By Helen Townes
Portraits by Melissa Fuller
Success at the highest levels of international show jumping is physically challenging, costly and elusive. Talent, thousands of focused hours in the saddle and access to the best training from an early age can help reach—but not guarantee—a spot at the top of the sport. Professional show jumper Jessica Leto is proving that a non-linear path with occasional departures into other pursuits can still lead to success.
At the age of 36, Jessica is rising through the competitive ranks. After years of competing just short of the Grand Prix, she recently qualified for the 2024 Show Jumping World Cup Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with her performance at Live Oak International in Ocala, Florida. Jessica had the first clear round and placed fourth with her Grand Prix mount Cimbura against top riders including Kent Farrington and Daniel Coyle, who won the class.
Paramount for Jessica, however, is her commitment to her horses. Jessica decided to forgo the Riyadh trip, which would have been her first chance to wear the esteemed pinque coat representing the United States. Jessica chose to give her horses some time to rest rather than tax them with travel abroad and an intense competition after competing at Ocala, WEF, and Miami Beach in March and April. “I have my vision for myself and my horses, and I don’t always follow the traditional mode,” she said. “I guess I just do things my own way.”
Her life with horses is a family affair: Jessica’s parents, Bonnie and Rick Leto, have been longtime personal and financial supporters. Jessica’s family-owned stable, Maverick Equine, LLC, is based in Wellington, Florida. Together with her boyfriend, business partner and trainer Stephen Hirsch, Jessica is building an impressive string of Grand Prix horses and future contenders at their company, JS Equine Ventures. The business is flourishing with their combined acumen in the equestrian industry.
Her Happy Place
Jessica began riding at age 8 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she and her sister, 5-year-old Sydney, and parents Bonnie and Rick settled after numerous moves—most recently from New York. “Riding lessons were supposed to soften the blow of moving away from all my friends and my grandparents in New York,” Jessica laughed.
The two sisters began riding at a barn close to their home with trainer Brenda Mueller, to whom Jessica credits instilling a strict dedication to horsemanship. “She was really big on our getting there 30 minutes early to tack up our own horse,” Jessica said. “I don’t think I had a groom until I was almost in college!”
Bonnie and Rick remember those early days with affection. “Jessica’s happy place has always been with her horses,” Bonnie said. “In the beginning, we did it all ourselves, so at a very young age she learned how to care for her horse—and she was insistent that she had to do it!”
Jessica and her sister learned to jump under Brenda’s expertise, and soon the family acquired their first pony. Jessica’s grandparents, based in Southern Pines, North Carolina, and until then the only equestrians in the family, found a 9-year-old large Quarter Horse pony named My Hobby, who had experience in the Pony Hunters division. Soon, Jessica and Sydney were riding Hobby in many of their local Milwaukee shows and traveling to Chicago for competitions, doing Short Stirrup and equitation classes.
“My sister Sydney won everything in the Short Stirrup at the Chicago shows. And my mom took lessons on Hobby—in fact, her car’s license plate was ‘Hobby’ for many years! He was an amazing pony,” Jessica said.
After outgrowing Hobby and looking for her next mount, Jessica began riding in the jumpers almost by accident. The family looked at a spicy jumper that was for sale, and Jessica ended up spontaneously entering her first jumper class on him at the age of 12, placing sixth. That gelding’s name was Max, show name Maverick, and inspired the name of the family’s farm. And Jessica was hooked.
“I realized that I really loved doing the jumpers. I loved coming out of the ring and knowing how I’d done—it was so objective compared to the hunters,” Jessica remembered. She rode Max for two years, until he was diagnosed with degenerative coffin bone disease, declined quickly and had to be euthanized when he was just 10.
Jessica’s newfound passion for the jumper discipline came at a cost. “There weren’t a lot of jumper trainers in Milwaukee, so we had to start driving to Chicago—a two-and-a-half-hour drive each way—for jumper lessons,” she said. Jessica had the good fortune to ride with Grand Prix jumper and trainer Thomas Cerra of Blue Mountain Farm.
This punishing commute lasted for three years, and it was under Thomas’ tutelage that Jessica did her first lower-level Grand Prix. She laughs, remembering making the long drives on her own after getting her license, stopping at Wendy’s for “nutritious” meals of chicken strips and Coke slushies.
First Time in Florida
Jessica achieved a new pinnacle during this period, traveling with her trainer to show in Wellington, Florida, for the first time as a 15-year-old Junior hunter, an experience that repeated over the next three winter seasons.
Remembering the stiff competition at the elite venue, Jessica said with a self-deprecating chuckle, “I think I only placed once! I was not a typical ‘Wellington Junior hunter.’ I was a very cute ‘Midwest Junior hunter.’”
When it was time for college, Jessica chose the University of Miami so that she could continue riding locally during the off-season. She arranged her classes in sports management and business around her training schedule, riding Thursday through Sunday every week.
Fortuitously, as Jessica approached graduation, she and Sydney had an opportunity to begin riding with Grand Prix rider and trainer Robert Kraut in nearby Wellington, Florida. It was a good match—they rode with him for five years, a rewarding period that was likely instrumental in shaping Jessica’s progress down the road. “That was a big chunk of my education,” she said. “Bob got me the horses with scope to jump bigger classes, my first Grand Prix shows, my first podium at Devon—all of that was with Bob.”
As any graduating college student does, Jessica started contemplating what she might do next. “I always knew I wanted to do something with sports and horses, but it didn’t materialize right away,” Jessica said. “And then I didn’t really ride for a few years.”
A post-graduation internship working with the Miami Marathon and opportunities working in social media and organizing sporting events and galas for celebrities like Serena Williams followed. Jessica’s trainer, Bob Kraut, retired from the sport, and her sister Sydney took a break from riding to attend college in North Carolina.
“But, somehow, horses kept showing up in my life,” Jessica said. A University of Miami professor convinced her to ride with the club team for a post-grad semester. Equiline Saddles recruited her to launch their sales program in Wellington, and soon after, she started her own social media business with the saddle company as one of her first clients.
And then again, horses intervened with a new, more substantial role. Jessica was hired to manage a show-jumping barn in Wellington, MDM Equestrian Group, shaping their branding, doing bookkeeping and riding. That gig lasted four years and added immeasurably to Jessica’s equestrian toolbox. During that period, she also bought her first professional horse, Fez, a 6-year-old Hungarian-bred warmblood.
Another pivotal moment for Jessica followed when, in 2019 and ready for a change of scenery, she moved to New York to ride for trainer and Olympian Peter Leone, of Lionshare Farm, and manage his show horses. It was there that she met Stephen Hirsch, a former competitor who was scouting horses for Peter and his clients. Stephen had just wrapped up four years with Ger Poels Horses, a brokerage in Holland, learning the ropes of buying, selling and exporting horses.
A relationship happened naturally. It was only a matter of time before they returned, together, to Florida, to start a business. “I was looking for my next position with horses, and Stephen came up with the idea of developing a dealership together, importing European horses for me to ride,” Jessica remembered. The business, JS Ventures, has now been in operation for five years and partners with a European backer; Stephen is the head trainer and Jessica rides. Three winters ago, Jessica’s parents purchased a Wellington farm—now Maverick Equine Farm.
Spice and Flash
Jessica and Stephen are building their string of horses at Maverick Farm slowly and carefully, beginning with Fez and adding Cimbura, a five-star horse, and Casper, a promising jumper, both from Germany. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they survived financially by buying and then selling a talented hunter named Perfect. Their barn currently houses nine top-level horses. While Stephen has been a very involved mentor, the pair regularly capitalizes on input from other premier trainers and clinicians, including Kevin Babington, Molly Ashe Cawley, Matt Williams and Leslie Howard.
“The horses in my current string are all very different, but they have a lot of spice and are flashy jumpers,” Jessica said. And she is seeing substantial results in competition, including her World Cup Finals-qualifying appearance at Live Oak.
Remembering the World Cup in Ocala, Jessica’s mother, Bonnie, said, “It was truly a fantastic moment for the entire team. Her goal has always been to compete at this level and ride against the best in the sport.”
Another key moment for Jessica was riding at Spruce Meadows in 2023, among the most prestigious show-jumping competitions in North America. “I had never ridden at that level, and it was my first international experience. I made it to the Grand Prix, and was clear until the last line,” Jessica said. She hopes to return to Spruce Meadows this September, after doing some shows in Ocala, at the World Equestrian Center and possibly in Kentucky.
Stephen is pleased with her success and looking forward to the future. “My long-term goal is to watch Jessica rank among the top females in the sport,” Stephen said. “JS Ventures will continue to produce horses for the top level and generate brand loyalty for repeat happy customers who believe in our product and vision.”
Despite her sudden ascent in the rankings, Jessica is pragmatic about the future and balanced in her goal setting. “At the end of the day, it’s a business that is competitive,” she said. “But what is most important to me is being a good horsewoman and staying authentic.”
For more information, follow Jessica at @jessicaleto, JS Ventures at @jsventures_llc, and Maverick Equine at @maverickequinellc
Photos by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixieset.com
