By Helen Townes
Portraits by Kacy Brown
Shawn and Samantha Mack found themselves crossing paths many times over the years, at all the big hunter-jumper shows in the Northeast and Florida. It just took them until 2022 to really find each other.
Shawn, 48, is a successful Grand Prix rider and trainer whose business, Sandstone International, is based out of Long Island, New York, and Ocala, Florida. He develops and sells hunters, jumpers and equitation horses while supporting clients that run the gamut from pony riders to Grand Prix. Samantha, 36, has been riding since she was a child and competing since high school, on the equestrian teams at both her boarding school and in college, and with considerable success as an Adult Amateur.
Samantha and Shawn were always traveling in the same equestrian circles. “Samantha was competing at the time and I had my own training business, so we knew each other in passing from shows,” Shawn said.
At some point in early 2022 they ran into each other at a show and Shawn suggested that they have dinner with a group of friends. After that evening the two kept in touch casually. Not long after, Shawn was Samantha’s last-minute “plus-one” for her friend’s wedding. “We just hit it off that night,” Shawn said.
Soon they were commuting hours to spend weekends together, back and forth between Shawn’s barn in Connecticut and Long Island, where Samantha lived. But horses were not the priority. “When we were together, we hardly talked about horses!” Shawn remembered.
Samantha laughs when she remembers the reaction of her family and friends. “My sister called my mom after seeing us together and said, ‘You know, I might be crazy, but I bet they’ll be married within the year!’”
Eight months later, in Barcelona, Shawn got down on one knee and asked Samantha to marry him, and she said yes.
On Parallel Paths
Neither Samantha nor Shawn came from families who were serious about riding. Samantha’s family was in construction on Long Island, with a long-standing family business, Ruttura & Sons. “I started riding at a little summer pony camp when I was around 12. None of my family rode but my mom found a small barn for me to take lessons on Long Island when I asked to ride,” Samantha said.
Shawn had family with horses near his home in Rochester, New York. “I used to climb on green horses as a child, galloping and jumping around,” he said. When he started taking lessons, he realized he had an aptitude for the sport. Shawn rode with well-known Rochester trainer George Patterson, competing in all the shows around the state. Later he rode as a Junior in the equitation, Junior Hunters, and High Junior Jumpers.
By the time he was 17, Shawn had decided he wanted to be a professional rider and trainer. He spent a year riding in Germany where he gained valuable experience that carried him into his professional career, eventually competing at the Grand Prix level nationally and internationally. He gained additional experience working at hunter-jumper show barns in Massachusetts, Michigan and Georgia.
Samantha was hooked on riding after that first summer at pony camp. She attended the Kent School in Connecticut as a boarding student, bringing along her Quarter Horse, Marcello. The legendary Olympian rider Michael Page was the head trainer at the school. “I quickly learned that my little Quarter Horse was not exactly right for my goals,” she laughed. Michael Page connected her with trainers Holliday Ryals and Lisa Rex, and Samantha rode with them all through high school and into her early Amateur years. After graduating from Kent, Samantha rode on the equestrian team while studying at Long Island University.
“I mostly rode hunters in the Adult Hunters, 3’3” Amateur Owners and National Derbies with my main horse at the time, Limone. She was an Oldenberg mare by Levisto. I showed her from the time she was 5 through 15, and she is happily retired on my friend’s farm in Pennsylvania,” Samantha said. “Limone and I showed throughout the East Coast, from Vermont to Wellington.” After college, Samantha lived in Nashville, Tennessee, and Wellington, Florida, as she started her career and continued to compete.
As an Amateur, Samantha began training with hunter trainer Louise Serio in Wellington. Louise helped her find a special horse, Quinn, a warmblood gelding by Quarterback. “I had a lot of success with Quinn. We won the North American League Adult Hunter Finals, and we were Grand Champion at almost every horse show in which we competed,” she said. “Quinn could be quirky, especially as he got older, but he was all business in the show ring. The more impressive the ring, the easier he made it.”
Business and Romance
At about the same time, however, Samantha’s professional life was ramping up. “My real-life career was taking over!” she said. Carrying on the family tradition, Samantha had returned to Long Island to start her own business in the construction industry. Founded in 2011, her company Our Rental Pumps is a concrete pump and heavy construction equipment rental company and a prominent supplier for major New York City contractors. “It was a way to take the knowledge I had from our family business and do something that suited me better,” she explained.
Running her own company was so demanding that Samantha had to step back from showing. “Riding is such a major part of my life that it felt like I was losing a part of my identity when I stepped back from showing,” she said. “My business supports contractors working on major infrastructure projects in New York City with heavy equipment rentals. Being a young woman in a male-dominated industry can be difficult; there’s a lot of pressure and stress from the ever-changing schedules, working with government agencies and the importance of the projects we work on,” she admitted. “I’m lucky if I can ride two or three times a week right now, and it’s been hard to maintain my fitness and confidence.”
Samantha’s riding lull may have made a difference when she and Shawn connected, however. “We had a lot of fun, and the timing was great. It was the first summer post-COVID, so many of Shawn’s clients were vacationing and enjoying freedom, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t showing. We got to know each other outside of the horse show world, and I think that made the world of difference in our relationship.”
A year and a half after their first official date, Samantha and Shawn were married on Long Island, at Oheka Castle in Huntington. “Oheka has been a special place for my family over many generations,” Samantha said. “The historic home is one of the last remaining Gold Coast Mansions that inspired one of my favorite books, ‘The Great Gatsby.’ My grandmother watched in awe as it was built; today it’s a hotel, restaurant and event venue. We’ve been lucky to celebrate many family events here, which made it a special place to start our marriage.”
Samantha has also used her time away from the show ring to bring along new horses of her own. Traveling to Argentina, she and Shawn found a few sale horses and Salado, a young warmblood stallion that is the grandson of Abdullah, the famed Olympic, World Cup and World Championship show jumper and eventer. Samantha rode Salado as he transitioned from stallion to gelding and hopes to get back in the show ring with him. Laura Beth Strong is helping her to achieve that goal.
Balancing two busy work schedules—and homes in Huntington, New York, and Ocala, Florida—can be challenging, admitted the couple. Shawn is establishing his clientele base for Sandstone International on Long Island and scouting a permanent barn. He is currently teaching at facilities in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, allowing him to help students from New York City, Long Island and the Hamptons. A large part of his business focuses on sales horses, and he travels to Europe a few times a year to find horses for clients. This winter, Shawn will be based on Long Island with visits to both Wellington and Ocala.
It may have taken many years for them to find each other, but now their lives together—although incredibly busy—are also rich and fulfilling. “We both have crazy long days, but we try to decompress, going out on our boat, spending time with friends and going to concerts,” Shawn said. “The horses have always been something special we’ve had in common, but they’re not our entire way of life.”
Follow Samantha on Instagram @samanthanatlie29, Shawn @shawn.mack943 and Sandstone Farm @sandstone.international
Photos by Kacy Brown, kacybrownphotography.com
