Hidden Gems: Meet Whitney Weston of Valkyrie Sporthorses

Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Weston.

Hi Whitney, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I begin my story like any other horse-crazy kid. I was obsessed with the cartoon “My Little Pony” and received a pony ride for my birthday as a 4-year-old; little did my city-dwelling parents know this would be the beginning of a lifelong passion (read “obsession”). Our family moved from Pennsylvania to Oregon, and we soon found ourselves, horse owners. With little guidance, we bought a feral pony named “Cocoa” that dumped me repeatedly daily. Not deterred, and maybe a bit stubbornly, I climbed back on after each pony assault to try again. We lived in a small logging town in Southern Oregon called Roseburg and boarded said naughty pony at the local fairgrounds. Between the fair’s BMX bike races and tractor pulls, we took advantage of the arena use and learned by fire how to take care of horses. This is where the kind souls at Pony Club took me in and showed us the ropes. Long story short, horses continued to take over more of our lives, my two younger sisters got involved, and the whole family moved to the country to try our hand at farming. I continued to train and learn with horses at every opportunity that came my way. We traveled many distances and several states to get to competitions and clinics. Many horses came and went as I grew and evolved as a rider; my equestrian education at that time was rooted in the classics, with a real grit and wild heart that geared me toward eventing the equestrian triathlon. While we compete in Dressage and Showjumping as two of the phases, Cross Country is where my spirit found its home. Cross Country involves galloping at high speeds, jumping sold jumps, and jumping off banks and into water. Whoever stays on their horse, completes the course in the correct time frame, and jumps each jump the first time with no mistakes carries no penalties toward the next phase. While homeschooling and graduating from the community college with an associate of science at 18 (nerd alert!).

I had opportunities to the clinic with Olympians like David O’Conner, who came out west. This made me hunger for more. Education is vital in our family, but even while attending Bryn Mawr College back in Pennsylvania, I found ways to get some horse action. I rented to college van to drive an hour away to catch ride horses in the snow at Carol Davidson’s barn. Her son, international event rider Buck Davidson, is who I would eventually train with at the upper levels a few years later. While studying abroad in England, I was on a student nations riders cup to compete for the USA in Zurich, Switzerland. Germany had us beat, but what an experience seeing riders speak languages I couldn’t understand, but we all understood the language of horses. Back in England, I studied hard, then hopped on a cheap commuter plane to get to Carol Gee’s farm at Fernhill Sporthorses in Kilkenny, Ireland. I soaked up everything I could while working there. It is fascinating to see how different countries and cultures work with horses. I remember being impressed that the grain they fed their horses had peas in it!

Back at Bryn Mawr, I worked with Olympian Phillip Dutton and Boyd Martin. Their farm was 1.5 hours away, but I still prioritized driving out and back every day. I spent holiday vacations there learning all I could. Packing so much into 4 years of study, I was ready to return home after graduating with honors in Psychology with a focus on Sports Psychology. I knew it was a long shot to make a living with horses, but I was willing to give it a go. I set a deadline for 2 years that if that path did not look promising, I would return to graduate school and become a Sports Psychologist. Well, the business grew into a boarding, training, and sales facility that also offered lessons to beginners on school horses. I met and married the love of my life, Luke, who supported my horse problem. He was in the army and was called back to serve overseas 3 weeks after our wedding. We had already spent so much time apart; with him being in the army and me being in school, this felt like the wind was knocked out of me. We said our goodbyes, and I dusted myself off and decided to leap. I had a wonderful horse, Rock-On Rose, and it was time to go to the Advanced level and run with the big boys. So I sold all our sales horses, sadly said goodbye to our working students and clients, loaded up 4 horses, and drove east to Florida to train with Buck Davidson, Bruce Davidson, and eventually Robert Costello in Southern Pines.

My good friend and groom, Amy Spink, and I lived in the horse trailer while training and caring for the horses. Being in that environment with all the names I had only seen in magazines training alongside me was intense and exciting. I had many successes and failures, so much so that it’s often suggested I write a book, and readers might not believe it to be true for the wildness!

After 12 months in the Afghanistan desert, my husband was back and had a job opportunity at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. I was ready to put down roots and live as a family while growing a business. I began by renting a few stalls, then a barn, and when we had 10 horses in training, it was time to look for a farm for the long term. Southern Pines was a fantastic horse country with many opportunities to train and compete, but the downside was that it made farms quite expensive. We chose the other route: we bought 10 acres and slowly built an excellent hunt box designed by my talented friend Shelly Turner. It was tough at first. Before water and electricity, we used a wheelbarrow to take water from a tank to all the pastures. No electricity meant no light, heat/AC, and indoor spaces. We worked out of a shipping container that allowed us to store equipment, hay, and grain safely.

And still, the business grew. We were full of horses competing, for sale, and owned by clients. With an area saturated with big names and venues, I saw a surprising lack of opportunities for people to begin their riding careers without heading into full horse ownership first. Southern Pines Riding Academy was created to help introduce and educate new riders on horses and horse care while providing experienced school horses to learn on. Even my more experienced students benefited from a steady horse to focus on their riding skills, which they could take to their own feisty and athletic mounts.

Our farm was finished in 2016; by 2019, we had already outgrown the 10 acres. Sadly, it was time to start from scratch again. Now that our business had grown so much, there was zero chance we could afford a turnkey facility to house us all. We looked everywhere, and just when it was starting to feel hopeless, my husband came across 68 acres of overgrown farmland. At first, I was daunted by the 6-foot-high brambles, dilapidated 100-year-old house, and tractor shed, seeing all the work that would need to be done just to begin any building. But the location was perfect: just 10 minutes from the Carolina horse park and 10 minutes to downtown Southern Pines. There was flat ground, a hill for galloping, woods, and plenty of room for growth. The bones were good.

Thus began a 3-year journey of preparing the land. We needed to have the asbestos cleared from the old structures. Then we donated them to the fire department to run a burn training exercise. We fenced it in, restarted the grass, cleared some trees, and got started on a modern take on an equestrian facility. I used all my different experiences in barns worldwide to bring together designs that worked for us and excluded those that needed to fit the vision. I wanted to focus on an equestrian education aspect to promote the idea that we are always learning while we train and compete. Valkyrie Sporthorses was born. There is a big lounge space for lectures and presentations, a feed room for nutrition talks, a guest room for students and clinicians bunking overnight, and a large barn aisle for learning about horses. A cross-country course is geared towards young horses and riders looking for safe learning opportunities. It was built by my old friend Trav Schick of Cross Country Hardware, who also worked on the Tokyo Olympics course. There is a lighted arena for those who ride after school and work, a dressage arena, a sand arena for the academy program, and a larger show jumping course for my upper-level students to practice on. We are still finishing the living space upstairs, and plenty to grow around the farm. The Academy has grown, with over 70 weekly riders now, in addition to our horse owners who train and compete. We couldn’t run such a big program without our amazing team members—instructor, barn manager Naomi Chambers, coach Kyla Roeber, and Andrew Diemer. Our barn staff is amazing, ensuring all the horses are happy and healthy; shoutout to Autumn, Sarah, and Rose!

As for my riding, there have been many wonderful mounts through the above process. We have imported and sold horses, trained off-the-track Thoroughbreds and Irish Sport Horses, and loved and learned from everyone. Rock-On Rose retired from her advanced eventing career to have 3 babies and is now back to competing in Dressage at the age of 23. She loves the attention and being admired by her fans! I can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds as we finish building, find new horses to grow and compete with, and promote equestrian education in the Sandhills.

How do you define success?
Success is many things, small and big. With horses, you have to find small successes daily to stay positive, as they can be challenging on hard days. A small success is a positive training session, where the rider and horse finish their ride working together, learning or improving on a skill, and looking forward to trying it again the next day. A bigger success could mean doing well at a competition, or more overarchingly, a well-balanced life that involves family, friends, horses, and working towards accomplishing goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.valkyriesporthorses.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valkyriesporthorses/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValkyrieSporthorses
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/whitney.weston.3/

Image Credits
High Times Photography, Shannon Brinkman Photography, and Cindy Lawler Photography