Hawley Bennett-Awad: The Event Rider Who Found an Edge in Having One Great Horse, Not Ten

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard catches up with husband-and-wife team Will and Katie Coleman to talk about Will's Kentucky 5* win with Diabolo, what it's like to run a top eventing program together, and how their idea of success has shifted from chasing goals to building a life they're proud of.Meet the Guests: Will and Katie Coleman Will Coleman is an Olympic event rider and one of the top riders in the U.S. He won Aachen in 2021 with Off The Record, making him the first American to take that title, and the pair helped the U.S. win team silver at the 2022 World Championships in Pratoni. In 2026 he won his first 5*, the Kentucky Three-Day Event, with Diabolo. He then finished fourth individually and helped Team USA win bronze at the World Championships in Aachen. Katie Coleman grew up in Ontario and spent years grooming at the top of the sport, including at the 2011 Pan American Games and at five-stars like Kentucky, Burghley, and Luhmühlen, and was named the 2012 USEA Groom of the Year. She's credited with building the program behind Will's success, and these days her focus has shifted to dressage. Together they run Will Coleman Equestrian, with bases in Virginia and Ocala, Florida.In This Episode, Sinead, Will, and Katie Discuss:Why they believe it takes at least a year to make a horse your own, and the foundation they build together at home before a horse faces top-level competitionHow Off The Record went from bucking off a working student to "winning machine," and why he was the first horse they cracked the code on as a teamTheir first winter spent apart, and the sacrifices they're no longer willing to make as parentsTheir take on where eventing is headed, from how many five-stars the sport needs to telling better horsemanship storiesEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with Alice Fox-Pitt, broadcaster, top-level event rider, and Sinead's mentor for nearly two decades, to discuss why equestrian sport struggles to gain mainstream media attention and what it would take to change that. Together, they explore how the sport can better communicate its stories, personalities, and appeal to a wider audience.Meet the Guest: Alice Fox-Pitt Alice Fox-Pitt is a familiar voice in equestrian and racing broadcasting. One of the only women to have competed at both Badminton and the Grand National, Alice pursued a dual career in eventing and racing before a sponsorship deal led her to step back from racing. She built a broadcasting career alongside her competitive riding, then retired from eventing altogether at 27 to focus on it full time. Her career has included local radio at Blenheim, Sky Sports, ITV, and the Emirates World Series. She also co-founded Event Rider Masters and is married to William Fox-Pitt. Alice is involved with two charities, the Eloise and Katie Memorial Trust and the Larmer Tree Project.In This Episode, Sinead and Alice Discuss:Why equestrian sport struggles to gain mainstream media attention and the importance of finding compelling "hooks" for wider audiencesThe creation of Event Rider Masters and how its format was designed to make eventing more accessible and engaging for viewersAlice's dual career in eventing and racing, including the sponsorship decision that ultimately led her to stop race ridingWhat makes a successful partnership between equestrian athletes and brands, and the importance of authentic, long-term relationshipsAlice's transition from competing to broadcasting, business, and charitable workEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with outgoing US Equestrian CEO Bill Moroney for a candid look back at his decade leading the sport's national governing body, the leadership lessons that shaped him, and what it means to walk away at the right time.Meet the Guest: Bill Moroney Bill Moroney is the outgoing CEO of US Equestrian, a role he has held for a decade since 2016 and will step down from at the end of 2026. He spent decades as a hunter/jumper trainer based out of Middleburg, Virginia, before shifting into equestrian governance full time. In 2004, he helped found the United States Hunter Jumper Association and served as its founding president until he became USEF's CEO, building it into the largest recognized affiliate within US Equestrian. Over his career, he has served on more than 17 USEF committees in addition to the organization's Board.In This Episode, Sinead and Bill Discuss:Bill's path from a horse-crazy kid taking weekly riding lessons to running a hunter/jumper training business in Middleburg, and how that eventually pulled him into equestrian governanceThe daily discipline behind decision-making at USEF, from setting boundaries on his calendar to building a trusted team around himWhat makes a committee actually work, and how to navigate confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and emotionally charged conversationsUSEF Lite and other efforts to make the sport more accessible and affordable at the grassroots levelEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin Maynard sits down with John Michael Durr, fresh off designing the FEI courses at a Calgary-area facility's first international event since the 1970s, to talk candidly about why eventing is inherently unsafe, how awareness (not fear) is the tool that actually protects riders and horses, and what he'd change about how the sport structures itself.Meet the Guest: John Michael Durr John Michael Durr is an international event rider and show jumper who has competed at the Kentucky Three-Day Event and, more recently, transitioned into FEI-level show jumping. He is an FEI course designer and serves on the USEA's Cross Country Safety Committee and Licensed Officials Committee, putting him at the center of ongoing conversations about rider and horse safety in the sport. Raised in California before building his career on both coasts, Durr now runs Durr Eventing, a training, competition, and sales business, with his wife, Kimmy Durr.In This Episode, Sinead and John Michael Discuss:Why Durr believes the sport needs to stop pretending jumping horses is "safe" and instead talk openly about mitigating real riskThe concept of awareness as a mental skill riders and coaches can train, separate from technical abilityFrangible technology as an "airbag," a tool that softens a fall but doesn't eliminate the risk in the first placeHis course design philosophy of low jumps and hard exercises, and why cross-country schooling culture needs a broader rethinkThe personal loss, twenty years ago, that first shaped his focus on safety, and how he's carried that forward into his work as a course designer and safety committee memberEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with Caroline Harris fresh off the FEI Eventing World Championships in Aachen to talk about the unlikely horse who carried her from a late start in the sport to two five-star wins, and the mental work behind staying grounded at the highest level of competition.Meet the Guest: Caroline Harris Caroline Harris is a British international event rider who claimed her first five-star victory at Pau in 2024 and added a second at Luhmühlen in 2026, both with her partner D.Day. Those wins earned the pair a place on the British eventing team for the 2026 FEI Eventing World Championships in Aachen, building on a Nations Cup debut at Boekelo in 2023 and a selection to the British European Championships squad at Blenheim in 2025.In This Episode, Sinead and Caroline Discuss:The unconventional path to a five-star debut at 34, and why D.Day, a horse bred to be a gentle family horse, was never expected to reach the top of the sportHow a small ownership syndicate of friends backed D.Day one level at a time, with no pressure attached, all the way to Pau, Luhmühlen, and AachenWorking through self-doubt and nerves with a sports psychologist, and learning to enjoy competing at the top level instead of just surviving itBuilding a life and identity outside the barn, including training as a personal trainer, and what comes next on the road to Los Angeles 2028Episode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with two-time Olympian Hawley Bennett-Awad fresh off an electric World Championships in Aachen to talk about building a career one horse at a time, learning to put her own wellbeing first after years of burnout, and the unexpected new horse now fueling her dream of a home Olympics in LA.Meet the Guest: Hawley Bennett-Awad Hawley Bennett-Awad is a two-time Olympian who represented Canada at the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Games, and has competed at four World Championships for her country. Her career has been defined by long partnerships with a small string of horses, including her first advanced mount off the track, and Jollybo, who she competed at the CCI4* and CCI5* levels for close to a decade. Based in Southern California, Bennett-Awad also runs a busy clinic teaching schedule around the country. She recently found an unexpected new partner in Levino, with her sights set on a return to top-level competition.In This Episode, Sinead and Hawley Discuss:What it felt like to watch this year's World Championships in Aachen as a former competitor, and why she calls it the toughest competition in the sportBuilding a career one horse at a time, learning each horse inside and out, and the discipline that comes with limited resourcesThe mindset shift that led her to scale back a packed teaching schedule and put her own wellbeing firstHow an unplanned encounter led her to Levino, and her plan to chase a return to top-level competitionEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with Alizée Froment to talk about her path from Grand Prix dressage to liberty training, and how she teaches horses to recognize tension in their bodies and find their own way out of it.Meet the Guest: Alizée Froment Alizée Froment is a French liberty trainer, performer, and author who competed internationally in dressage up to Grand Prix level and trained the French National Pony Dressage Team. In 2011 she made her international Grand Prix debut aboard her stallion Mistral du Coussoul, competing at that level for years before retiring him from competition in 2018. Since 2009, Froment has performed neck rope liberty demonstrations for hundreds of thousands of spectators around the world. She now works with sport horses sent to her for emotional and behavioral struggles, runs her own liberty and education programs, and has developed courses with fellow trainer Tristan Tucker on his TRT platform. She is the author of The Horses Who Made Me, released in 2024.In This Episode, Sinead and Alizée Discuss:How she reads the physical tension behind a horse's fear, anger, or frustration, and teaches them to release it themselves instead of shutting the emotion downHer horses' daily bodywork routine, including stretching, massage, and natural therapies like clay and essential oils, and how it feeds directly into her training decisions each dayThe moment she stopped chasing performance in competition and started training for the horse in front of herWhy she believes horse welfare debates need more listening and less judgmentEpisode SponsorEquine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with Linsay Rosser Sumpter to trace the history of women in rodeo, the fight for equal opportunity and pay, and how a rodeo family legacy turned into a role leading the sport's biggest platform for cowgirls.Meet the Guest: Linsay Rosser Sumpter Linsay Rosser Sumpter is the Commissioner of Premier Women's Rodeo (PWR), the rebrand of the Women's Rodeo World Championship she has led since its founding in 2020. She grew up in a multi-generational rodeo family that produced rodeos for nearly 80 years, competed collegiately as a breakaway roper on scholarship, and spent more than 15 seasons as a college rodeo coach in Colorado. Under her leadership, PWR has paid out over $5 million to female rodeo athletes and secured a new media partnership with Scripps Sports to broadcast the sport nationally. In 2024, she received the Western Sports Foundation's Grit Award for her advocacy on behalf of women in rodeo.In This Episode, Sinead and Linsay Discuss:The history of women in rodeo, from early trick riders to the tragedy that pushed them out of the arena for decadesHow Premier Women's Rodeo grew out of a push for equal pay and equal opportunity across every rodeo disciplineWhat it took to step out of competition and into the commissioner's chair to build a platform for the next generationThe family legacy of stock contracting and rodeo producing that shaped her from childhoodEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride  Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with Laura Bruner to talk about the education gap she saw across 25 plus years in the horse world and the college preparatory academy she built to close it.Meet the Guest: Laura Bruner  Laura Bruner is the founder and executive director of Equis Amare College Preparatory Academy (EACPA), a nonprofit college prep high school for equestrian students opening in Penn Valley, California this fall. She spent 20 years on the Hunter/Jumper A circuit, training under Olympians Peter Breakwell and Miguel Leal, and has started more than 350 horses over her 25 plus year career. Laura built EACPA to close the education gap she saw across the industry, pairing core academics with hands-on horsemanship and industry credentialing.Equis Amare College Preparatory Academy"Every horse, every student has a story... The question is: what part of that story do you want to be?”If you want to learn more about EACPA, check it out here.In This Episode, Sinead and Laura Discuss:Why Laura built a bridge between the "real world" of school and the "real world" of the barn instead of asking students to choose oneHow EACPA's no phone policy protects the soul to soul connection between horse and riderTurning the horse industry's biggest staffing problem, professionals doing 17 jobs with no time to train the next generation, into a pipeline of educated working studentsWhy the "bombproof horse" doesn't exist, and how a fundamental level of education protects parents and clients from costly mistakesEpisode SponsorsConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

This Week on In Stride Sinead Halpin-Maynard talks with Rupert Isaacson about how horses helped his nonverbal autistic son find his voice, and how that discovery turned into a therapeutic horsemanship method now used around the world.Meet the Guest: Rupert Isaacson Rupert Isaacson is a horseman, author, and founder of New Trails Learning Systems, home to three therapy programs used with autistic kids, veterans, and trauma survivors, work that began after he discovered that riding a horse helped his nonverbal autistic son, Rowan, find his voice. He's also a classical dressage rider trained in the centuries-old "Old Masters" tradition. Rupert wrote the bestselling book and film The Horse Boy about the family's journey across Mongolia to help Rowan, and before that founded the Indigenous Land Rights Fund, which helped the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana and South Africa win a landmark case for their ancestral land.In This Episode, Sinead and Rupert Discuss:How he first noticed that a horse's gait directly changed how much his son communicated, and discovering the science behind itThe three therapy programs he built and how each one meets autistic kids, veterans, and trauma survivors where they areWhy classical dressage, not just a calm horse, is what makes a horse capable of this kind of therapeutic workHis ride across Mongolia in search of a shaman, the journey that became the book The Horse Boy, and the land rights advocacy work that came before itWhy he believes healing takes both hard science and a little bit of magicEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance.Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide Created by equine veterinarian Dr. Erica Lacher, the Equine Emergency Vet Care Guide app helps horse owners recognize the signs of a true emergency, know when to call the vet, and understand what to do while help is on the way.Download from the App Store or Google Play at EquineEmergencyApp.comIn Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com