Vougeot & Abbey

Vougeot entered life with Abbey about seven years ago. "Vougeot is my Grand Prix horse. He's a really big character," Abbey chuckles. "He's just a wonderful partner. He's amazing, and he tries so hard. He loves people food. He eats anything: pizza, donuts, french fries, milk shakes. He'll eat salad. It doesn't matter what it is. He loves food. I think it's just the novelty of being fed something he shouldn't be having."

He's even been known to steal a banana from the tack room, leaving someone without their snack, but Vougeot was not always the character he is now. This took a lot of work on his part, but mostly, the work had to come from Abbey.

When Abbey first bought him, "he had no personality. He hated people. He didn't have good training. They were really mean to him. He just got really internalized in his shell. When I got Vougeot, he was really good at competition, but anything outside of that, he was so difficult. It got to the point where I wanted to sell him. I was frustrated."

However, Vougeot got injured around the time Abbey was having these thoughts, and he would require a year to rehab. "I ended up doing a total pivot with my riding and doing some self-discovery. I had gotten a little burnt out, a little too competitive, and I kinda had the 20-year-old attitude."

Around the same time, Shawna Lewis entered Abbey's life and introduced her to Dressage Naturally with Karen Ralph. "Karen does a wonderful sport-orientated program, but with a natural side," explains Abbey. "It helps you learn and communicate with your horse better and build the trust and relationship that a lot of partnerships lack. Shawna started helping me, and Vougeot, and I actually learned that it was more-so me that needed help than it was him. Learning to take a step back and communicate and build that trust has changed every facet of my riding. Horses have helped me from a business perspective as well."