Meet Jeanna Epping
Jeanna Epping was born with a love of horses and has never looked back. She spent her days grooming her ponies and trail riding around the neighbors' fields as a youngster. Never afraid of anything, she thought she could understand even the most difficult ponies around. Mom and Dad were very happy feeding this addiction with a pony of her own, but when she figured out she was too old to get to the Olympics as a figure skater(since she had never figured skated in her life) and saw the summer games with Show Jumping, life was about to change.
First came the helmet as Mom had figured out Jeanna wasn't the meekest kid on a pony. Then came the books that she read over and over. Then came the book the contained the words "How to Train Your Pony to Jump." At that point her backyard pony with it's western saddle was pointed at anything that could be jumped. Then it was time for some lessons, where Jeanna learned about Pony Club.
Through the years of Pony Club, Jeanna learned horsemanship skills and a desire to always learn more about the sport and the horses. There wasn't a Quiz Rally she didn't want to ace or a rating that her horse when to dirty. It was after a few ratings that the need for a horse arose as her mother's trail horse needed to return to Mom. Iowa is not the mecca of eventing, but after six months and 50 horses, Jeanna found Nikki. Nikki was a thin little horse off the track that had only a few months under tack. At 16, Jeanna worked all sorts of jobs to make Nikki her own and was very happy to have at TB like everyone else, and even though she was picked for her conformation no one knew what this little horse could do.
Nikki had many years of accidents and injuries and Jeanna had set backs of her own, but by the time Jeanna was out of high school she was ready to do something more with this mare. They moved together to True Prospect Farm in West Grove, PA to work for Laura VanderVliet. In the 9 months together there the pair blossomed. Nikki turned into a cross country machine, placing in the top 10 at all but one of her events in Area II. They easily moved up to training under Laura's guidance, and quickly had their qualifiers for the move up to Preliminary. With a full barn of 20+ horses to manage and help ride experience came fast. Jeanna rode everything from 2 year olds getting backed to Laura's top Advanced horse. When it was time to start college the choice was stay out east and sell Nikki or move back and keep her. It was a hard choice, but Nikki ultimately won.
While attending college, Jeanna still kept Nikki going, and moved up to Preliminary in Area IV. They attended great events such as Maui Jim CIC* and Richland Park Horse Trails. Being home made it easy to attend the clinics Timber Ridge Pony Club held, making it possible to ride with Gigi Winslett once again. The East was not forgotten though. A friend from Pennsylvania, Tara Ziegler, asked Jeanna to groom for her at Rolex two years in a row. It was a wonderful experience and opened the door for Jeanna to groom for Laura at the AECs a few years later.
After college Jeanna relocated to Lexington, Kentucky to be closer to her sport. Nikki moved again and put two more very solid years into Preliminary events. When everything was primed for the move up to Intermediate, it was realized that for the best horsemanship Nikki should be retired. The holes had been filled and she had never moved or jumped as well, but that was a far as the one eyed horse was meant to go at that stage in her life. The years she gave into the sport were invaluable miles for Jeanna. Training with Eric Dierks and Reese Stanfield has helped make strides in their training.
First came the helmet as Mom had figured out Jeanna wasn't the meekest kid on a pony. Then came the books that she read over and over. Then came the book the contained the words "How to Train Your Pony to Jump." At that point her backyard pony with it's western saddle was pointed at anything that could be jumped. Then it was time for some lessons, where Jeanna learned about Pony Club.
Through the years of Pony Club, Jeanna learned horsemanship skills and a desire to always learn more about the sport and the horses. There wasn't a Quiz Rally she didn't want to ace or a rating that her horse when to dirty. It was after a few ratings that the need for a horse arose as her mother's trail horse needed to return to Mom. Iowa is not the mecca of eventing, but after six months and 50 horses, Jeanna found Nikki. Nikki was a thin little horse off the track that had only a few months under tack. At 16, Jeanna worked all sorts of jobs to make Nikki her own and was very happy to have at TB like everyone else, and even though she was picked for her conformation no one knew what this little horse could do.
Nikki had many years of accidents and injuries and Jeanna had set backs of her own, but by the time Jeanna was out of high school she was ready to do something more with this mare. They moved together to True Prospect Farm in West Grove, PA to work for Laura VanderVliet. In the 9 months together there the pair blossomed. Nikki turned into a cross country machine, placing in the top 10 at all but one of her events in Area II. They easily moved up to training under Laura's guidance, and quickly had their qualifiers for the move up to Preliminary. With a full barn of 20+ horses to manage and help ride experience came fast. Jeanna rode everything from 2 year olds getting backed to Laura's top Advanced horse. When it was time to start college the choice was stay out east and sell Nikki or move back and keep her. It was a hard choice, but Nikki ultimately won.
While attending college, Jeanna still kept Nikki going, and moved up to Preliminary in Area IV. They attended great events such as Maui Jim CIC* and Richland Park Horse Trails. Being home made it easy to attend the clinics Timber Ridge Pony Club held, making it possible to ride with Gigi Winslett once again. The East was not forgotten though. A friend from Pennsylvania, Tara Ziegler, asked Jeanna to groom for her at Rolex two years in a row. It was a wonderful experience and opened the door for Jeanna to groom for Laura at the AECs a few years later.
After college Jeanna relocated to Lexington, Kentucky to be closer to her sport. Nikki moved again and put two more very solid years into Preliminary events. When everything was primed for the move up to Intermediate, it was realized that for the best horsemanship Nikki should be retired. The holes had been filled and she had never moved or jumped as well, but that was a far as the one eyed horse was meant to go at that stage in her life. The years she gave into the sport were invaluable miles for Jeanna. Training with Eric Dierks and Reese Stanfield has helped make strides in their training.