said.
Together Lia and Forte have been able to experience many firsts together over the past few years. “Despite the mistakes we may make from time to time, Forte is always there for me. I know him so well and have such a high level of trust in him that’s allowed me to reach levels of the sport I never thought possible,” she said. “We are planning to do our first FEI two-star classes this spring.”
With an amazing horse in the barn, and with the support of her family, Lia made the decision in 2023 to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a professional equestrian. Although it was something she had always thought about, prior to having Forte, she didn’t have the confidence to make the leap.
“Finding Forte and the success I’ve been able to achieve with him finally pushed me to make the change into a career that always leaves me feeling fulfilled, even on the not-so-good days,” she said. “So, I quit my job and stayed in Tennessee for a few more months. I sold a couple of horses in that area and then ultimately moved to Wellington in December 2023 to begin my career.”
Volado Farms
When it came time to name her new business, Lia knew exactly what name she wanted to use—Volado Farms. Volado was Lia’s first real jumper she got when she was 15.
“He took me from the children’s jumpers to my first real Grand Prix at 17 and truly made me fall in love with the jumper ring. A year after owning him, he had a bad case of colic, resulting in him having three surgeries in 24 days. We never knew if he’d be comfortable enough to compete again after that, but six months later we were back in the show ring and four months after that we jumped our first Grand Prix together,” she said. “Unfortunately, a few weeks later he heartbreakingly passed due to another colic complication. His memory lives on today with my Volado Farms.”
Lia runs her Volado Farms out of two locations—Loxahatchee and Jupiter, Florida. Lia is the head trainer at Riverbend Equestrian Center, where she has a group of clients and horses that she teaches and takes to shows. “My family and I also have a farm in Loxahatchee Groves that we purchased in early 2024. I have five horses in training there, which are a mix of my personal horses and client-owned sales horses,” she said.
Starting Volado Farms has been equally rewarding and difficult for Lia. “The business has grown much faster over the past few months than I anticipated, which has been truly amazing. However, this rapid growth comes with its own set of challenges and valuable learning experiences. I’m grateful to have a wonderful family and group of clients who have supported me throughout my journey,” Lia said. “They have been a true blessing as I’ve worked to get everything up and running.”
With her own business, Lia truly is in her happy place. “Horses have been my everything for as long as I can remember. I’ve always referred to the barn and being with horses as my happy place. To have that place to return to throughout my life has been invaluable in shaping me as a person,” Lia said.
As Lia looks toward the future, she’s excited to continue to establish her sales and training business in South Florida, as well as continuing to advance her career in the Grand Prix ring with Forte under the guidance of her trainers Dylan Daly and Jacqueline Steffens-Daly. “There truly is no scenario where I will not have horses in my life,” Lia said.
Follow Lia on Facebook at Volado Farms and on Instagram @VoladoFarms
Photos by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixieset.com
