By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Becky Henderson
If you enter the play area of most horse-crazy kids, you’re likely to find a stable full of Breyer horses. Growing up on her family’s dairy farm in Maine, Marsha Hartford Sapp appreciated horses, but was enthralled with all creatures great and small during her childhood. It wouldn’t be until she was an adult that she had her Breyer horse moment.
“I was all about all animals, all the time. I loved studying and raising birds, helping on the family dairy and raising calves, studying tadpoles, snakes, you name it,” Marsha said. “My childhood wasn’t solely horse-focused, but my mother had grown up with horses on her family farm, so horses were a natural addition on our farm. Out of my four siblings, I rode the most.”
When Marsha was 13, her mother found a local stable where Marsha could work in exchange for lessons. Although Marsha started with Quarter Horses at local shows, she tried out show jumping, Western pleasure, Pony Club eventing and lessons with many different people. It was also there that Marsha was introduced to colt starting, natural horsemanship and the training methods of John Lyons and Monty Roberts.
“I was grateful for my hodgepodge experience that was so much different than the barn- and trainer-based experiences many equestrians start with today. I experimented a lot and got to try a lot of different things as a kid,” said Marsha, who had broken six or eight horses by the time she was 16. “Back then, a 16-year-old with a truck and horse trailer in tow was the norm. I had a great time!”
Finding Her Niche
It wasn’t until Marsha was attending Florida State University (FSU) that she really focused on dressage. Dressage had been one component of three-day eventing Marsha tried as a kid, but she always wanted to hurry up and get to the jumps!
“I was a full-time student, working full time at night—I was determined to pay my way as I went without having student loans. It left less time for horses, of course, so it made more sense to work more on my dressage at the time,” she said. “Luckily, when I moved to Tallahassee, I found a few super dressage trainers and it was amazing how my horse responded to balanced riding.”
One of those trainers was friend and mentor Sandra Beaulieu, whose positive way of interacting with each animal inspired Marsha to replicate the same positive creativity. “Sandra has been one of my greatest blessings in my dressage career,” Marsha said. “She helped me all the way through Grand Prix, and then helped make freestyles for me when I wanted to work on my musical freestyle bars. After I got my Gold medal, Sandra and I worked on FEI freestyles, and then back down the levels. Sandra is the reason I obtained the Diamond Achievement Award, the highest award given for USDF for performance through the levels.”
Marsha loves the classical approach toward training in dressage. “If you really look at the progression of the dressage tests, starting at the Intro level and work your way through them to Grand Prix, it’s clearly a systematic roadmap to teach both the rider and horse how to progress with training. I can’t think of any other equine sport that gives you such clear directives,” Marsha said.
In addition to the classical approach to training via dressage, Marsha has always been interested in natural horsemanship. “To me, natural horsemanship means working with a horse’s natural instincts and God-given programming. If things are happening under saddle that we don’t like, the horses are just doing the best they can with the information we’re supplying. It’s up to me to give the horses the best information I can to create fairness, a sense of understanding and to eliminate confusion,” she said.
Southern Oaks
While Marsha went to college with the plan of one day going to law school, fate had another plan for her. “In college I was on the riding team, had a horse or two and started teaching a few lessons to neighborhood kids for extra money. One mom told another mom, and one kid turned into 10 kids. Suddenly, I had a small lesson program going and I was training a few horses here and there to sell or help people,” Marsha said. “I actually never thought of training becoming a full-time job.”
However, working with children and horses wasn’t too far out of Marsha’s wheelhouse: She hoped to go to law school to specialize in children’s or animal welfare. After getting her bachelor’s degree, she started on a master’s in public administration and applied to law school.
“I applied twice and didn’t get accepted either time. I laugh now and tell people I’m a horse trainer by accident, because I couldn’t get into law school. There’s obviously more to the story, but I had a gravitational pull towards a life with animals, not a life in an office,” Marsha said. “It was definitely the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Marsha made another life-changing discovery while in college, when she met her husband, Bill. “I was a waitress during the night shift, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. He was a cop, I was a waitress, it was 2 a.m.—you see how the story goes,” she said.
Together Marsha and Bill built a farm in Tallahassee, Southern Oaks Equestrian, where she continued to teach lessons and train horses. What Marsha has become known for over the years is providing a “Complete Equestrian Education,” with a focus on developing both young horses and young riders. Southern Oaks Equestrian also became home to the FSU Equestrian Team in 2005, and Marsha was a coach for the college for 18 years.
Mustang Makeover
Marsha has made a name for herself nationwide with her success in the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition. Prior to 2009, when she participated in her first competition, she had never actually seen a mustang before. “The description of the makeover was intriguing: pick a randomly selected wild horse, train it for 100 days and ride it for prize money. As a colt starter, I was not intimidated by a wild horse and thought it would be fun to learn about a wild mustang,” Marsha said. “It was a super-educational experience, and I was able to learn how every interaction with a horse makes a difference.”
As a horse trainer, Marsha doesn’t often have the luxury of being the sole trainer for a horse and feels the more trainers a horse has, the less impactful she can be. “Being the second trainer after a horse had a bad experience is the worst and hardest part of my job. But being the first and only trainer is where the magic happens,” she said. “It sets my soul on fire stepping into a round pen with a horse who’s had z
ero training. I feel like an artist staring at a blank canvas; the potential is unlimited.”
Marsha has created some masterpieces through the Extreme Mustang Makeover—she’s been Champion twice, Reserve Champion once, won over $75,000 and been a top 10 finalist in nearly every other competition. “Each horse I’ve worked with has been an experience I’ll cherish forever. The privilege of being able to train a horse no one else has laid a hand on in its life is amazing and rare. It’s not lost on me how special that is,” she said.
Model Owner
If you’ve ever seen a Breyer horse before, you know that they are collectable, hand-painted models of real-life horse heroes. The horses that get selected to be models must be special, have a good story, stellar career and be beautiful creatures. Although they are collected around the world, only a few select horses are chosen to become model horses each year.
Not just one but two of Marsha’s horses, Cobra and Full Moon Rising, were selected to be Breyer horses. “Cobra was a Mustang Makeover graduate that I started under saddle in 2010. As a 6-year-old, he had never been touched and also carried a brand to signify he’d been deemed unadoptable,” Marsha said. “He was super tough. It took weeks to get on his back and it was a week before I could even touch him.”
Although he had been branded unadoptable by the Bureau of Land Management, Cobra did amazingly over time with Marsha’s systematic training approach. After finishing the 100-day Extreme Mustang Makeover, Marsha brought Cobra home and turned him out in a field.
However, his story didn’t end there. A few months later, she started using him for a few dressage lessons and even sent him to fill in at a collegiate dressage competition. “About a year later, I started riding him consistently and started showing him in USDF dressage. I ended up showing him through the Prix St. Georges level and actually got my USDF Silver medal riding a formerly wild mustang,” Marsha said.
Shortly thereafter, Western Dressage was introduced to the United States and Marsha thought it would be a good fit for Cobra. “Cobra became one of the founding horses for USEF Western Dressage, one of the first horses to go down the centerline in the U.S. in a new discipline. It was a super fit for him and he quickly became a superstar, winning over 10 National and World titles,” Marsha said.
In 2017, Cobra was made into a Breyer Horse to recognize his historic show career. He was also inducted into the USEF/Equus Hall of Fame in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018. “Cobra’s picture still is hanging in the main lobby of the USEF headquarters today,” Marsha said.
Full Moon Rising, aka Mooney, was Marsha’s Thoroughbred Makeover RRP [Retired Racehorse Project] horse for 2021. “He raced on the Florida tracks and is a quirky, funny but also honest and beautiful chestnut Thoroughbred with a rare coloration caused by a maximum W22 gene. He basically looks like a roan or pinto with splotchy coloration, four white socks, a blaze and a palomino tail,” she said. “I was looking for a RRP horse for 2021 and when I saw this 15.2-hand gelding I knew it was fate. He’s amazing!”
After buying Mooney from his Florida race trainer at the end of 2020, Marsha has won two USEF National Horse of the Year titles; the National Pony Cup (Small Horse Division) in St. Louis, Missouri; a World Champion and two Reserve World Champion titles in Western Dressage; and was Reserve National Champion for USEF All Breeds for the Training Level with him. “Breyer contacted me in 2022 asking me if they could share Mooney’s story and make a model out of him. I quickly said yes! The model is as beautiful as Mooney is and I’m thrilled he can be a role model for off-the-track Thoroughbred horses,” Marsha said.
Creating Connections
In addition to building the business of Marsha’s dreams together, Marsha and Bill have a 7-year-old daughter, Danalynn Grace (Dana), who also shares her mother’s passion for horses. “She’s been traveling with me to horse shows since she was a few weeks old. She has one of my trusty lesson horses as her personal mount, a wonderful chestnut Quarter Horse named Jake. She rides at our farm and wants to do everything the big girls do,” Marsha said.
Dana attended the 2023 Breyerfest on her pony with Marsha. The mother-daughter duo did a duet to music from Disney’s “Cinderella.” “I let her ride in the ceremonies this year. It was a huge environment—lights, music, tens of thousands of people and she just loved every minute of it. I think she loves being in the spotlight and entertaining others,” Marsha said.
In 2023, Marsha and Bill purchased a new facility in Ocala, Florida. “After 26 years of dedicated service in law enforcement, Bill now helps with a lot of the maintenance and the enormous task of keeping our new property pristine. It’s 30 acres with 40 stalls, a covered ring and the most beautiful oak trees Florida has to offer,” she said. “We are so happy to be there.”
Although the move was an exciting change for the family, it meant leaving behind Marsha’s lesson business and her role as FSU Equestrian Team coach. “Now that farm is up and running, I’m going to slow down and focus on my daughter and her riding, as she’s starting to get to the age she wants to go horse show. I’m all about this next stage for her,” she said. “I’m going to start doing some importing and sales and work on my next personal horse for myself.”
As much as horses have changed Marsha’s life, what’s impacted her the most are the connections she’s made with other equestrians throughout her journey. “I’ve been blown away by so many people, their stories, their struggles and their triumphs. I want to live in a world where I’m inspired, humbled, and grateful for the magic created by horses. I’m just as happy sitting on the sidelines watching someone creating magic with their own horses as I would be sitting astride,” she said. “I’d like to find a moment each day where I find amazement in horses like I did as a kid.”
Follow Marsha on Facebook and Instagram at Marsha Hartford Sapp
Photos by Becky Henderson, www.calicoandchrome.com
