Erynn Ballard
Beginning from a very young age, Erynn Ballard has been recognized for her natural talent, dedication, hard work and motivation both in and out of the competition arena. This work ethic has been essential to maintaining her place as one of the top riders and trainers on the circuit.
Erynn entered the show ring at the age of six under the guidance of her parents Sandi and Dave. Even at this young age, it was obvious she had an incredible natural talent for riding. Her ability to get on multiple types of unknown horses and win, established her as one of the top junior catch riders in the country.
Some of Erynn’s top wins as a junior came on a multitude of different horses. In 1996 she competed Ordinary Man and came home with a team bronze medal at the 1996 North American Young Rider Championships. 1997 saw Erynn capture the win riding Aremex in the $15,000 Junior American Invitational in Tampa, Florida. That same year she rode Raphallea in the junior/amateur jumper division and became the first horse/rider combination to capture all four classes comprising the junior/amateur division at the Royal Winter Fair.
First Pony - "Rusty"
Pony Days
1998 was an incredible year in Erynn’s junior career. She began the year competing at The Winter Equestrian festival in Florida and was awarded the Christie Conrad Perpetual Trophy for equestrian excellence.
Later that year she became only the second Canadian at the time to win the most prestigious junior equitation award by winning the
ASPCA Maclay national championships at
Madison Square Gardens.
Erynn Riding Bennington in ASPCA Maclay Finals
The next year she competed again in the North American Young Riders championships and captured the individual gold medal on an Irish thoroughbred gelding named Leacock.
In 2000, Erynn returned to the North American Young Riders Championships aboard Leacock and won silver medals in both the team and individual events.
Erynn Riding Leacock
With her junior years behind her she jumped right into a career as a professional and has never looked back. Some of her most impressive wins as a professional include the 2006 Spruce Meadows Masters where she made her nations cup debut and helped the Canadian team capture the win. In 2006 Erynn was awarded a great honor by being named “Equestrian of the Year” by the Canadian National Federation. March of 2007 saw her once again help her team capture a team win at The Wellington Equestrian Festival. September 2008 saw Erynn win the 3 phase Canada Cup Championship at the Tournament of Champions aboard her trusted partner Robin Van Roosendael. In November of 2009 Erynn was awarded Cavalor’s Athlete of the Month by Jump Canada and was also named Leading International Lady Rider at the Harrisburg Horse Show in Pennsylvania.
She also has hundreds of year end awards and hunter and jumper championships to her name.
Some of her greatest achievements can also be found outside the competition arena at her Looking Back Farm as a trainer and coach. She successfully owns and runs her own business, rides and trains anywhere from twenty to thirty horses a day and coaches numerous champion hunter, jumper and equitation junior and amateur riders. Her hard work, motivation and dedication in this regard has established her as one of the hardest working professionals in the industry and one of the most sought after coach, rider and catch rider on the circuit.
1996 – North American Young Rider Championships – Bronze Medal – Ordinary Man.
1997 – Won the Junior American Invitational – Aramex.
1997 – Champion Junior/Amateur Jumper Royal Winter Fair on Raphaella.
1998 – Won the Maclay Medal Finals.
1999 – North American Young Riders championships - Individual Gold Medal - Leacock
2000 - North American Young rider Championships - Silver Medal (Team & Individual) - Leacock
Long Time Partner & Nations Cup Mount - Robin Van Roosendael
