Her artistic talent came to the rescue when a debilitating condition sidelined Liz Britten Hendrix’s dressage career
By Patti Schofler
When Elizabeth “Liz” Britten Hendrix’s health forced her out of the saddle, she found a new way to connect with the art of dressage.
A self-taught artist, Hendrix, 50, had rarely picked up a paintbrush in years—her career as a professional dressage instructor/trainer had kept her too busy—but the lingering effects of a bout with a neurological disorder drove her to seek another way to indulge her equine passion and to earn income.
In 2010, Hendrix was a Fourth Level USDF-certified instructor in northern California with 24 horses in training and two full-time employees. A USDF bronze, silver, and gold medalist, she studied with top trainers and was on the USEF Developing Rider list. She and her students were fixtures at such prestigious events as Great American/USDF Regional Championships, the US Dressage Festival of Champions, and the FEI North American Youth Championships.
All of that changed when Hendrix contracted Bell’s palsy, a neurological disorder that causes facial paralysis. In Hendrix’s case, the left side of her face was paralyzed for three months. When the paralysis finally subsided, Hendrix was left with severe neuralgia: Even the stirring of air against her face, head, and neck as she rode a horse as a walk caused pain. She describes the sensation of standing in a light mist as feeling as if she were being hit by knives. Squinting in sunlight was excruciating, but she couldn’t tolerate the feeling of wearing sunglasses.
As a dressage pro, there was of course no way for Hendrix to avoid such conditions, and she realized that “there was no part of my job that I couldn’t do without pain.”
She tried shrinking her dressage business, first to 15 horses in training, then to 10. The reduced workload offered some relief, and she soldiered on for three years. Still in pain, she finally cut back to just three horses a day—but soon had to reckon with the fact that her business was no longer sustainable.
“I was super angry,” Hendrix says of the ordeal. “I tried to push through it. After all, it was only nerves, right? Well, instead, I was vomiting in the corner of the arena because you can’t fight your way through that kind of pain.”
It was a grim career crossroads for Hendrix, who had dedicated her life to horses. After riding hunters and jumpers as a child in Massachusetts, she had gone to Germany at 16 to work at the Hanoverian summer auction. Later she was a working student at Olympian Lendon Gray’s farm in New York state, during which time she met her longtime mentor, the German trainer Conrad Schumacher. After a stint working for future Olympian Susan Blinks in New York, Hendrix relocated to Los Angeles to work with international trainer and competitor Betsy Steiner. From there, Hendrix moved to Washington state for three years, finally settling in Livermore, California, in 2001, where she established her own dressage training business.
As a teenager, Hendrix had taught herself to paint with oils. In 2013, her daughter, Evie, inspired her to try her hand at creating an illustrated children’s picture book. Angel & Evie – Catching a Unicorn sold more than 2,500 copies.
“When I went to a street fair or a festival, that little book paid for my entry,” Hendrix says. “I took it to the [FEI] World Cup [Finals] in Omaha, Nebraska, and paid my full booth entry. It sold quite well.”
Following that success, “I considered [doing] another book. I hung out with illustrators who were really good and realized it wouldn’t work for me.” When a client requested a custom painting of her horse, Hendrix saw a new avenue for her art: horse and pet portraits. She did the portrait, and her art business “took off,” she says. “Two or three commissioned paintings paid the monthly bills.” Hendrix gave up her dressage business entirely, and in 2014 she, Evie, and husband Nate moved from Livermore to Rocklin, east of Sacramento.
Hendrix’s art business continued to thrive after the the move—a success that she attributes in part to her dressage expertise. She says that “my art showcases my years of studying biomechanics and animal temperament and blends my two businesses together. Years of training upper-level dressage horses have taught me precision, patience, and humility. Dressage riders are so focused on detail. We’ll repeat a circle a million times until we get it right. We pay attention to muscle layers, where they should be, and how all the parts of the horse’s body work together harmoniously. All these factors I now use in creating my art.”
Hendrix says she works to breathe life, emotion, and personality into each piece: “I want to feel what that animal feels. I strive to capture moments and memories between humans and their animals onto canvas and paper.”
Besides her portraiture, Hendrix branched out, offering cards, scarves, prints, and other originals. Her art has won awards at shows including the Draft Horse Classic Art Show, the Sacramento Fine Arts Show, the California State Fair Art of the Horse, and the USDF Art Contest.
While the income helped keep the family afloat, the artistic process helped to preserve Hendrix’s sanity during a trying time.
“I found what made me happy while still being with horses and animals,” she says. “I found something that I could push that passion into.”
While Hendrix’s dressage business was derailing, she bought an Andalusian/Quarter Horse cross that she and Evie shared for a while. He was “a super all-around, fun horse that we both rode” and that Hendrix showed in Western dressage, she says. Over time, Evie lost interest in horses and became an avid volleyball player, and Hendrix realized that a silver lining to her health challenges was the additional free time she had to spend with her daughter. Instead of hauling to horse shows, they traveled to volleyball tournaments nationwide. Evie, now 18, currently plays D1 level volleyball for Saint Mary’s College of California.
“I could travel with her because I wasn’t competing,” Hendrix says. “If I had been doing my own thing, I wouldn’t be able to go with her. I feel very lucky.”
In the ensuing years, Hendrix’s neuralgia abated, and today she’s back to teaching and riding full-time, her art a sideline once again. Her current business model is different and more varied: In addition to dressage riders, equestrians ranging from hunter/jumper riders to combined-driving competitors seek her expertise in order to improve their basics, and Hendrix counts Western dressage and trail riders among her students, as well. She travels to several barns daily and works with horses of all breeds.
Sometimes, when we think our life’s path is charted, fate has other plans. Then, people like Hendrix recognize that they must pick up, keep going, and make a decision about what’s next. Isn’t that a kick to see how it works out?
What a sad – but inspiring story. Thanks for sharing.