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Wednesday, April 12 2017 / Published in Weekly Feature

The Learning Never Stops

Wendy and her dog Stella
Photo courtesy of Wendy Salomon

By Meagan DeLisle

When people decide to put their riding dreams on the back burner, they often never make their way back to them, but that isn’t the case with Wendy Salomon. From humble beginnings on school ponies to building a flourishing business and nurturing those childhood dreams of riding in some of the country’s most well-known arenas, Wendy made a path for herself back to the show ring after decades out of the saddle.

With true perseverance in the difficult times and a dedication to the sport, she’s utilized her creativity and hard work to become successful in the field of education with a focus on equestrian students. She and her team from Signature Academics travel year-round to some of the most prestigious circuits to keep students on track in their educations, getting her horse fix in along the way.

Wendy and Charlotte competing
Photo by The Book LLC

The Beginning

Wendy’s passion for horses was kindled at a young age when her family moved to Tucson, Arizona, just down the road from a local riding stable. While her family wasn’t particularly horsey, her mother thought it’d be fun for Wendy and her sister to begin taking lessons at the neighborhood riding school, which is, she jokes, where it all started. Her horse show career began at local schooling shows on her little 15.1-hand Arabian/Connemara cross named Snow Goose.

Like many aspiring equestrians, Wendy had dreams about showing on a larger scale. “There was no internet, so I had to wait for the Miller’s catalog to show up at my door.  I’d read about all of the big historic horse shows on the East Coast, like the National Horse Show or Devon. I thought that’d be the most amazing thing, but then realized as a kid living in Arizona, I’d have to run away from home as a teenager to be able to do that!” Wendy said.

At that point in her life, Wendy turned her focus toward academics and getting into the best college that she could. She was accepted to Brown University in Rhode Island, a pivotal moment in her life. It was then that she put the horses away, her riding came to a halt and she retired her sweet childhood horse to the Therapeutic Riding of Tucson program.

While at Brown, Wendy obtained her degree in art history. After graduating, she began working at an advertising agency in Chicago and later returned to school to get her MBA at Stanford. After working briefly for MTV in their marketing department, connections from Brown got her involved with a startup internet company called Link Share based out of New York, where she dedicated more than seven years of her life helping to grow the company.

Back in the Saddle

During her time at Link Share, she found herself working long hours, traveling for business and often six- to seven-day work weeks. Eventually she managed to find a little time to reintroduce riding in her life. After stumbling upon some contact information for a barn in New Jersey, known then as Overpeck, she gave them a call. “I was so sore after that first lesson,” she recalled as she talked about her journey back into the saddle. After 4 years of riding there, she found herself leasing a sweet Holsteiner hunter gelding named By George! who helped her check off many firsts in her life including Zone Finals, the Winter Equestrian Festival and the Hampton Classic. That lease was short-lived, however, as Wendy sealed their partnership by purchasing By George! after just six months.

In 2005, Link Share was sold to a larger company overseas and she knew it was time to make a change. “I just knew I couldn’t keep working like I had been,” she said. “I was tired, so I needed to find something to do, and I wanted horses to be in my life and I wanted to have a little more control over my schedule.”

Keeping those goals in mind, Wendy began seeking opportunities that would allow her the flexibility she desired and she found it in tutoring equestrian students.

Amanda Steege competing Wendy’s horse in a Derby
Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography

Her Own Business

After several years tutoring young equestrians through another company, Wendy decided to found her own business, Signature Academics, in January 2014. “I’m thrilled to be able to support kids and families who value education — who want to learn and to succeed,” she said.

Signature Academics staffs tutors and teachers who are experts in their subjects and can help keep the busy junior rider on track, no matter where their travels take them. Teachers are based near Wellington and Ocala, where Signature Academics has locations in addition to New York City and Chicago. “One of the things I do feel is important, and what I feel we do as educators, is to show our students a variety of ways that they can keep horses in their lives, and that the important part is to get an education so that they have options.” One of those options that Wendy was able to offer was their partnership with Wellington Preparatory School that launched in January 2016. Through this venture, Signature Academics is able to offer one-on-one education through an accredited academy both full time and seasonally to their students who desire a quality college preparatory education but require some elasticity due to their show and training schedules.

Amanda Steege competing Wendy’s horse.
Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography

Back in the Ring

As for her riding career, Wendy has capitalized on the afforded flexibility. She owns a hunter gelding by the name of Maître d’ who’s currently showing in the international hunter derbies with Amanda Steege. Wendy is also back in the ring with the lease of a beautiful gray jumper mare, Charlotte, who belongs to a former student of hers. Despite the first show feeling like she was in the Low Adult Olympics, she leased another jumper for 2017 — a redheaded mare named Fiery.

When asked about her riding goals for the near future, Wendy keeps it simple. “I just want to have a good time in the Low Adult Jumpers. My personal riding goals aren’t huge: just to have the horses in my life and have a nice time and get out there,” Wendy said, adding that she dreams of being 90 years old, sitting in a golf cart by the show ring, so former students can stop by to say hello.

Wendy has one piece of advice for all riders out there. “There are so many different ways we all get where we’re going in life, but it’s education that opens doors and presents options. If you’d told me while I was in college that I’d be doing academic tutoring and one-on-one school, I would’ve said ‘What?’ I guess because I live in the world of education, I know that you have to get the education to have the options to do what you want to do in life.”

It’s clear that Wendy is a wonderful example of the truth in her own advice. Today she is living her equestrian dream and helping the next generation achieve theirs.

 

 

 

 

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Tagged under: signature academics, wendy salomon

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Hot horseman takeover day 6️⃣!!! 🔥Jorge Va Hot horseman takeover day 6️⃣!!!

🔥Jorge Vasquez🔥
Between his polo career—from groom to coach—and a love of travel, Jorge Vasquez has been to 60 countries, all seven continents, all 50 states and seen all seven wonders of the world—some of them twice. “I’ve been to China, Egypt, India, Dominican Republic, Argentina, a lot of places to play polo,” Jorge said. “I wish travel was my full-time job!”
Jorge is originally from Santiago, Chile, where his dad was a racehorse trainer and his uncle played polo. “I was too cool for school,” Jorge joked, “So I ended up having to do polo.” But Jorge isn’t complaining. There are “a million things” he loves about polo. “Obviously the 
adrenaline, and then the horses—the horses are very special,” he said. “They’re very well trained, and there’s something really special about a polo pony that can read your body and take you wherever you want to go—most of the time without asking any questions!”
Now living in Lexington, Kentucky, Jorge coaches the University of Kentucky polo team, is the U.S. Polo Association midstates circuit governor and is the polo manager at Gainesway Farm, 
where he also recently became the official tour guide. “I stay busy when I’m at home—that’s why I travel!” Jorge laughed, a common occurrence with his easygoing personality. “I like to think I’ve lived a pretty good life, and I get rejuvenated by teaching the game and teaching 
young horses how to play polo. That’s my favorite thing about the sport—teaching horses to play.”

With over 30 years in the industry, Jorge’s biggest takeaway from horses is, “The nicer you 
ask, the easier you’ll get results.” With all his experience, Jorge hopes to pass on the gifts of patience and understanding to those within his sphere of influence. “And that if you pay it forward long enough,” he added, “it will eventually pay you back.”
📸Photo by Kacy Brown
Hot horseman takeover day 5️⃣!!! 🔥Jet Rusi Hot horseman takeover day 5️⃣!!!

🔥Jet Rusidovski🔥
It wasn’t horses that took Jet Rusidovski from his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to where he lives now in Austin, Texas, in 2008. It was the weather. “I came down to visit family down here and it was negative 30 degrees in Wisconsin and it was 60 degrees here, and that was the end of it,” Jet said.

He grew up braving the cold on horseback in Wisconsin, riding and showing hunter-
jumpers from the time he was 4 all through his Junior career. “When adult life started, I had to juggle adult life and horses, and then it became my profession,” he said. Jet now works for Kelly Lorek at Southern Way Farm, training both horses and clients and traveling to shows all over the country. “Our program has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last year, and that says we’re doing something right!”

Jet hopes his experience as part of a successful program will help instill in others that everyone deserves a chance. “There were definitely times in my career I was not given a chance, and Kelly is the one who really gave me that chance,” Jet shared. “She didn’t judge me for mistakes I made in the past, she didn’t hold anything against me—she saw that I had the potential and she gave me the chance to actually show it. She gave the right coaching and the right guidance to get me where I am today, and I feel I’m in a really great place with unlimited opportunities at this point in my career.” When not traveling to shows, Jet travels to Wisconsin to visit family (weather permitting, of course) and would love to revisit childhood vacation spots in Greece and Europe, or check out the weather in Hawaii. He also prioritizes catching up with friends outside of the horse world. “If people see me around at a horse show, don’t be afraid to say hi!” he said. 
“Sometimes I’m so concentrated it looks like I want nothing to do with anyone; I’m actually just deep in thought or something. But I love to say hi to everybody.”
📸Photo by Kristie Scholten
Day 4️⃣ of our hot horseman takeover! 🔥Jo Day 4️⃣ of our hot horseman takeover! 
🔥Jonathan Cohen🔥
Most riders aren’t born into professional equestrian families; some lucky ones, like Jonathan Cohen, end up spending so much time at the barn they are practically adopted into them. 
Jonathan fell in love with horses at a friend’s birthday party while he was growing up in downtown Chicago, Illinois. At 16, he began riding with Alex Jayne—and now works for Alex’s Our Day Farm. “I’m sandwiched right between his three children in terms of age, so apart from missing their earliest years, we’ve basically grown up together,” Jonathan said. “I’m incredibly fortunate to work for a family that treats me like family.”
Jonathan’s title is barn manager. “But the job description is very loose—that’s what keeps it interesting,” he said. After he gets done riding in the morning, he starts on whatever needs to be done around the farm—which perfectly suits his love of “projects.” Outside of work and horses, Jonathan puts that passion for building into home renovation; when he’s completely renovated one home, he sells it and moves on to the next. “I love building stuff, especially when it’s something that meets a very specific need and can’t just be bought,” he said. “I’ll see things I can make better, I start working on the idea in my head, and more often than not I end up building it.”

Our Day Farm splits its time between Elgin, Illinois, and Wellington, Florida. When in Illinois, Jonathan spends much of his time building jumps. “I like to replicate some of the more interesting things we see over the course of the season, as well as anything our horses might need to practice,” he said. Clearly, Jonathan loves what he does. “I’m super lucky that when I wake up every day, I don’t have to go to work. I just go to the barn. It’s my job, and it’s definitely a lot of work most days, but really I’m just going to the barn like any other day.”
📸Photo by Melissa Fuller
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