NEWS
USEF's 2008 Junior Equestrian of the Year
December 26, 2008
Jessie was recently notified that she was the chosen Junior Equestrian of the Year to be awarded at a USEF banquet in mid January. Jessie is the 5th Saddlebred competitior to win this award. The following is a copy of a news story ran soon after the press release by the USEF.
Moctezuma is a winner on or off a horse
by Nancy Jaffer/For The Star-Ledger
Saturday December 13, 2008, 6:29 PM
Courtesy of Howard Schatzberg
U.S. Equestrian Federation Junior Equestrian of the Year Jessica Moctezuma, of Hardwick, on Top Beat.There have been plenty of show ring honors recently for Jessica Moctezuma, but they pale in comparison to the trophy the Hardwick resident will accept next month for being the U.S. Equestrian Federation's Junior Equestrian of the Year.
"This is the most meaningful thing I've ever accomplished," said the 18-year-old, a graduate of Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, who learned of the honor last week.
Moctezuma specializes in saddle seat riding, yet she also sits tall in a western saddle and has competed successfully in hunt seat classes as well. She was the senior equitation champion at the prestigious Lexington, Ky., Junior League Show, is a three-time Mid-Atlantic Regional Equitation Champ and a member of the five-gaited team at the World Cup in South Africa this year.
While that record more than fulfills one of the qualifications for the award -- calling for candidates to have taken part in USEF shows during the year -- consideration also is given for good sportsmanship and integrity. In Moctezuma's case, her efforts outside the show ring have called attention to her desire to make a better life for horses, especially those that have been abused and neglected.
She works with her mother, trainer Nealia McCracken, who founded Saddlebred Rescue with Pat Johnson. The organization also has been recognized for its accomplishments by USEF. Operating out of McCracken's North Wind Farm, the rescue takes horses that have been discarded and abused, retrains them if necessary and then finds them new, loving homes.
"I feel like I've had a really good life with the saddlebreds," said McCracken, explaining her devotion to the animals.
"When I found out these horses were going to slaughter, I felt like this was something we needed to do, take responsibility."
She has passed that mantra along to her daughter, who began riding as a tot in the same saddle with her mother before graduating to riding on her own after just one lead-line class. Saddlebred Rescue offers work that strikes close to the heart for Moctezuma, who assists her mother in the evaluation and training part of the operation.
"I imagine my horses I love so much, and us losing them and then someone finding them and rehabilitating them. I always picture my horses in that situation," said Moctezuma, explaining why she is so eager to give back and offer the animals another chance.
"I've put more hard work into the rescues than anyone can believe. Not a lot of people realize how much we do for them -- and how much they do for us," said Moctezuma.
"They helped me learn patience, and appreciate the things in front of you. It makes me see you never know when something is going to happen to make your whole life switch around. Some of these might have been show horses or lesson horses, and then they got sore and people took them to the sale," she continued, referring to auctions where too many horses wind up destined for slaughterhouses.
Her "catch-riding" work with Saddlebred Rescue has paid off in another way, as she has learned how to develop a horse herself, rather than spending six figures for a made mount, as many others in saddle-seat equitation do. She can't afford that anyway, but has gotten so much more out of taking a talent and honing it. A case in point is Top Beat, known around the barn as Elvis. He was a five-gaited horse (saddle seat equitation horses usually come from the three-gaited ranks) who she trained as a partner for the most exacting competitions in her discipline.
"I decided to take on the challenge," she said, a characteristic course for this rider.
Moctezuma, who will study childhood development and psychology at Sussex County Community College starting next month, is quick to give credit to her support team that includes her stepfather, Mark McCracken, who met her mother when he bought a horse from her. Now he rides Frank, a draft horse who came from Saddlebred Rescue, which has more equine breed diversity among those it saves than the name would indicate. Moctezuma's father, Mayo Moctezuma, is a trainer in Illinois who helps her when she's out there, and her brother, Jason Molback, pitches in by taking photos.
They're a close-knit group at North Wind, and rather unusual; saddlebred-oriented farms are rare in New Jersey, where hunt seat dominates the stables and the shows.
"Not a lot of people take me seriously when I say I read saddlebreds," Moctezuma said wistfully. When she receives her trophy at the USEF annual meeting in Cincinnati, it may well give her a whole new image in her home state.
