Tess and Fine Date. PC: Tess Fortune
Trying to balance the rigors of adulthood and the demands of a consuming sport can be a struggle for the most devoted of horsemen, but 24-year-old Tess Fortune doesn’t let anything slow her down. Despite a busy schedule in full time law school, she has managed to claim a few major wins at the World Equestrian Center this winter on a string of self-made horses, with no plans of slowing down.
Catching the Riding Bug
Raised in Greendale, Wisconsin, Tess caught the riding bug while tagging along to lessons with her cousin and uncle, who lived in Missouri. After watching their success at Pony Finals and many other Nationally ranked events, she was sold. She began taking riding lessons in Wisconsin and recalls riding an adorable little roan pony by the name of Rosie.
Her mother loves to share the story about Tess’s first jump. She and Rosie were attempting to tackle crossrails, however her lovely little lesson pony was merely stepping over the poles rather than putting her full effort into jumping them. Finally, Rosie gave Tess what she was asking for- a real jump! She leaped over the tiny crossrail and unseated little Tess, who toppled right off the side. “What a good start to my jumping career!” Tess reminiscences.
While neither of her parents rode, they were always supportive of her ambitions. Her father, an artist at heart, often painted portraits of Tess and her horses. Her mother was her cheerleader, and rarely missed a lesson or a show. As many horse show moms have been known to do, Tess’s mom takes on whatever title is needed of her at the time- whether that be videographer, groom, or organizer extraordinaire.
Working the Grind Stone
After attending traditional public school, Tess attended a private college-prep academy nearly an hour from home and over an hour from her barn. Her days were long thanks to that extended commute, but her school worked with her to allow her to show and the time spent with her horses was worth it.
In 2010, Tess started her college career at Marquette University, which she later graduated from with her Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations. Wanting to fuel her passion for horses, she took a semester off after finishing her undergrad to take on a working student position in 2015.
Tess and Epic. PC: Tess Fortune
Tess stumbled across the working student position for Narnia Farms on Facebook after another working student position fell through just shortly before the start of the winter circuit. She posted in all of the equine ‘in search of’ groups she could find, hoping that another working student position would come her way. Tess spent a brief period of her time at the farm’s base in Knoxville, Tennessee, but the bulk of her working student experience was in Mississippi at the Gulfport Winter Series.
She spent ten hard weeks working with the team at Narnia Farms and said she wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. “Working with Narnia Farm taught me a lot about riding and more importantly the management skills necessary to operate a show team. Sherry and I went down to Mississippi with seven horses, no grooms, and no fellow working students. Those eight weeks gave me tons of riding opportunities and taught me that running a barn is NOT a 9-5 job,” says Tess.
She crammed in every opportunity she could in that short time span, from riding newly-started babies to 1.30m+ jumpers, as well as feeding, cleaning stalls, and grooming. Seeing the behind-the-scenes effort it takes to operate such a high-end team helped her grow in her horsemanship skills tremendously.
Talinsky. PC: Tess Fortune
Law and Order
While law school or a full string of horses are intimidating undertakings on their own, Tess has managed to pursue both with fervor in recent years. After her successful stint as a working student, Tess followed in her father’s footsteps and began attending law school; she’ll be graduating from Brandeis in Louisville next May.
Finding a balance in her hectic schedule is a daily scramble, but she usually attends class for around five hours a day before dashing home to pick up her dog and her breeches. Once at the barn, she tackles a riding list of around 5 horses a day prior to attacking a mountain of law school studying.
Tess credits her time as a working student for adapting to an early schedule and has learning how to efficiently prioritize.
Horses on Heartstrings
When asked about her horses, Tess says, “depending on who you ask, they may tell you I have a bit of a collecting problem.” Her two retirees, Charade and Epi, are living the life and teaching other riders the ropes of riding.
She has three horses that she is showing consistently, all of which have had a great amount of success at the World Equestrian Center Winter Series: Talinsky (Spender) a 2004 Swedish Warmblood gelding recently Finished Reserve Champion in the Amateur Owner Jumpers by a tight 8 seconds, MVP (Captain) a 2011 OTTB gelding is a winner in the Green HUS and the 3/3” AO classes, and Fine Date (Ben) a 2010 warmblood gelding has stepped up to the 3’ Adults and finished top 3 in all classes as well as Reserve Champion of the division.
Tess’s most recent edition is a six-year-old mare she purchased from Broad Hill Run Farm named Kola. Tess has her eyes on the prize in the Hunters with the mare, whom she considers very special.
One of Tess’s beloved horses, MVP. PC: Tess Fortune
While all of her horses mean a lot to her, she was most eager to share the heartwarming story of how she became partners with MVP. After the injury of one of her show horses, Tess noticed a flier for Galloping Out (a re-training and homing program for Thoroughbreds in Illinois) while working at a local tack store.
Figuring she had nothing to lose, she inquired about their available horses and was sent videos of three individual horses. MVP immediately caught her eye. She and a friend made a trip down to meet him and after a successful test ride, her friend looked her dead in the eye and said, “If you don’t buy him, I will!”
It hasn’t always been easy, but thanks to hard work, perseverance, and great support from her parents, Tess and her string of horses have really been shining in the Adult Amateur classes in late 2016 and the start of 2017. With her goals of Indoors later this year and finishing law school and passing the bar exam, she is definitely one to watch as she rises in the ranks!