Portraits by Kacy Brown
Life is colorful on Emily Chamberlin’s farm in Ocala, Florida, with her husband, four sons, chickens, horses, cats and Kune Kune pig, Dizzy. Emily was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and now divides her time between Florida and Hawaii. “It’s just a very fast-paced chapter in life right now. I remember that everything is temporary, and these are all just seasons of life. Right now, it’s just going so quickly,” Emily reflected.
As if fated, Emily’s first word was “horse”—despite her family having no ties to riding. She began taking lessons at 5 years old at a local hunter-jumper barn. Despite her parents’ best efforts to put her in other (perhaps safer) after-school activities, Emily always knew she belonged in the saddle. “My heart is with the jumping,” Emily remarked. “I love the adrenaline of it; I find it so exciting.”
That love didn’t dwindle as Emily grew older, nor when she married at 19, nor discovered at 20 that she was going to be a mother. “I was so nervous thinking that I’d have to give up riding. How could I do both? If I took a break for nine months, would I lose everything? It was such a happy moment, but at the same time it was also like my life was ending. My world was ending,” Emily remembered. “Looking back, that thought was absurd; but it was a real fear for me at the time.”
She pushed past the fear of change, riding through her next chapter with the same skill she wields now as both a mother and a professional. “It’s funny because a lot of people who don’t know me don’t know that I have four boys, and they’re shocked when they find out,” Emily said.
Emily learned that there is no one right way to navigate through life. “It’s something you learn as you go along,” she said. “You have to be super organized and really learn how to divide your time. You need to understand how important it is to be all in for each sphere of your life, but also not to overdo it—of course, it will ebb and flow. Sometimes one part of your life needs more than another.” She reflects on the importance of having grace with oneself, remembering to check in and take care of herself the way she cares for other people. “In my life, sometimes it feels like I’m doing it all—now I understand that sometimes you must rely on other people to help you. You don’t have to be superwoman.”
“Emily does a tremendous job because she is so passionate, diligent and dedicated to mastering and perfecting her skills as a rider and trainer,” said Emily’s husband, Danny. “What’s most inspiring, though, is that she approaches life with her family with the same passion, diligence and dedication.”
Emily credits much of this riding and mental development to the trainers she’s encountered on her way; the ones who have understood Emily’s life holistically, encouraging her in her unique situation. “When I was in Hawaii, from the time I was married at 19 all the way through to a few years ago when we came to Ocala, I would go over to California and show. I worked with Rob Gage, who’s now passed. But he was such an inspiration for me,” she said. “Because I had all of my boys in 6 years, I was always just having a baby while I was working with him. He never made me feel judged. He was just like, ‘You get on, and you do your thing.’
“Another great trainer was Pam Gomez,” Emily continued. “She was one who pushed me up to the higher tracks. That was just the little push I needed. And she’s a mom, so that was really fun to be riding with her. She was always like, ‘You can do this.’”
While those figures became a foundational support system for Emily’s career, special horses also contributed toward her future in the industry. One of her favorites was a big, black mare named Kamilla. “ She is the one I started doing the international classes on and shifted my career to the bigger tracks,” Emily said. “She’s older and not doing it now, but she’s one that I would say shifted things for me.”
Emily and her family usually spend half of the year in Hawaii, where she teaches lessons and Danny surfs—and makes the rest of us feel ridiculously uncool by comparison. “Before we moved to Ocala four years ago and got the farm to remodel, we were there full time for 10 years,” Emily said. “I had a bunch of girls that I taught, and even now some will come over and show with me here at the World Equestrian Center.”
Danny and sons will leave for Hawaii a few weeks before her, as Emily times her trips strategically for when her sales horses in Ocala have sold. With her sales business ramping up and the bustling responsibilities of her farm in Florida, it’s been a couple of years since Emily has been able to sneak away for the season. “I don’t really have free time. My life is for my boys and the horses: Riding is my free-time activity. I organize, and I clean things. I try to exercise,” Emily laughed. “Oh—and I take ballroom dance lessons with my husband.”
Emily’s son River commented, “It’s super cool because we get to have land, and I can ride like my mom and she’s my teacher. She’s a good teacher.”
Her oldest, Rowen, said, “I think it’s good because she’s our mom and part of the day she’s cleaning the house and making us food, and then a different part of the day we can watch her do the WEC Grand Prix at night, and we yell ‘Go Mom!’ Not a lot of moms do that. She’s cool.”
Now, Emily is looking toward the future. “I’ve been working with a group of private investors, and that’s been such a blessing because I was able to shift from consignment horses that have come nationally to me to sell to being able to go to Europe three or four times a year and hand-pick horses to bring here,” she said.
With only 20 minutes to try horses, Emily has to know how to tell what she’s looking for. “I don’t have a specific level in mind when I’m looking to buy a horse. I obviously want a horse with a clean history, a flawless vet-check. I look for horses that I know will be great for Juniors, Amateurs or the bigger Grand Prix, and I can feel within five minutes if a horse is the one. I look for willingness: If I throw a jacket over the jump, do they accept that challenge?” Emily explained. “That’s been huge, because it’s easier to sell a horse that you really love. I hope to continue to keep importing and selling horses, and then continue to ride internationally. I’m taking it one chapter at a time.”
Emily emphasized that she wants to reach out to other women who might be in a similar situation. “It could be isolating, at times, but I see riders who are watching their lives change when they find out they’re having a baby, or women with young children at the shows, and they’re so nervous, not knowing how it’s going to go,” she said. “I’d tell them, ‘Don’t worry. It all works out!’”
Follow Chamberlin Farms on Facebook and on Instagram @chamberlinequine and @chamberlinfarms
Photos by Kacy Brown, kacybrownphotography.com
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