By Britney Grover
Portraits by Lindsey Long
Many young riders have been said to be taking the show jumping world by storm, but only 19-year-old Skylar Wireman has taken it by Tornado. In just over a year together, Skylar and 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood Tornado have jumped from their first 1.45m classes together to competing in the 2024 World Cup Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after winning the $250,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Fort Worth. But Skylar’s journey is far from cliché.
Looking at her list of achievements—including everything from wins at Small Green Pony Champion at Pony Finals in 2018 to winning the $100,000 Premier Air Charter Grand Prix and U25 Grand Prix at HITS Del Mar this July—it would be easy to envision a life of exceptional privilege and smooth sailing to victory. A more accurate vision includes workdays that start with dragging the arena and riding 12 to 20 horses at home or working dawn to dusk with 8 to 15 horses at shows; horse and human injuries including being life flighted after a kick to the head as well as, on a separate occasion, a lacerated liver; and immense gratitude for her supportive and close-knit team family.
For Skylar, riding is much more than results. “My mother has taught me from a very young age that it’s always the horse first before anything else. She also taught me to have fun and enjoy spending time with my horses while competing, and the results are just icing on the cake.”
Those principles became Skylar’s foundation for her competitive career and have kept her grounded through kicks and controversy—even while that career has been “iced” with results right from the start.
Horsemanship Foundation
Skylar has been riding since before real riding boots fit on her feet, thanks to her mother, Shayne Berridge Wireman. Shayne purchased the Chestnut Hills property in Bonsall, San Diego County, California, when she was just 20 years old, and built the business into what it is today—a thriving, competitive stable with her and her daughter at the helm. “My relationship with my mom is very strong and like-minded,” Skylar said. “For sure when I was growing up, it was occasionally challenging to be a mother-daughter duo and have my trainer be my mom, because as kids we often think our parents aren’t right. Now, our relationship is even stronger and we work very well as a team, with me doing all the riding while she does most of the teaching. Having her on the ground helping me is truly incredible and such a special part of my journey, from day one to jumping my first World Cup Finals in Riyadh earlier this year.”
Having a trainer for a mother, Skylar got used to hitting the dirt early, too. “The ponies are where it all began—which mostly meant falling off or getting bucked off a lot,” she admitted. Her first pony, from leadline through crossrails, was Pokey Joe, and she rode Nutter Butter through Short Stirrup. “Then I had my true heart pony, I’ve Got Moxie, who definitely taught me how to ride tough and stick to the tack as she would take off and buck me off frequently, but I did so much with her. We won local medal finals, numerous year-end hunter division championships and flew around the jumpers with countless back-to-back year-end championships.”
The championships continued with her first horse, Captivated, who took Skylar from 2’6” hunters to Junior Hunters and international derbies with championships across the country—including World Champion Hunter Rider at Capital Challenge and the Junior Hunter Finals – West. Her Big Eq career was no less successful aboard Hot Pants, including winning Talent Search Finals – West and taking sixth at the Maclay National Finals both in 2020, among other accolades.
Another special horse in Skylar’s journey has been Citoki, whom she purchased in December 2020 and began competing in Medium and High Junior Jumpers in 2021. Their goal was to make it to NAYC, which they did—sort of. They qualified as alternates, but the night before the warm-up class, there was a massive storm. During the warm-up class, Citoki jumped the open water and fractured his pelvis, likely as a result of a hairline fracture in his stall overnight. “Our vets at home really weren’t sure what kind of a comeback he would have, as they found three fractures when they did more focused scans of his pelvis, and there was a possibility he would never jump again,” Skylar said.
Citoki surprised the vets by making a full recovery and returning to the Grand Prix level by 2023—only to again step back from competition when his right eye turned blue one day. After weeks of medication, he returned to competition once more—and won his first two four-star speed classes at Sacramento and Las Vegas. “He’s considered my miracle horse,” Skylar said.
In the meantime, Coolio 23 was helping Skylar get four- and five-star experience. Skylar jumped her first four-star FEI show at Las Vegas in 2022, finishing second in the ranking speed class just between Daniel Coyle and Conor Swail, and in January 2023, in her very first week as a professional, she won her first 1.50m National Grand Prix. All along the way, Skylar and Shayne have worked to make things work without external financial backing.
“From day one to now, my mom and I have always done everything we possibly can ourselves to save money for me to be able to show. We do everything ourselves, including trailering, braiding, grooming, stall cleaning, sleeping in the horse trailer and hauling in for one day to qualify for medal finals without the cost of a stall, plus so much more,” Skylar said. “Not to mention the village of family, friends and trainers that have given me so many opportunities and continuously help me achieve my goals. This wouldn’t be possible without my village.”
It was Skylar’s “village” that stepped up to keep her dreams alive in 2023 as she braved another storm she has, unfortunately, become familiar with—injury. In 2019, Skylar had to be life flighted to the hospital when she was kicked in the head while getting out of a horse stall. She spent several days in the ICU with a moderate concussion, brain bleed and two facial fractures. Obviously, that didn’t stop her pursuing her dreams. Neither did her injury last year, but first, it was someone else’s injury that resulted in Skylar’s partnership of a lifetime.
Tornado Touches Down
Since she was a Junior, Skylar has expanded her experience—and her win list—with catch rides provided by champion hunter rider Nick Haness. “I’d like to give the biggest thank-you to Nick for believing in me and helping me since I was a little kid on my Junior Hunter years ago,” Skylar said. “Over the years, he has given me countless catch rides at the shows, and I’m so grateful for each and every one of those opportunities!”
“Skylar has something special: a desire and urge inside of her that every horse she rides picks up on,” Nick said. “Her natural talent, ability and intuitions on a horse are obvious, but it’s her desire that separates Skylar from the rest. As many professionals did, I recognized this trait in Skylar from a young age and feel honored to have contributed to her Junior career success, and then onward into her professional career as well.”
When Nick broke his wrist and was unable to ride in June 2023, he sent one of his sales horses to Skylar to get continued show experience and potentially be sold. That horse was Tornado. “At the time, Alicia Thompson worked at our home farm, generally managing the show horses as well as the lesson horses,” Skylar said. “The first day when I brought Tornado home, Alicia said there was something special about him and she knew we were going to do big things together.”
On the ground, Tornado is a little horse with a big personality. “He has the biggest puppy dog personality and he loves to be the center of attention,” Skylar said. “He thinks I’m a treat dispenser because when he nudges me or pushes me, I usually give him cookies—it’s impossible to resist when that cute face is looking at me! But when I’m on him and we’re in the show ring, he is all business and ready to conquer whatever task is in front of him.”
Tornado proved that in his first show with Skylar just a few weeks later when the pair jumped clear in the 1.35m Welcome, so Skylar and Nick decided they should do the 1.40m Speed the next day, where they jumped clear again. “Then we decided to go ahead and jump the Grand Prix at the end of the week, which would be his very first 1.45m ever, and had just one down,” Skylar said. “From there, Tornado and I jumped a few 1.45m Grand Prix in the early summer before my injury.”
As always, Skylar continued to ride a long list of horses at every show. Getting “jumped off” is not what’s supposed to happen in a jump-off, but Skylar found herself on the ground on a grass field. Then she got stepped on—with studs. The blow to her stomach lacerated her liver in two places, as well as her kidney, and she was sidelined for six weeks. During that time, there was interest in Tornado from the East Coast. “Nick worked with me to partner on the horse so I could keep Tornado a bit longer through the season, and some family friends jumped in to help financially,” Skylar said. Like in 2019, the injury kept her from competing at NAYC, this time as part of the Young Rider team for which she qualified. “So, I set my sights on jumping the World Cup Qualifiers.”
After “a 1.45m Grand Prix or two” following her injury, Skylar and Tornado headed for the Sacramento International Horse Show. Shayne was on the East Coast with clients at indoors, so Skylar recruited Alicia as groom—Alicia’s first time grooming at a show—for the trip. “I can’t thank Alicia enough for being willing to go on a long road trip hauling horses to Sacramento to groom for the first time in her life, especially since I was going to be on my own both weeks and possibly jumping my first World Cup Qualifier while my mom was across the country!” Skylar said. “After those two weeks, we pretty much decided that she would be my groom going forward. I have to thank her for being so willing to go on this crazy journey and playing such key roles in my life as the best big sister and groom ever! Little did we know she would end up being Tornado’s groom and go to Riyadh just a few months later.”
Skylar’s plan was to jump Tornado in the lower FEI classes the second week, but after jumping clear in the national classes the first week, she turned to her team: her mom, Nick and Peter Wylde, who has been a coach and mentor to Skylar since they met at the Emerging Athletes Program National Training Session in 2019. She visited his farm in Florida in 2020, and Peter also has flown to California to help Skylar prep for shows and coached her all week during the shows. “I am forever grateful for all the time Peter put into me and my horses that has gotten me to such a high level of this sport,” she said. “I have always looked up to him and his way of connecting with horses invisibly, and his humble personality is another reason I want to be just like him.”
The team decided to move Tornado up to try the four-star 1.50m Welcome Stake—which Tornado jumped clear—and then ultimately to enter the 1.60m World Cup Qualifier. “Tornado jumped absolutely amazing, with just one rail down, to finish ninth,” Skylar said.
During the Las Vegas CSI4*, Skylar’s “village” again came to her support to help pay Tornado off fully before they could jump their second World Cup Qualifier, where they finished eighth. “We didn’t plan to go to Texas in December, but with great results in the first two qualifiers, I wanted to go get one more qualifier under my belt with hopes of getting to compete the next season in 2025 at World Cup Finals,” Skylar said. “The third qualifier was a week I will never forget, with Tornado jumping double clear in the 1.50m Welcome to finish second, followed by the night of my life with my whole team—Peter, my mom and my amazing groom, Alicia—all there for my biggest moment of my career to date: winning the 1.60m Longines World Cup Qualifier Fort Worth.”
That night at dinner, Peter said, “I think they’re qualified and ready to go to World Cup Finals this season!”
“I couldn’t believe it, because when we started the World Cup journey, we all agreed that I would do the qualifiers for the experience but with no intention of going to the finals that season,” Skylar said. “It has been my dream since I was a little kid to ride for Team USA and get my very own pinque coat. And to get to do it at 19 years old with a horse that I had not even been riding for a year was very special.”
Riyadh & Beyond
Skylar and Tornado jumped a few three- and four-star Grand Prix over the winter before making their trip overseas for Skylar’s first-ever competition outside of the USA: the 2024 World Cup Finals in Saudi Arabia. “The trip to Riyadh was absolutely the trip of a lifetime, with some of the most amazing people ever and my team that is family,” Skylar said. Shayne, Alicia and Peter were all there, as well as the family friends who helped to purchase Tornado.
Some of Skylar’s favorite memories of the trip came from time spent out of the saddle. “Peter, Alicia, my mom and I have kind of made it our ritual since Fort Worth to find an escape room to go play before I compete,” Skylar shared. “I think we did four different rooms in Riyadh in our spare time. Alicia, my mom and I also went to an amusement park called Blvd World, where we rode roller coasters, played—and won—life-size Monopoly and had fun getting to see more of Saudi Arabia.”
The first round of the World Cup Finals went beautifully. “Drawing last to go in the first round of the Finals and follow number one in the world, Henrik von Eckermann, was just incredible,” Skylar said. “It was truly surreal to get to warm up with Henrik, then watch his round and try to replicate it.”
She and Tornado finished clear and in 10th place, a special moment for Skylar with so much of her “village” there to watch. “It showed me that the bond between horse and rider is very strong, and anything is possible when you believe, work hard and never stop dreaming,” she said. “It was also a major moment for me because it felt like a huge reward for years and years of hard work, and reminded me just how amazing the village of supporters around me is from trainers to friends.”
Despite the great first round, Skylar worked closely with her team—as always—to ultimately make a hard decision: Withdrawing Tornado from the final round. “Initially, it was a tough decision to make because I’m the believer that wants to do it all, but knowing that the final round was going to be a lot more technical and the horse is always the first priority, I felt good knowing that I made the best decision for Tornado,” Skylar shared. “After walking the course and watching the first few riders go, I was reassured that I had made the right decision.”
The decision to withdraw Tornado may have caused quite a bit of controversy and criticism, but Skylar remained confident. “Since returning home, Tornado jumped four clear rounds in a row in the Major League Show Jumping five-star, including the Grand Prix and the following week in the CSI4*. I felt like I had a whole new horse under me, and he was jumping better than he ever had before,” she said. “To me, this couldn’t have been better reassurance that my decision in Riyadh was 100% the right one and just goes to show that patience is key, and always putting the horse first will pay off in the end.”
Skylar and Tornado are already amassing more Grand Prix wins including the $50,000 American Grand Prix at the Blenheim June Classic Series and both the $100,000 Premier Air Charter Grand Prix and U25 Grand Prix at HITS Del Mar in July. “I think the biggest thing I was reminded of in Riyadh was that it’s not necessarily about jumping the biggest class of the week but more importantly putting the horse first and thinking about where you’ll go in the future,” Skylar said. “I always go for the experience and to have fun, especially at big events—of course I’m competitive, but I think having fun and gaining experience is a very important way to look at competing and it often slips out the door when the desire to win or get to the top takes over.”
Turning 20 in November, Skylar keeps her life in balance—and fun—by hanging out with barn friends at the beach or pool, often trail riding bareback to an instructor’s house for a swim, and she also enjoys photography. But her focus on horses and horsemanship reflects the foundation laid by her mother from the very beginning. “I would like to thank my mom because I owe it all to her!” Skylar said. “Countless years of hard work and long days just to make this sport a reality for me. She really does it all, and I always strive to be as amazing as she is. Thank you to my one-in-a-million mom and trainer!”
Skylar made the extended short list for the Paris Olympics and hopes to compete at the L.A. Olympics in 2028. In the meantime, Skylar plans to gain more five-star experience with both Major League Show Jumping on Team Helios and World Cup Qualifiers again this year, shooting for the 2025 Finals in Basel, Switzerland, and more major international competitions in years to come. She continues to ride many horses, but the winning whirlwind is far from over. “I think Tornado and I are such a good match mainly because we both believe in each other. Although he’s small, he’s mighty, has a very big ego and thinks he can conquer the world,” Skylar said. “Combined with that, I have every dream of being at the top of the sport and complete confidence in Tornado’s abilities to jump the biggest tracks.”
And she’s not the only one who thinks so. “I believe that things happen for a reason,” Nick said, “and to see my horse Tornado and Skylar set the show jumping world on fire has been such a joy to witness. When you work hard, stay humble and strive to be one with the horse, a recipe for stardom is created. Skylar is that recipe.”
Follow Skylar on Instagram @skylar_miki
Photos by Lindsey Long, lindseylong.com
