Sidelines March 2026

This Issue! Nick Pongracz—His Own Road to Jumping Dreams; Juli Sebring—Motherhood & Maryland 5 Star Eventing; Janet Richardson-Pearson—Inspiring the Dressage Industry; And Much More!

NICK

PONGRACZ

His Own Road

to Jumping Dreams

JULI SEBRING

Motherhood &

Maryland 5 Star Eventing

JANET

RICHARDSON-PEARSON

Inspiring the Dressage Industry

March 2026 | SIDELINESMAGAZINE

DRESSAGE COLUMN

GEORGE WILLIAMS

Beyond Suppleness, There Is Looseness

DRESSAGE

JANET RICHARDSON-PEARSON

Inspiring the Industry

With Passion, Grace and Love

ADVERTORIAL

NEXT GEN PROFESSIONALS

Private Equity Meets Show Jumping

SHOW JUMPING

SARAH GORDON

Lucky To Be Riding and Walking

HUNTER-JUMPER

PARKER PEACOCK

Trusting the Process

EVENTING COLUMN

EMILY HAMEL

Not Every Great Teacher Is Your Teacher

EVENTING

JULI SEBRING

Motherhood & Maryland 5 Star Dreams

On the cover:

On the cover: Nick Pongracz with Valor, owned

by Clara Burnham, in Wellington, Florida.

March 2026

About this photo:

Nick, with Valor, is a trainer at Hickory Ridge LLC

with his idol-turned-business-partner, Jacob Pope.

Photos by Isabel Kurek

Volume 38 Issue 3 SIDELINES (ISSN 1071-3859) is owned by TRAUB CAPITAL PARTNERS and is published twelve times a year.

March 2026 | SIDELINESMAGAZINE

Parker Peacock

Photo by Melissa Fuller

Sarah Gordon

Photo by Shawna Whitty

IN EVERY ISSUE

14 Letter From the Editor | 75 Sidelines Business

77 Sidelines Directory | 78 Advertisers Index | 80 Sidelines Spotlight

SIDELINES is owned by

TRAUB CAPITAL PARTNERS

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Jan Westmark Bauer | editor@sidelinesmagazine.com

828-575-3965

EDITOR

Britney Grover | britney@sidelinesmagazine.com

SPECIAL ADVISOR

Ashley Baker

WRITERS

Sarah Welk Baynum, Shya Beth, Diana Bezdedeanu,

Laila Edwards, Kimberly Gatto, Jessica Grutkowski,

Annelise Klepper, Laura Scaletti, Helen Townes

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Kacy Brown, Jeni Brunner, Sophia Donohue, Sara Farrell,

Melissa Fuller, Pam Jensen, Isabel J. Kurek, Lindsey Long,

Adrienne Morella, Kelly Mudd, Lori Ovanessian, Kristie

Scholten, Laura Ann Wagner, Shawna Whitty

COLUMNISTS

Emily Hamel, Margie Sugarman, George Williams

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SIDELINES (ISSN 1071-3859) is published monthly by Sidelines.

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SIDELINES SUCCESS

TERRY KONKLE & JIM WELSH

A Tale of Two Shippers

COLLEGIATE

SAMANTHA TAKACS

Education First, On and Off the Horse

COVER STORY

NICK PONGRACZ

Making His Own Road to Jumping Dreams

HUNTER-JUMPER

LUCY DONOHUE

A Full-Circle Journey

March 2026 | SIDELINESMAGAZINE

Combining Great

Memories With

Great Success

Letterfrom the editor

Nick Pongracz

Photo by Isabel Kurek

Juli Sebring

Photo by Pam Jensen

Janet Richardson-Pearson

Photo by Melissa Fuller

he March issue makes me smile, and I think you’ll enjoy it as well. I’m excited to have

Canadian hunter-jumper rider Nick Pongracz on our cover and I love the gorgeous cover

photo of Nick taken by photographer Isabel Kurek.

Nick has a wonderful story from starting his career in Pony Club to becoming a successful

trainer and Grand Prix rider. In his story, Nick shared about discovering the series “Horse Power:

Road to the Maclay” many years ago, and it brought back a flood of great memories for me. When

“Horse Power” aired on Animal Planet in 2006, my daughter and the other girls at our barn

gathered each week to watch the show and the cast of riders. It was fun to see the horse show

world represented on television.

When Nick watched the show, he knew competing on the big stage was what he wanted to do,

and he did it! I also love that Nick used Facebook Messenger to connect with his idol, Jacob Pope,

and the message worked. It’s been nearly a decade since Nick became a working student for Jacob,

and today they are business partners at Hickory Ridge LLC. It’s exciting to see that Nick has

found great success in the equestrian world.

Speaking of success, I’m excited for you to meet eventer Juli Sebring, whom I met over a decade

ago when we did a story in Sidelines on Juli and her horse Fling. Juli is still an eventer, and now also

a wife and mother. You’ll get to meet her adorable children through the photos in her story, as well

as a photo of Juli in a dress that symbolizes her life now.

Juli has had an amazing eventing life, from riding with Olympic eventer Boyd Martin when he

first came to America to growing her own lesson business to now focusing on importing horses.

Glad to have Juli back in Sidelines!

If you haven’t met dressage rider Janet Richardson-Pearson, you are in for a treat. Janet, who is

in her 80s, didn’t sit on her first horse until she was 35, and she has been an important part of the

equestrian world ever since. In 2012, Janet and her husband, William Pearson, were key founding

sponsors of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida.

Janet’s success in the horse world goes far beyond the dressage ring, from her passion to helping

others through education, mentorship and example. Janet also shared the realistic side of the sport.

“I have stories of things that didn’t work out, like any business,” Janet said. “But those experiences

help to create good moments.”

I hope you are enjoying success in the equestrian world, which comes in all shapes and sizes,

from trail rides to riding lessons or rescuing horses to owning your own equestrian business. More

importantly, I hope your journey is filled with great memories that will last a lifetime.

JAN WESTMARK BAUER,

Executive Editor

Stay in touch by emailing editor@sidelinesmagazine.com

and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @sidelines_magazine

March 2026 | SIDELINESMAGAZINE

George Williams has dedicated his life to dressage as a rider, coach, clinician and volunteer. He studied with Egon von Neindorff in Germany and then followed his mentor,

Karl Mikolka, to ride and train with the Tempel Lipizzans for 20 years before pursuing his own competitive goal to ride on a U.S. team. George succeeded with Rocher,

earning accolades including 2005 USDF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle Horse of the Year. He’s trained many young riders to prestigious finals and served on the

US Equestrian Dressage Committee, the US Equestrian Board of Directors and the United States Dressage Federation, of which he served as president for a total of

12 years. Now, George is the US Equestrian Dressage Youth Coach and on the FEI Dressage Committee in addition to teaching clinics.

Do you have a question you want George to answer? Send questions to editor@sidelinesmagazine.com.

George Williams Photo by Melissa Fuller

DRESSAGE

Beyond Suppleness, There Is Looseness

By George Williams

ave you ever wondered how it’s

possible for a horse to piaffe

energetically straight on the

centerline at X with well-engaged haunches and

be confident, relaxed, rhythmical, in self-carriage

with a nice contact? As with many things in

dressage, it has to do with the attention to detail

and the careful development of the horse along

the established principles of training.

New for 2026, the FEI has changed the

General Impression mark at the bottom of the

dressage tests to “Harmony.” Included in the mark

is “harmony, cooperation, lightness, effectiveness

and sensitivity of the aids as well as adherence to

the training scale.” With that in mind, I thought

it might be a good time to zero in on an aspect of

the training scale that I find to be crucial when

we’re seeking some of the qualities we want to

create by following the training scale: “freedom

and regularity of the paces, harmony, lightness

and ease of movements, lightness of the forehand

and engagement of the hindquarters, originating

from a lively impulsion with an acceptance of the

bridle, with thoroughness without any tension

or resistance.” There is this little thing referred

to as looseness.

Like with contact and connection, the

dressage terms suppleness and looseness are, in

my opinion, not interchangeable. To my mind,

looseness is its own quality, similar to suppleness

but slightly (and importantly) different—a quality

that, when done well, is a result of suppleness.

When thinking of straightness and where it falls

in the training scale, there is the realization that

there are many different degrees of straightness,

especially as it is continually developed through

years of training to the level necessary to allow

for the highest degree of collection. For example,

we need basic straightness to ride straight lines.

Later, we need our horses to be equally supple on

both sides (one of the qualities of straightness) to

ride good figure eights, or changes of direction—

say, from one volte to another. Ultimately, we

need a level of straightness that allows for

alignment within the frame of the horse’s body in

order to perform a good piaffe.

In our American version of the training scale,

i.e., the Pyramid of Training, we frequently use the

word relaxation or suppleness as the second tier

However, those are slightly different from the

type of looseness we’re looking for. True, both

loosening/suppling exercises and looseness

create a freer way of going.

Looseness requires a precise and subtle

interaction between inside aids and outside

aids, creating a “letting go” effect of the top line,

especially in the withers area. When done well,

it creates freedom in the shoulder and greater

expression in the movements; or, as is looked for

under the general impressions of our national

tests, ease of movement. It allows the horse to

develop an independent balance, a rhythmical

swing through the back and a cadenced,

confident, effortless way of moving.

In practical terms, looseness can frequently

be created by simply slightly hinting toward a

suppling exercise, creating greater alignment

within the horse’s body.

Looseness does, however, require active,

engaged hind legs. Well-timed half halts

encourage the horse to use the ground to step

down and push off with more thrust. In general,

half halts are frequently misunderstood and

incorrectly applied, resulting in holding the horse

back. This is a fundamental mistake and will only

create the opposite effect from what we desire: a

forward-thinking, well-balanced and supple horse.

Bottom line: to achieve harmony throughout

a test, all the elements of the training scale in

their highest, most developed form should be

present. This includes the most advanced of

the Grand Prix movements such as the piaffe,

passage, pirouettes and flying changes every

stride. Hence, harmony is displayed when there

is an understanding between horse and rider:

The horse willingly shows acceptance and

cooperation, while the rider shows empathy and

is in unity with their horse, consistently creating

a frictionless interaction between the horse and

rider. And that, my friends, is the Holy Grail.

of the pyramid. Relaxation is certainly part of that

second tier, as is suppleness, but perhaps not the

most complete description of what we ultimately

want to achieve. When both are fully developed,

together they create looseness. Recently, my

student put it very well when she summed up my

long-winded explanation—and clearly wanted

to get back to riding—“So relaxation is a state of

mind and looseness is a state of body?”

One thing is certain: faking suppleness

through bending, positioning or flexions

produced incorrectly while ignoring relaxation

will not produce looseness, and neither will

focusing only on relaxation without stretching

or suppling exercises.

It can no doubt be confusing, because we

frequently mix up the terms when describing

what we’re asking for: for example, creating

looseness versus riding loosening exercises.

There is a difference between creating looseness

versus riding loosening exercises. To be

clear, there are loosening exercises that are

similar, if not the same, as suppling exercises.

When done well, looseness

creates freedom in the shoulder

and greater expression in the

movements; or, as is looked for

under the general impressions

of our national tests, ease of

movement.

March 2026 | SIDELINESMAGAZINE