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Alpharetta Equestrian Elisa Wallace Strives Towards the Olympics It could be said that Elisa Wallace’s horse riding career was predestined. Born to horse enthusiasts, she was riding horses before most kids her age were riding tricycles “Her mother rode while she was pregnant with Elisa,” said Rick Wallace, Elisa’s father, though he acknowledges this isn’t advisable today. “I think it did something to spark her interest in horses. At 2 years old, I put her on a horse and she was able to ride. By 4 she was competing in dressage shows and doing jumps. She has been in a barn from the time she could walk,” he beamed. “Growing up, she poured everything she had into her horses.” No doubt, this makes her father quite proud, as he himself is an accomplished equestrian, and was long-listed for the 1992 games in Barcelona. Elisa’s talents earned recognition early on. She won a gold medal at the Georgia Games at the age of 9, and made history as the youngest person ever to do so. With the Wallace family, horses are a way of life. In fact, most of her friends and even her boyfriend are also in the business. “Anybody that I hang out with, they have to be around horses. I don’t have time for anything else,” Elisa said. “I like to be with my animals, I like to be with my horses.” Taking the Reigns When 26-year-old Elisa talks about her horses, the love and admiration she feels for them is tangible. “Jackson is my main competition horse,” she explained. “I found him on the Internet and I just kind of knew he was my horse. I said, ‘OK, Mom, we’re going to Kansas [to purchase him].’” Sure, most girls go through a horse phase, begging their parents for a new pony, but Elisa’s parents knew it was more than a passing fancy. “I saved my graduation money for Jackson and he was $700.” She and her mother made the road trip together and brought Jackson to his new home, where he has excelled and has proven to be a stellar competition horse. “He’s my bud,” Elisa said. “We know each other inside and out. He’ll be 9 in April and we’ve been together for 8 years. He’s like my child.” Elisa’s hard work with Jackson and her younger horse Leap of Faith has paid off. With Elisa as his rider, Jackson placed highly in several competitions, including winning first place in the Maui Jim Horse Trials in 2006. He also qualified for the prestigious Rolex Three-Day Event. Leap of Faith may be a bit “quirkier,” but with patience and understanding, Elisa has earned her trust, and she has developed into a star in her own right, recently winning at Poplar Place Farm. Elisa credits her responsibilities taking care of horses and goals with keeping her head on straight during her years at Milton High School in Alpharetta. “I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have my horses. They kept me out of trouble. They kept my attention from day one. I had my goals set. It’s something I had to work on every day. I didn’t even go to any football games; I just didn’t have time for that.” Elisa took a few months off from riding during those years, but it didn’t suit her. “I didn’t have any horses at the time and I tried to ride other people’s horses for free just so I could ride. That will never happen again. I would just go insane,” she laughed. Olympic Dreams Will Wait
Elisa was prepared to follow in her father’s footsteps with entry into the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, until Jackson was injured last August the day after a competition. “We were actually supposed to go to the Blenheim CCI pre-start in England and I was running an event before the big Leap of Faith also suffered a tendon injury in October, though both horses are healing well under Elisa’s care. In retrospect, both Elisa and her father agree that missing Beijing may have been a blessing in disguise, as the heat index climbed to an oppressive 110 degrees, which would burden the animals. Elisa is letting Jackson heal, while shooting for the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky., and hopefully qualifying for the 2012 Olympics in London. In the meantime, Elisa is concentrating on the health of Jackson and Leap of Faith. “The one thing I’ve learned with horses is they have to be on their own time. They’re not machines, they break, and a lot of people forget that.” Although this year’s games are out of grasp, Elisa’s abilities as a trainer and a consultant has led her to teach local riders and offer one-day clinics that attract out-of-towners. Training is not based on age, but on the progression of the horse and rider, and she offers both group and one-on-one training. “The best part of my job is seeing progression, and that’s what makes it fun. It’s not fun just to teach someone who is not happy about riding. That’s the whole point of riding. And if you’re not having fun you really block yourself with progression,” said Elisa. Some of her clients are following in her footsteps. “I had a client who likes to compete. I have several clients that go to shows. It’s kind of fun when we compete against each other because they feel really good when they beat me,” said Elisa, smiling. In addition to training, Elisa also scouts horses for clients looking to make a purchase, a job she really enjoys and one that allows her to share her expertise. Her love of horses also extends beyond training and competition. She reaches out to help horses when she can, bringing out the best in them, and having faith in them when others may not. In November she made a trip with a client to look at some horses for sale when she came across a yearling who was in particularly bad shape. She brought him back home with her, and she is in the process of nurturing him back to health and, eventually, to tip-top shape. “I like finding horses and I get a little [obsessive] about it,” Elisa explained. “I’ll be up on the computer until I can’t see anymore. I’m honest with everybody. I can’t lie. I’m bluntly honest. Sometimes too honest. That’s a big thing, especially when you’re buying and selling horses. I won’t work with anybody that I know has done a bad deal. Everything I buy or sell is going to have my name on it so I want to make sure people know what they’re getting into with that horse. And that’s a big part of the horse industry that’s hard because you have so many people just trying to make a buck and it’s not always about that. It’s not good for the horses. It’s much easier to teach the horse than it is to teach the person.” Elisa is also working on getting more horses in competition form, though she notes that not every horse is a contender. “It’s not everyday you can find a horse that has that potential,” she said. Nevertheless, her search continues so that she may eventually have more horses to rely on so that she can continue competing and building a name and reputation for herself. For now, she hopes to “keep making the money, keep going to the shows, keep my head on straight and not go crazy.” PN Cost of an Olympic Dream Sponsorship goes a long way toward making the dream a reality. For Elisa, she estimates her costs include: |
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Ride to Glory
event to clear out the cobwebs. He won the dressage, walked around the cross country — he was a very good boy, he didn’t do anything funny, and then he jumped around the stadium clean and we ended up 4th because I went slow on cross-country because I was trying to be careful. And then the next day he was lame. He had an MRI and he ended up tearing a tendon in the foot. So, I couldn’t run him at Rolex,” said Elisa. “He’s on break and he’s not happy about it because he really does like to work. I’ll hold the bridle and he’ll be like, ‘please?’” as he tries to put his head into the bridle. After 6 months of his not being ridden, he still remembers everything.”