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Standing in Maine’s largest heated indoor, Renae Samay watches riders school their horses on GGT footing at Sassy Strides Equestrian. A decade ago, this arena was only in Renae’s dreams. Today it’s helping other equestrians fulfill their own dreams. Renae’s grit, tenacity and determination are a testament to the idea that if you build it, they will come.
A native Mainer, Renae spent a year in Florida chasing her competitive riding dreams after graduating from high school. It was during this time that Renae decided she wanted to give equestrians in Maine the same quality show experience as those competing in Florida.
“While in Florida, one thing I couldn’t shake from my mind was the fact that Maine didn’t have a great show circuit, venue or even a good schooling circuit that offered the fundamentals that would set you up for success if you wanted to pursue more. So, I did what every crazy 19-year-old that’s on a mission does and I moved back to Maine to start the New England Jumpers’ Association (NEJA),” Renae said. “My entire family thought I was nuts. I had just settled into the path I thought was going to take me to my dreams, but I wanted to provide what I never got as a teenager.”
Renae’s family weren’t the only skeptics of her idea. Others in the community told her this grand plan wouldn’t work. “The state is too rural, too set in its ways and you’re dreaming too big,” they said.
Undeterred, Renae refused to accept the notion of ‘that’s just the way it is here in Maine.’ Today, the NEJA offers real shows, real experiences and real results to all who participate.
When Renae was 10 years old, her mother unexpectedly passed away. Looking for ways to still feel close to her mother, Renae turned to horses.
“My mother loved horses and owned a Morgan, until I was 5 years old, that she sold when she was pregnant with my brother. I fondly remember going to the barn with her and spending time brushing and riding. After her passing, my life was truly chaos. Being at the barn with the horses is what really gave me peace,” she said.
Her mother’s death sent the entire family into a spiral, especially since her father was gone all the time for his work as a truck driver. “My mom was a big part of what made our entire family go round and was my and my brother’s primary caretaker. We hopped from house to house, both of relatives and friends, during that time,” Renae said. “Being at the barn was the one place where I didn’t have to worry about anything else that was going on and could just be a kid.”
Renae flourished as a self-proclaimed barn rat. She went to every horse camp she could find from the age of 10 to 13. For her 13th birthday, her dad bought her a horse who just happened to be a Morgan, like her mom’s horse had been. From that point forward, Renae spent every second she could at the barn.
The barn not only provided Renae with refuge from the realities of the real world, but it also gave her an extended barn family. “They gave me a lot of support I needed at that age and to this day I still use that support system. I lost my own mother, but I gained at least four others,” she said. “It was nice to be able to have those people to go to and help me grieve in a proper way and stay on the right track. They were always there for me regardless of the situation, good or bad.”
Many of Renae’s favorite childhood memories come from Saturdays spent at the barn doing chores, being with friends and riding. When she wasn’t enjoying her days riding bareback and jumping logs in the woods, Renae ventured into the show ring.
In those days, showing wasn’t big or organized in her area; they were mostly in-house schooling shows for the barn’s customers, and a few outsiders would ship in to participate. “We didn’t have pretty standards or jump wings and freshly painted poles, we didn’t have timing equipment or nice footing. We had stone dust rings, stick standards, tree branches for poles and stop watches,” Renae said. “We always had so much fun and thought we were on top of the world.”
Throughout her teenage years, Renae did quite well locally in Maine. This success in the show ring led her to move to Florida to get a “real experience” and surround herself with top professionals. “My plan when I moved to Florida was to go to college and graduate with a degree in equine studies. I also wanted to take steps to hopefully achieve the goal of riding in a Grand Prix one day.
What Renae got once she arrived in Florida was culture shock. “I thought I knew so much because I was considered a great rider on a small local level, but I realized I didn’t know anything. I had never been taught equitation, lead changes or how to find a distance to a jump. Not to mention I’d never counted a stride before,” Renae said.
Thankfully fate intervened and a Facebook post led Renae to connect with Anna Gansauer. “A client of hers was selling a horse I was interested in and someone tagged Anna. I had already been referred to her when I was looking for training options in the area, so I thought, two birds, one stone. I could look at the horse and meet Anna,” she said. “Everything kind of fell together at once. I ended up buying the horse, Indiana Lovecall, kept her there and began working with Anna.”
Renae quickly got to work with Anna learning all the basics she missed along the way. “Anna really made me the rider I am today. She taught me the importance of having the right tools in your tool box, with an emphasis on the importance of feeling and understanding the horse underneath you and being able to adjust quickly,” Renae said. “Anna helped me train Indian Lovecall, who was the first young horse I developed.”
As she traveled to various farms and shows in Florida, Renae took note of how different the experience was. “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Being able to watch the Grand Prix with top riders on a weekly basis was super amazing. Just observing how different the care, training and quality of horses was in Florida was eye opening. Then add in that the shows had actual timing equipment, GGT footings and beautiful jumps, and it lit a spark in me,” Renae said.
That spark caused Renae to shift her focus from wanting to be in the industry as a veterinarian into wanting to be a professional rider and trainer. “I just couldn’t get enough of the bond you build while training horses, the feeling of accomplishment when you reach a goal, having the ability and opportunity to help others reach their goals and being able to work with such top-quality horses,” she said.
In May 2015, Renae headed back to Maine. “I just wanted more for our small state that seemed to be so behind and blind to the best parts of the horse industry,” she said.
Once back home, Renae did anything and everything to make her dream of turning the New England Jumpers’ Association into a reality. That meant working multiple jobs, spending lots of time Googling how to set up NEJA, many trips to Home Depot and countless nights building jumps in her dad’s basement.
Thankfully, when the world told Renae she was crazy and shouldn’t even try to start NEJA, she had a secret weapon—her aunt, DeeDee Samay. “DeeDee is my mom’s older sister and has been my surrogate mom since mine passed away. Although she shook her head in doubt when she heard my ideas, she was willing to help me try regardless of the outcome. She told me that if it didn’t work, at least I could say I tried and never second-guess or regret that part of my life,” Renae said.
The behind-the-scenes hero of NEJA, DeeDee acted as sounding board for Renae as they got started. “I couldn’t have done this without her. Becoming a business owner involved some painful learning curves that I’d never been exposed to and she was there physically and emotionally to help me through all of it. She’s always been the voice of reason and an objective opinion on my crazy ideas as the years have gone on,” Renae said.
On September 10, 2015, Renae and DeeDee held their first NEJA event in field at a local barn. That first show offered only jumper classes and had 10 entries. Unfazed by the low turnout, Renae just worked harder to give the community the events she thought they deserved.
“I spent the next few years building jumps and traveling around Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts hosting shows at a variety of venues trying to grow this organization. I used my two-horse trailer to transport the jumps to venues until I was able to scrape together enough money to buy an enclosed trailer,” she said.
Show entries continued to grow, but not substantially, with 20 to 30 entries typical at each show. This stagnant growth led Renae to dream big once again. “It got me thinking that I could offer a better show and get more traction if we had a more stable venue that we could grow with the shows. My aunt agreed and became my business partner and jumped in full force with me,” Renae said.
The duo bought property in Lisbon, Maine, and started their Sassy Strides Equestrian in November 2017. At the time, the 50-acre property had a small, old cow barn, an old farmhouse and plentiful fields. To kick off their new endeavor, Renae enlisted the help of her friends and built horse stalls in the barn and turned a field into an area suitable for lessons and horse shows.
Never satisfied with the status quo, Renae dedicated all her energy into turning the property into a state-of-the-art training and show facility. After a year of jumping through permitting hoops with the state of Maine, they broke ground on their new 16-stall barn and heated 105’x200’ indoor arena in October 2019.
“That part of the build was completed in October 2020, which allowed us to host shows during the winter and grow NEJA year-round. In the summer of 2021, we started building our two outdoor arenas. All three arenas have been outfitted with GGT footing and professionally built jumps from Jump4Joy USA, that we fundraised for,” Renae said.
This investment in the property has paid off for NEJA and Sassy Strides Equestrian. “From the shows to clinics to being the home of the Bowdoin College IHSA team, boarding, training, lesson program and the sale of horses, things have really started to take off. The shows went from 25 to 30 entries to 50 to 65 entries. We also started offering hunter classes in 2023, which has helped grow the organization,” she said.
Now with close to 100 members, NEJA is meeting Renae’s goal of elevating the local hunter-jumper show experience while keeping it accessible, affordable, welcoming and competitive. “We offer real prize money, a variety of classes from leadline to 3’6” hunter and equitation all the way up to 1.30m jumpers. Our shows bridge the gap between schooling shows and rated competition, giving riders real opportunity without overwhelming pressure or cost,” Renae said.
Every year, Renae works her hardest to offer a show circuit that will make everyone feel special. “At the end of the day, not everyone in this area can afford to go to HITS or Fieldstone but I can give them the same quality on a schooling show budget here. For me, it’s all about young riders having access to something so special,” she said.
By never taking no for an answer, Renae can now provide young riders with an opportunity she didn’t have at their age. “It makes me so happy when I see kids running towards me clutching their big, beautiful championship ribbons to show me they won. It means so much to them and I think it’s really a stepping stone to building the next generation of equestrians,” Renae said.
Renae built it, riders came and she’s not finished yet. “I want to bring more awareness to NEJA, keep growing the organization, increase participation, expand our hunter derbies, offer more prizes and prize money, build up sponsorship programs, facility improvements, the list goes on and on,” she said. “The more opportunities I can provide via NEJA, the more I can help others reach their goals.”
For more information, visit nejumpersassociation.com
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