The equine industry in Ontario is a multi-billion-dollar sector and finding one’s way to the top may seem beyond reach, especially for the uninitiated. Interviews with top competitors and industry professionals at the 2024 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto revealed key ingredients to their success stories. Spoiler alert: common threads included passion and a lot of hard work.
You may be surprised to learn how far these consummate pros have journeyed in their career paths and many worked their way up from humble beginnings. Read to the end to learn about a free program that has been helping Ontarians enter the horse industry since November 2021.
Christine Reupke, the director of equestrian and breed sport at the Royal Winter Fair, began her career as a groom and then a rider and is now involved in planning one of the largest horse shows in the country!
Many moons ago, she mucked her fair share of stalls and recalls the path to success involved years of grooming, braiding, feeding, lungeing, and turnout before starting out as a pro-rider. “If you were lucky, you would get to ride the horse back from the ring after it was done competing.” Reupke credits volunteering and gaining practical experience as a key ingredient to her great success in the industry and adds the importance of getting an education, learning from those you respect, and working hard.
Watch Christine explain her role as Director of Sport:
Pro rider and popular clinician Hyde Moffat echoed hard work and building up experience right off the top, but merrily added, “It doesn’t ever really feel like work if you are enjoying what you do.” He, too, started out working in horse barns as a little kid, mucking stalls and feeding horses. At 14 he jumped at the opportunity to back some racehorses, “It provided me a lot of time in the saddle; a lot of knowledge I use every day came from the experiences that I was able to have with the racehorses.” That led to starting horses for professional barns in the show industry, which led to different rides and more horses. Moffatt now specializes in the development, training, showing and sales of showjumping horses.
Seventeen-year-old Kyleigh Whitwell of Oshawa, ON, claimed the Jump Canada Medal Final aboard Miss Montreal. A real go-getter and up-and-comer, Whitwell has already figured out the formula of working hard, meeting the right people in the industry and going after every good opportunity.
Starting out at Megan Lane Dressage as well as Pickering Horse Centre, run by the Yaghdjian family, “from there, I’ve just met a lot of really great people in the industry,” said Whitwell. “The toughest part about the industry can be the amount of hard work and dedication that it takes if you really want to succeed. However, I believe that if you really want it, it’s worth it.”
Whitwell is focusing on her education as well as meeting as many people and working with as many people as she can. This has included competing in hunter, jumper and equitation and being selected to train with Ontario Equestrian’s team GRIT. Whitwell even instructs for the Rookie Rider’s program and has started the process of becoming a certified instructor, all while attending the University of Guelph for justice and legal studies. Time management is obviously key for Kyleigh!
Winner of round one of the Canadian Show Jumping Championship, Jacqueline Steffens Daly was quick to attribute her success to her fantastic horse, Freaky. “He always tries his heart out; that makes my job a lot easier. It’s years of work and I’m constantly trying to better myself.”
Steffans got her start at a schooling barn, Windermere Stables in Waterloo, ON, and her super-supportive parents later invested in a barn. From there she and her sister became involved in learning the sport and all about horse care. Now she spends most of her time in Wellington, Florida and the summers competing on the road.
Reserve Canadian Show Jumping Champion at this year’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Mario Deslauriers, says, “Riding good horses makes my life easier and I have been very fortunate in my career to have several good ones.” With four decades of experience and four Olympics under his belt, Deslauriers has kept his childhood passion alive and has represented Canada at every major international event.
Always quick to give her horse a well-deserved pat, dressage rider Vanessa Creech-Terauds reiterates appreciation for the fine horses that have come into her life. “I think it’s really important to spend a lot of time with your horse and to really enjoy every moment of the journey,” says Creech. “It takes a really long time and a lot of patience and hard work to reach your goals. It doesn’t happen quickly, and it doesn’t happen every day. It is important to look over what can we change and make it better, but also not to be too hard on yourself and to really enjoy the moments when everything goes well.”
Creech is a big supporter of fostering the next generation of horse caretakers and has taken on staff fresh out of beginner training programs with enthusiasm to learn. “Groom training programs are so important and give newcomers to the horse industry a great way to start their careers. Everyone has their own way of doing things and we are more than happy to train them.”
Show jumper Carly Campbell-Cooper also stresses the importance of an amazing support team. “We all work together and we all work very hard. Everything we do is with the horse in mind and for the love of the horse. Every day we wake up feeling lucky that we get to do what we get to do and that helps us put in the long hours.”
Carly and her team have made their way in the horse industry by offering services including riding lessons, horse sales, and running shows, as well as attending competitions as a professional rider. “We are not relying on one key source for the financial cash flow. We can spread the love around if we need. We found for us it works best to diversify.”
Top-ranked Canadian eventer and fan favourite at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Jessica Phoenix definitively stated the secret to her success as, “The people you surround yourself with. You can’t do anything alone. Surround yourself with those who are truly passionate about what you are doing and that are in it for the long haul and really wanting success.”
If reading about all the successful pros in the horse industry that put in the hard work to pursue their passions is leaving you inspired, you may want to check out some educational opportunities to start your own career path. The Ontario Equine Education and Employment Program (OEEEP) has been providing free training and job placements since Nov 2021.
Funded by the Ontario Government, designed to address staff shortages in the industry, the OEEEP program has offered a six-week virtual training course from Equine Guelph, at the University of Guelph, followed by hands-on placements facilitated by the Ontario Harness Horse Association which helps participants gain valuable experience in many different sectors of the horse industry.
Employers hiring from the OEEEP program have benefitted from wage subsidies. The placement period is between 12 and 18 weeks and employers are eligible for 50% of the wages paid to a maximum of $5,000. Inquire for more details.
To learn more about the OEEEP program in general, visit OntarioEquineEducation.com
Note: There are no further cohorts for participants starting at this time for the current funding contract, but a wait list is available should there be opportunity to join the program in the New Year.
To learn about more careers in the horse industry, visit the Equine Careers Showcase at TheHorsePortal.ca.
