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Here, a rider and trainer from Region 3 shares her story of adversity, from overcoming the loss of her heart horse to breaking her leg in a riding accident, in pursuit of her USDF Bronze Medal.
By Laura Pacek
Hello all! My name is Laura Pacek. I have been working in the equine industry for roughly 18 years and currently run my own lesson program out of Windy Willow Stables in Valdosta, Georgia.
I have always loved a good off-track Thoroughbred (OTTB). I just love their willingness, heart, and sensitivity. So, naturally, my two heart horses are Thoroughbreds.
I’ll start with Hoss (known as Hurry Hoss through the Jockey Club and Hurry Up Hoss at USDFcompetitions). He was my true heart horse, my best friend, my child. I got him as a four-year-old from New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program in January 2012. The catch? He was in Ohio, and I was in South Carolina. So I took a gamble on buying my first horse as an adult sight unseen – just based on pictures, videos, and what the trainers told me about this beautiful, dark, steel-grey.
Watching him come off the trailer at 2 AM the morning he arrived was truly one of the best days of my life. He was the best $500 online purchase I have ever made. Simply owning him opened up many professional opportunities for me. My original goal with Hoss was to do eventing. I had never really got into it before owning my own horse, but always wanted to.
During the first four years or so of owning him, I really didn’t have the means to get a trainer for myself. So, I did the best I could, learning from others and using the tools that I had as a young trainer. When we moved to South Georgia, opportunities arose where I could take lessons and further our education.
We finally got into eventing, but that turned out to be a struggle for both of us. After three years of trying to get us both on the same page for the jumping, we weren’t having fun.
Hoss was always naturally uphill and balanced. He was so happy to do the flat work, even if it was hard. Although he was just a little 16.1-hand OTTB with ‘6’ movements, I always thought we would do well in dressage and even made a goal that one day I would earn my USDF Bronze Medal with him… but I never committed like I really needed to.
That was until he basically forced me to switch my whole focus after our last failed attempt at a jumper show. I had to listen. He was telling me that jumping was not for him. So, I sold my jump saddle, got a better dressage saddle, and 100% committed to this dressage journey. I’m so glad I did, but I wish I would have listened sooner. Hoss thrived. Yes, it was hard and we faced a lot of challenges, but he was happy, and I was happy. I needed one more Second Level score before we were ready to move up to Third Level the next year.
But on January 2nd, 2024, I found him in the pasture with the most horrifically broken hind right cannon bone I have ever seen. He was standing quietly on the hill, and it looked to be a kick from one of his pasture mates. I called the vet, my husband, then my best friend, and we all stayed with him to the end – it is every horse owner’s nightmare, and I got to live it.
It was traumatic, to say the least, but I had the privilege of owning him for 12 years. He was my heart horse in every sense of the phrase. He shaped me into the trainer and rider I am today, and I’m so fortunate to be able to use what he gave me to help my future partners.
This leads me to Cristobal (Doubly Distinct), who came to me by chance in May 2020. A friend of the barn owner had acquired a free OTTB and was having some issues with him. She wanted an assessment to see if he was something that could work for us. So, I told her to let me take him for a week and see what I thought.
But when I met him, I was smitten! He’s a tall, 16.3-hand dark bay, sporting a traditional Thoroughbred build, and is just gorgeous. After seeing him move and sitting on him, it was clear that 1 – He was a big, powerful, opinionated gelding that was not suitable as an amateur family horse; and 2 – I REALLY liked him.
After the week was up, and I had to send him back, I was bummed but didn’t really think anything of it. That is until a friend of ours approached me about her buying him after seeing him the week I had him. She told me that if she bought him, I could do his training, and she would sponsor me in lessons and shows. I was all for that! So, two weeks later, I went to pick him up, and he has been with me ever since.
Not even a month after we got him, a freak accident led me to fall off of him and break my femur in half. I had to have emergency surgery and earned a titanium rod as a life-long souvenir. I was fortunate that my recovery only took three months for me to be able to walk and get back on a horse; the accident was in June, and I was riding by September, but I didn’t get back on Cris until January. There were definitely a lot of mental blocks to overcome. Your mind likes to replay things to make you panic and give you flashbacks.
But, I became able to push those Intrusive thoughts deep down, knowing that what had happened was nothing this horse intentionally did. Now, he is my main guy. I was gifted him from his owner/my partner when Hoss died in January, and am forever grateful for such an amazing horse to call my own.
Cris thrives in jumping. He is a confidence booster compared to when I tried to jump Hoss. I do not have ambitions of eventing anymore, but I am pursuing some show jumping with him, and I want to finish the journey toward my USDF Bronze Medal that Hoss got me started on. He is currently at Training Level, but with what Hoss taught me, I’m sure I can get back to Second Level in no time!
I have always struggled with weight. As a child, I seemed larger than other kids, and in high school, I was plus-size. I was able to lose weight in my 20s, to the point I got to the smallest I will ever be in my lifetime. It’s funny because my smallest size was a 10, which is still considered plus size. But for me, that was SKINNY! And I still looked at myself like I needed to keep losing weight. It’s crazy how we can be so unkind to ourselves.
After going through the cycle of gaining weight and losing weight three times, I realized, my body likes to stay at a size 14/16. And you know what? I’ve come to terms with that. I’m active, healthy, and I try to eat well. I will say, if you find yourself struggling to keep up with your horse, or just that your stamina, in general, is low, then I’d suggest doing things to help make yourself a better rider, but don’t focus on the scale or clothing size. Focus on how you feel and get stronger. Do things to make yourself HEALTHY, not skinny.
I can’t say I have personally experienced discrimination at a barn, but I have had adult students come to me from other barns saying that the vibe seemed off; it was the passive looks, not really any actual comments. No one will say anything, but you can tell if something is off with the barn atmosphere.
At my barn, we are welcoming to all types of people! Because we have to take our horses into consideration, there is such a thing as being too heavy to ride certain horses; that’s just the reality of it. I would do everything in my power to offer options of other barns that can accommodate people of all sizes, but it’s never from a judgmental place; it’s just that the horses’ welfare always comes first.
I would say that barns can be inclusive just by being empathetic and not judgmental. If you can’t accommodate a larger rider, then just try to help them find somewhere that can, and be excited for them when they do.
I love seeing riders of all shapes and sizes, and I have seen more and more of them within the past few years. Now that we can wear a wide array of colors in the show ring, we can actually wear things that are more flattering, which helps us with self-confidence! I would love to see ALL the equestrian clothing brands expand their size range. There has been a lot of progress, but I still see brands that stop at a size large.
It’s exciting to see dressage riders similar to my size, and I am happy that the USDF is showcasing us! It just makes us feel like we belong and can, in fact, set riding goals and blow them out of the water, no matter what our sizes are!
