Q&A With Hampton Classic Equestrian Manager Stephanie Lightner

There will be a new face roaming the Hampton Classic Horse Show grounds and running the show this year.

Longtime horse show manager Stephanie Lightner takes the reins this year as the new equestrian manager at the Classic, in charge of overseeing competition and all the other often invisible aspects of the world-class event that make it run smoothly and make it a highly sought-after show for some of the country and even the world’s top equestrian competitors.

Lightner comes to the Classic after a 30-year career on the West Coast, managing horse shows for Blenheim Equisports in Southern California, in Del Mar and San Juan Capistrano.

She was also part of the team that ran the World Cup in Las Vegas in 2000, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2015, giving her valuable experience with international-level competition.

Lightner also has her FEI steward’s license, which has enabled her to work as a rules official for international equestrian sport. That job has taken her to some of the top events around the world, including the Rio Olympics.

Lightner took time earlier this week to speak to The Express about what brought her to the East Coast, what she’s looking forward to experiencing at the Classic, and what she’s learned after three decades of working in the horse show business.

Question: Tell me what brought you to this new job as equestrian manager at the Hampton Classic.

Stephanie Lightner: I’ve been in the horse show business for 30 years. I primarily spent my career on the West Coast in California, and recently parted ways with the company I worked for my entire career. I decided it was time for a bit of a change, so I moved to Wellington, Florida, and when I made that move, there were several shows that contacted me to see if I would be interested in taking on some of their projects. The Hampton Classic is a horse show I’ve never been to, but had always heard about my entire life, and I’m good friends with several of the folks that are integral to the horse show, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to do something new and different and fun.

I’m also the manager for the National Horse Show in Kentucky and the Upperville Horse Show in Virginia, which are the two oldest horse shows in the country, so that’s fun to be part of such iconic institutions.

Q: I know the Hampton Classic hasn’t been around as long as those shows, and maybe we’re biased out here, but I think many people would consider the Classic to be an iconic institution as well.

SL: Absolutely. It’s right up there with the best of them all, it certainly is.

Q: Describe what the job of equestrian manager entails, and maybe put it in layman’s terms for those who might not be familiar with the way the horse show business works.

SL: Leading up to the horse show, you work with the group of people that work with the horse show all the time in making decisions about scheduling, about staffing; just sort of trying to make educated guesses as to where you think, timewise, you might be able to do some things differently than they’ve been done before, and improve on some things. As we get into the horse show week, my job is going to be to kind of keep watch over all the moving parts. There are so many people who have been involved with this horse show for so many years, and they know exactly what they’re doing and know their job, but you do need to have somebody watching over the whole picture.

As a horse show manager, your primary responsibility is to the equines themselves, and their safety, first and foremost. So that means keeping good communication when it comes to stabling, the footing, talking to the trainers themselves, and keeping track of any issues that come up with regard to safety. Secondary is the safety of the humans that are competing and working. I say it in that order because the horses don’t have a choice whether they come here or not, so to me they’re number one and people are number two.

And also ensuring that the rules of fair play and fair sport are followed. When it comes down to it, this is a sport, and there’s prize money involved, and it’s important that people are on a level playing field.

There’s always the variables of weather that can cause issues during a horse show week, and decisions need to be made about is it safe or not to compete. Somebody has to make those decisions. With having been a horse show manager for so many years, you experience so many different things, whether you can predict it or not. I always say what makes me good at my job is not how I deal with Plan A, but how I deal with Plan B or Plan C.

Q: Tell me about your origin story with horses and working in the horse show industry. Those of us who discover a love for horses sometimes realize it can be more like a sickness you can’t get rid of. When did that start for you?

SL: I think I was born with the “disease” for sure. (Laughs). As long as I can remember, I have always loved horses; I was that kid. I grew up in the Chicago area, and we have relatives in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and we would make drives up to see my relatives. We’d be driving past fields and see fences, and I would always be straining my neck out the window to see if there were horses. More often it was cows.

I have always been infatuated with horses. When I was 10, my parents bought me 10 riding lessons for Christmas, and that was the best gift to this date that I ever received. It started me on this path. I took those lessons, and I’m not sure how many more lessons my parents paid for throughout my riding because I always just worked at the barn.

Q: In addition to having so many years of experience as a horse show manager, you also have your FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale, the governing body of international equestrian competition) steward’s license. Tell me what that job entails?

SL: It’s not all that glamorous. It’s a lot of long hours. The stewards are the people on the ground that are truly there for horse welfare. You take shifts and monitor the barn area, you watch the schooling areas, you do boot checks after classes. It’s not glamorous, but it’s interesting because you’re on the backside of the horse show watching everything. I found it very beneficial to my career as a horse show manager, to take some of the good and see some of the not so good, and implement different things where they need to be implemented.

Q: What are some of the aspects of the job that you love, and what are some of the aspects of the job you find challenging?

SL: One of the aspects I love is the opportunity to be around horses so often. I don’t always have time to ride, but I love meeting people and working with people I already know. Some of them you only see once a year. Coming here to the Hampton Classic, it’s run by a really great team of people, and I’m really looking forward to spending two weeks with these guys.

I’m really an organizer by nature. When I was in kindergarten and first grade, my report cards always said “bossy.” So I kind of come to it naturally. But I love planning and implementing the plans, and watching how they unfold. You never stop learning; this job offers you that every single horse show. When I was working horse shows in California, every year I’d think, maybe this year will be similar to the one before, but nope, it never is; it’s always something different.

On the negative side, and I think this is pretty common across all avenues of the world today, I find the nature of society in the 24/7, social media, instant gratification culture to be very difficult. I keep trying to figure out how we can protect our people from that. Our exhibitors want to contact people working at the show 24 hours a day. They’ll realize they made a mistake at 9 p.m. at night, and think nothing of picking up the phone or messaging. The horse show hours are very long, and we all know that going into it, but when you can never get away, even at night, it becomes too much, and I think there’s a bit of a rate of burnout in our industry from people who work the shows. I think there can be a balance, but that’s proven difficult to find.

Q: Learning how to expect the unexpected and be ready to make a big pivot on the fly is a big part of running a horse show, especially when you’re dealing with outdoor competition. In years past at the Classic, they’ve dealt with hurricanes, and two years ago one day into the show they had to remove the grass from the Grand Prix and put down new footing in 24 hours. Tell me what it’s like to be the one in charge of making those big decisions?

SL: There’s hardly a show that goes by where something doesn’t happen. Even just this year, I was doing the Upperville Horse Show and we had air quality issues from the Canadian wildfires. It came to a point where it became clear that our air quality was diminished and I had to make the call to stop the show. I’m sitting at my desk and looking at the numbers, talking to vets and realizing I’m the one who has to do it.

What I have learned over the years is that exhibitors don’t necessarily mind when we have to make a call, they just want an answer quickly of how we will re-do the schedule. They don’t want to hear, let’s wait another hour, let’s wait another hour, let’s wait another hour. They want to hear something like, let’s cancel, go home, and we’ll post the new schedule by 3 p.m.

Q: Every show is unique, and the Hampton Classic has plenty of its own elements that make it stand out. What are you most looking forward to during the competition week when it comes to this show?

SL: There are a few things that stand out. This isn’t necessarily in my wheelhouse, but this show is always synonymous with the VIP tent. I can’t wait to see it, and take in everything that it is, the amazing table settings, all of it. Also the leadline class. Having done Upperville for the first time, their leadline class is quite spectacular and big, and I’m told the Hampton Classic leadline is even bigger. That was a sight to behold at Upperville and I can’t wait to see it here.

I’m also looking forward to getting my feet wet on Locals Day. That’s something that’s relatively unique to the Hampton Classic, to have such strong local participation on one day. That’s a refreshing aspect to the horse show world.

Q: Yes, Locals Day is great because it is the highlight of the year for many riders in the area, especially those who don’t typically have the time or money to invest in showing at other ‘A’ rated shows around the country. They get to perform on their home stage, so to speak, at a big, world-class venue, in front of family and friends.

SL: Absolutely. That day is as important as Grand Prix Sunday. Every single person is here for a reason, and they’re all important, from leadline to the Grand Prix.