“I was born hearing and then I lost all of it after I had meningitis,” Raleigh said. “I got my first cochlear implant when I was about 1 year old.”
Her early life revolved around speech therapy, audiologists and learning how to interpret a world she could not completely hear. Yet the barn quickly became one of the rare places where communication felt simple.
“It’s definitely difficult to hear in the barn,” she said. “In the warm-up ring, I don’t have directional hearing, so if someone is coming up behind me or if they call a jump, I’m probably not going to hear it.”
Even so, horses offered a kind of language she could understand without sound, and that connection became the anchor to her life.
Raleigh grew up in Massachusetts and discovered the horse world entirely on her own. A true first-generation rider, she came from a family with no equestrian background, yet she found herself drawn toward a life none of them could have predicted.
One of her closest childhood friends lived across from a farm, so every visit meant hearing about the horses in the fields next door, and before long, her friend’s love of horses became her own. “I was terrified of them, but I was obsessed,” Raleigh said. “I begged my parents to let me ride. I begged for months.”
At 8 years old, she managed to get herself into a local summer camp, which quickly evolved into weekly lessons at a barn in Massachusetts. Those early years were filled with excitement, new lessons and the kind of determination that would carry her through the rest of her riding career.
Those early days were also filled with hearing therapy. “I needed special early-age regulatory approvals, which made me one of the youngest children in the United States to benefit from a cochlear implant,” Raleigh said. “I had to work really hard when I was younger, trying to figure out how to navigate the world differently than everyone else.”
As Raleigh moved into her early teens, the barn became a second home. She attended summer camps, formed close friendships and embraced every opportunity to learn. At 12, she took on her first half-lease and stepped into the show ring for the first time, in a Short Stirrup class.
Her next horse became a significant partner and influential horse in her life. “His name was Smitten 57, or Smitty in the barn, and he was actually a Children’s Hunter horse,” Raleigh said. “He was only 6 when we bought him, which is crazy, but he was such a sweetheart.”
Smitty guided her through milestone achievements. “I had a lot of success with him in the Children’s Hunters and the 3’3” divisions,” she said. “He really taught me so much.”
Then came Bella, her first jumper mare, who shifted the direction of her entire riding career. “She was incredible,” Raleigh said. “She was super brave, super fun, easy to ride. She kind of just showed me what we could do and got me really excited about the jumpers.”
From that point on, Raleigh knew show jumping was the discipline that fit her best.
At 15, Raleigh moved to a more competitive barn in Massachusetts. That major shift in riding lifestyle opened her eyes to another side of the sport and positioned her to find her highest riding potential. “It was a huge leap,” she said. “I was used to doing everything myself. Suddenly I was in a world where that was not the norm.”
Those years also included winters in Florida during her junior and senior years of high school, where she utilized the high school tutoring programs while she was away from her school. There, she gained exposure to the bigger circuits and experienced equitation and jumper classes at a new level. That winter training, combined with her increasing confidence in the jumper ring, helped shape the trajectory she would follow as she prepared to graduate from high school.
“The first time I did the Children’s Jumpers and started moving toward the 1.20m, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Raleigh said. “I loved the adrenaline. It felt right.”
As high school came to an end, Raleigh made one of the biggest decisions of her young career: She moved her horses to New Jersey to train with Max Amaya, a trainer whose program aligned with her vision for her future. “It was a very hard choice,” she said. “We had been with my trainers in Massachusetts for a long time. But I saw what Max was doing and knew it was the next step.”
As Raleigh and Max began building their relationship and stepping into bigger show environments together, they quickly found their rhythm, but it also came with unique challenges. Busy barns and warm-up rings made communication tricky. “Sometimes in a loud barn, I’ll miss certain parts of what people are saying. So Max always jokes, ‘I know you’re not hearing me. You’re ignoring me,’” Raleigh said. “We make it fun.”
Despite the long drives and flights back and forth during the transition, the commitment paid off quickly. “Sometimes I drove. Sometimes I flew. It was a lot,” Raleigh said. “But it was absolutely the right move. I still ride with him, so that says everything.”
Training with Max provided structure, consistency and the competitive environment she needed to keep rising through the jumper ranks.
Meanwhile, Raleigh also pursued her academics. Attending Boston College, she majored in psychology. To help balance school with a burgeoning show career, she would cadence her classes to Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays so she could fly to Florida Wednesday night and back to school Sunday night.
“I was a freshman when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and honestly it helped my riding because classes went online,” Raleigh said. “It made the balance easier.”
After graduating in 2023, she joined Lugano Diamonds as a sales strategist, embracing the chance to broaden her experience beyond the show ring. When the company underwent internal changes, she found herself at a natural point of transition—one that encouraged her to think more intentionally about her long-term goals.
“It made me realize I need something else to focus on,” Raleigh said. “I get very intense and focused on my riding, and I can feel myself start to obsess over competition and results in an unhealthy way. I’ve found it helpful to have work and passions outside of riding, which lets me see improvement in different areas of my life and direct some of that obsessive focus on other productive ventures.”
From that experience, Raleigh became more intentional about finding equilibrium in her life. “Fitness has always been a passion of mine, and I’m currently focused on turning that into a career,” Raleigh said. “I can see how much my riding has benefited from strength, cardio, core and balance, and I want to help other riders across all levels benefit from that knowledge and experience.”
Every rider hopes to find a once-in-a-lifetime horse. For Raleigh, that horse is Obora’s Chloe, a 2011 mare by Chacco-Blue out of Lacapo. Chloe had competed up to 1.50m with Marlon Zanotelli before Raleigh tried her, and their connection was immediate. “The first time I rode her, I just knew,” Raleigh said. “She got off the trailer looking completely show ready. She was gorgeous. When I jumped her, something clicked.”
Purchasing Chloe was a big choice, but it became one of the best decisions Raleigh ever made. “She changed my riding entirely,” Raleigh said. “After I started riding Chloe, I rode every other horse better. She gave me so much confidence.”
That partnership led Raleigh to one of the biggest moments of her career: earning a place on the three-star senior team for the United States at a Nations Cup in Spain. “I grew up not even knowing what FEI was or how Nations Cups worked,” she said. “So, making that team was a huge deal.”
For Raleigh, reflecting back to that show is close to her heart. “I had two down in the first round and I was really disappointed. I knew I could do better,” she said. “The second round was clear. We ended up finishing third out of 18 teams. I was so proud of Chloe, proud of myself, proud of my team, proud of my parents. It made all the low moments of the sport worth it.”
Just like that moment balanced the highs and the lows, Raleigh is committed to creating balance in her life, especially with the physical demands of show jumping. Fitness plays a central role in keeping her centered and confident. She lifts weights, runs, practices Pilates and maintains a routine designed to strengthen her body for the rigors of the ring. “I notice a big difference when I’m working out regularly,” she said. “My balance, stamina and strength are all better.”
This year, Raleigh started her own personal training business in Wellington called RH Strength to help others improve their fitness as well. “I was able to get a group of good clients and it’s been great to focus on something different that also aligns with the riding world,” she said.
Family grounds her just as much as fitness does. She treasures time with her two brothers, her parents and her fiancé’s family. Her fiancé, a software engineer, has even embraced the equestrian world with surprising enthusiasm. “He gives me ring advice now,” Raleigh said. “It’s adorable.”
Raleigh’s journey in show jumping has been anything but conventional. She entered the sport without a family tradition, learned to navigate life with cochlear implants, and carved out her place through curiosity, resilience and a willingness to tackle challenges others might not even see.
“I never take any of this for granted,” she said. “I love the sport. I love the horses. And I love the journey—even the hard parts. It’s all worth it.”
Follow Raleigh on Instagram @raleighhiler and TikTok @raleighhiler
Photos by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixieset.com
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