By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Melissa Fuller
When Tessa Downey was 13 years old, she met an unlikely partner in a 17.2-hand Holsteiner gelding named HH Moonshine, aka Moo. Rather than following the “traditional path” of moving from her medium ponies, Anisette and Happily Ever After, to a large pony, she jumped straight into the equitation ring with Moo.
“My mom and her friend Anne Hoch were sitting by the ring at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) when Ellie Ferrigno trotted by on Moo,” Tessa recalled. “Anne told my mom, ‘You need to get Tessa on that horse. I know he’s for sale.’ Mom approached my trainer, Peter Pletcher, who said, ‘What’s the point in getting Tessa a large pony when she can get a jump on horses earlier?’” A trial for Moo was scheduled.
A few days later, Tessa, clad in garters and paddock boots, met Val Renihan, Moo’s trainer. “I’ll never forget: Val saw me and went over to Peter. I don’t know if she realized I trained with him, and she said, ‘This little kid is getting on my nice equitation prospect.’ Peter laughed and told me to hop on and reassured Val, ‘You’ll see—it’s going to be fun.’ Sure enough, it went really well,” Tessa said.
After watching a petite Tessa jump the giant Moo, everyone was sold on the idea of purchasing him after Tessa’s successful pony career. For the next five years, Tessa and Moo went from the 3’ Children’s Medals to winning the 2023 USHJA Gladstone Cup – East, ultimately concluding their partnership with top placings in all the Big Eq finals. Her last calls on Moo resulted in a third-place finish at the 2023 ASPCA Medal Finals.
“I was so lucky that Moo was my first horse. It’s so unusual to have one horse take you all the way from the 12-14 Equitation to the Big Eq Finals,” Tessa said. “Moo was my rock throughout my Junior career.”
Finding Her Niche
Tessa tried field hockey and lacrosse growing up, but didn’t find her niche until she was invited to a birthday party, at age 7, at the Sam Houston Equestrian Center. “I got on for a pony ride and I’ve never gotten off since. My mom realized how much I enjoyed riding and decided to sign me up for lessons at Sam Houston,” Tessa explained.
After mastering the basics, Tessa became more serious: She moved first to Blue Fox Farm, then to Rendezvous Farm, and eventually to PJP Farm. While at Blue Fox, Tessa got her first pony, Bringing Home Blue, nicknamed Tinker. “Tinker took me from crossrails all the way to winning in the Small Ponies at the Washington International Horse Show,” she said. “I had her for a very long time and followed the standard progression of a young rider developing her skills.”
It was Anisette, Tessa’s medium pony, who was purchased from Anne and Hannah Hoch, that truly opened doors for Tessa. Anisette consistently placed at top-level local and national shows. She was champion or reserve champion at every major show from Devon to Pony Finals, Pennsylvania National and Washington International. That same year, Tessa was the Marshall & Sterling/USEF Pony Medal Final Champion on Hallelujah, a pony leased for the week.
Those solid placings enabled Tessa to secure catch rides at larger venues, giving her extra time in the saddle to build her riding skills. It also gave Tessa confidence to be able to ride Moo.
While riding at bigger shows in Texas, Tessa knew about Peter Pletcher. Convincing her parents to agree to the move was another story. “I was living in the middle of Houston, and Peter’s barn is in a little town called Magnolia—about an hour each way,” she said. “For a long time, my parents were like, ‘No, we aren’t driving you that far.’ But they eventually realized it was a big opportunity to train with him, so they bit the bullet.”
Tessa admits that Peter is the funniest person she’s ever met. “He’s a great guy, and my dad especially saw how well he interacted with his existing clients. After watching Peter at work, my parents decided they wanted me to ride with him. He shows all the big circuits on the East Coast—indoors, Devon and three months in Florida. They wanted that for me, too.”
Although Tessa didn’t usually arrive at the barn until 5 p.m., Peter was always ready to teach. “In Texas, we don’t have lights or an indoor ring, and sometimes it would start getting dark when we were preparing for finals or significant classes,” she said. “Rather than call it quits, Peter would pull out a flashlight, say, ‘This is the course—let’s get to work,’ and we’d keep riding.”
Three Ring Rider
Under Peter’s guidance at PJP Farm, Tessa achieved success in the hunter ring aboard ponies and her Junior Hunter horses Spectacular and Symbolic, whom she leased from Bella Kay. Tessa kept her sights set on the equitation ring, as a strong equitation background would pave the way for a future in jumpers.
“I really honed in on wanting to do the equitation because I grew up watching the greats like Kent Farrington, Lillie Keenan and McLain Ward. Each of them won a big equitation final before they went to represent the United States on big teams, like Nations Cup teams and the Olympics,” Tessa said. “I never considered focusing solely on hunters or jumpers—equitation was always part of my plan.”
At age 15, Tessa began working with Ken and Emily Smith of Ashland Farms. While Peter is famous for training and riding hunters, Ken and Emily helped to fine-tune her equitation, jumper and catch-riding skills. “I knew that if I wanted catch rides, especially in the equitation, I needed to be part of a specialty barn while also being trained with Peter. Ashland has a huge sales pipeline, always with top equitation mounts. I was fortunate to ride many of their imports throughout the year, but for the finals, I had two steady partners in HH Moonshine and Efendi,” she said.
Ashland Farms is based in Lexington, Kentucky, and Wellington, Florida—mirroring Peter’s East Coast show schedule. “Everyone—my parents, Peter, Ken and Emily—worked together to help me reach the highest levels of the sport. If those pieces hadn’t worked in tandem, I wouldn’t be where I am today: riding in college and being competitive in all these great classes,” Tessa said.
Two of Tessa’s favorite equitation victories were the 2023 USHJA Gladstone Cup Equitation Classic on HH Moonshine and the 2023 Palm Beach International Academy (PBIA) North American Junior Equitation Championship on Efendi. “It was incredible to have two major wins in one year on different horses who mean so much to me. At the Gladstone Cup, all the pieces came together, and I could correct mistakes I had made in the past with Moo—winning felt like a great reward. Then, winning the PBIA at Capital Challenge on an equitation great who had previously won with Grady Lyman was special for the Ashland team; I couldn’t have done it without their support,” she said.
Student Athlete
Before starting her freshman year at St. Francis Episcopal in Houston, Tessa and her mother met with the headmaster to discuss Tessa’s equestrian obligations. “We told her I’d miss a lot of school for horses. Thankfully, she said that as long as I maintained my grades and turned in assignments on time, they would accommodate my schedule,” Tessa said. “I was still a normal student—I just wasn’t in class all the time.”
A key to her success was that her mom owns At-Home Tutoring Services. “If I didn’t understand a subject and I wasn’t at school, she was able to help me with a tutor. That alignment of resources made it possible for me to pursue this sport seriously,” she explained.
With an impressive equestrian background and a drive to continue riding in college, Tessa was heavily recruited by NCAA equestrian teams. “On the first day of eligibility, I received many phone calls from interested programs. I sorted through who called, which schools I was interested in and which I wasn’t. Academics were very important to me and my family, so I focused on schools with strong academic reputations. Ultimately, that narrowed it down to the University of Georgia,” Tessa said.
Before arriving at Georgia, Tessa competed on jumper teams with her mare Isabelle. Together, they won Zone 7 team gold and individual silver at the 2022 Prix des States at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Isabelle also took Tessa to her first international team competition when they were selected for the U.S. Junior Team at the 2023 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth Finals in Opglabbeek, Belgium.
In Belgium, Tessa attended a mental health preparation clinic hosted by Team USA. “The coaches taught us mental exercises to handle the pressure of riding on a big stage as part of a team,” she said. “I carried those skills forward as a Georgia Bulldog.”
Tessa was excited about the social aspect of riding in college. “I thought being part of the team would be like having a built-in friend group. It’s like a sorority of horse girls—part of something bigger than ourselves,” she said. “Riding in a head-to-head format means sometimes you win your point but your team loses the meet, or vice versa. You have to prioritize the team outcome over your individual result. We work hard to limit variables that could make us unsuccessful, and preparation is always the focus.”
That preparation paid off: Tessa was named the 2024 SEC Freshman Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Year, and the University of Georgia won its eighth National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) title last spring, with Tessa a part of the winning team.
“Being the freshman rider of the year was amazing,” she said. “But the biggest highlight so far has been helping the team win a national championship. We worked so hard to get there and seeing it all come together made those early 6 a.m. weightlifting sessions worth it.”
After missing some meets during her freshman year to finish her Junior career, Tessa competed in every meet her sophomore year. “I’m fully committed to the team. I don’t have horses of my own at the moment, so I put all my energy into the program,” she said.
Majoring in international affairs with a minor in human rights and security, Tessa is weighing her future options. “I have two very different paths: turning professional or going to law school. With my major, law school seems natural, but horses have been in my life forever,” she said. “Right now, I’m taking this summer to evaluate my options and see what comes my way. Regardless of the path, my goal is to be successful—and enjoy the ride.”
Follow Tessa on Instagram @tessa.g.downey and on Facebook at Tessa Downey
Photos by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixieset.com
