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Laura Hightower
&
Jordan Siegel
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Laura
Hightower's fascination with horses began at 3 yrs of age on
her families' farm where her father purchased
and retrained "rogue" horses. Laura would watch for hours,
along with some local cowboys, as her father would calm and
ride
 the
most anxious and fearful horses imaginable. This was
before the time of the highly publicized "Natural
Horsemanship" trend, Laura's father simply called his
methods "Horsemanship".
Laura actually started riding
at the age of 3, sitting on horses her father had trained as
she watched him do his work. When she was 8, her father
decided English riding lessons were important, so she began
taking jumping lessons and has been "hooked', ever since.
After eventing for a few years, Laura showed hunters and
jumpers, for the most part, riding problem horses which
belonged to other people. Like her father, Laura really
enjoyed working with green horses and re-schooling horses
that have behavioral problems. As an amateur, Laura bought,
trained and sold un-broke horses. She also showed these
horses, but she was primarily interested in furthering her
Equine education with a strong emphasis in Dressage.
Training with Kalman de Jurenak, Robert Chissus andVictoria
Maeckle.
While living in England,
Laura rode for Grand Prix rider and business woman Penny
Cornish. Doing all of the flatwork and schooling over
fences, at home. While riding at Penny's Laura was
privileged to ride some fantastic show jumpers,
belonging to Harvey Smith, David Broome and Robert Smith,
including the great show jumper, Pavarotti.
n 1993, Laura was asked
if she would be interested in relinquishing her amateur
status to begin teaching and riding professionally at the
Las Colinas Equestrian Center in Irving, Texas. She
began teaching beginners, quickly growing her lesson
business from 5 lessons per week, to more than 75 lessons
per week, in six months time. Laura believes she learned as
much about horses during the 2 years of her intense teaching
schedule at
Las Colinas, as in all of her previous years with
horses.
n 1996 Laura opened
Summer Hill Farms, primarily breaking and training young
horses, re-schooling problem horses and teaching a few
beginning riders. Her business has evolved into a successful
show barn, with her horses and riders competing in all
levels of showing from Short
Stirrup to Grand Prix, Hunters as well as
Jumpers, winning many year end State,Zone and National
Awards. Summer Hill Farms has also become a successful sale
barn, with Laura having a knack for matching
horse and rider. Laura attributes her clients success
in the show ring to herdetermination to adhere to the
fundamentals of classical horsemanship and attention to
detail.
Laura does most of the
teaching at Summer Hill and still does quite a bit of the
riding and training at home. Laura does some showing of the
green horses, but leaves most of the showing to her daughter
and partner in Summer Hill Farms, Jordan Siegel.
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Jordan Siegel
A Champion Defined
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Article by A. Chantel Muntain
Champion Rider Jordan Siegel Makes History in SCAD
Equestrian
Program
(Savannah
College of Art and Design SCAD)
Photo
courtesy of Al Cook
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Jordan Siegel is no ordinary student
athlete. Since her arrival at the Savannah College of Art and
Design, she has achieved success and national recognition as a
SCAD athlete and she has been one of the most successful riders
in the history of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
Through her many national titles, Siegel has brought a great
deal of publicity to the college — all while pursuing a B.F.A.
degree in media and performing arts.
At the Affiliated National Riding
Commission’s NationalIntercollegiate Riding Championships this
spring, Siegel captured the individual title for the second
consecutive season and for the third time in the past four
years. In 2003,
 she
was the first freshman ever to win a national individual
championship at the ANRC. Since her freshman year, Siegel won
the IHSA Regional Cacchione Cup four times and was the National
Individual Championship winner three times.
In addition, Siegel was chosen four
times to compete for the United States Equestrian Team. She
competed at the 2003 Nations Cup in Mechelen, Belgium, the 2005
Nations Cup in Casorate Sempione, Italy, the 2006 Nations Cup in
La Rochelle, France, and was one of only four riders chosen from
the United States to participate in the 2004 World University
Equestrian Championship in Japan.
Siegel credits her success to her
dedication, hard work and childhood riding experience. As the
daughter of a horse trainer and equestrian coach in Flower
Mound, Texas, Siegel quickly developed a passion for horses.
Beginning at 7 years of age, she rode whenever she had the
opportunity, simply out of love of horses. "If there was a horse
that people said had a problem or was difficult, that’s what I
would ride and try to get something out of that horse," she
said.
In addition to Siegel’s interest in
SCAD’s performing arts program, she chose SCAD because of the
equestrian program and the competition opportunities. "I had
been approached by other schools, but SCAD had a lot more to
offer in the realm of horseback riding," she said.
Despite her previous training, Siegel
noted that the SCAD equestrian program helped her mature as a
rider in the show ring. She enjoyed the new aspect of competing
with a team since she previously had competed only as an
individual. "I think that winning ANRC this past spring was the
most rewarding moment, since I really wanted our team to win,
and I also wanted to win the championship a third time." Both
goals were accomplished, but the competition for Siegel was
bittersweet as it marked the end of her collegiate riding
career.
Though Siegel graduated from SCAD in
June with a B.F.A. in media and performing arts, she will
continue to be an inspiration to the equestrian team. She plans
on competing as an amateur for a few years before pursuing
professional horseback riding. She also plans on acquiring a
judging license so that she will be able to judge competitions.
Because of Siegel’s success on the SCAD
equestrian team and her positive representation of the college
nationally and internationally, SCAD has named a scholarship on
her behalf. The Jordan Siegel Scholarship is a $500 admission
scholarship that will be given to an incoming freshman who will
be a member of the SCAD equestrian team. With the assistance of
this scholarship, motivated students like Jordan Siegel will
have the opportunity to achieve their dreams both academically
and athletically.
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click for
Article - Int'l
Student Riding
Association,
Jordan Siegel
http://www.usastudentriding.com/newsletter.htm
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