Maggie Hill: From Wyoming Cowgirl To Wellington Champion
Like many girls, Maggie Hill has been crazy about horses from an early age. But unlike many kids competing on the A-show circuit, the talented 15-year old didn’t come from an equestrian family or start showing in Lead Line or Short Stirrup at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Hill’s career in the saddle didn’t start in Wellington, where she now lives with her parents and sister Ellie, along with rescue dogs Piper and Riley, and two cats named Hersey and Riley. It started thousands of miles away, in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in a western saddle with a paint Quarter Horse.
Today Hill competes against the best junior riders in the country and has ridden to numerous victories, including the Large Junior Hunters (15 and under) Championship at the prestigious Devon Horse Show.
“I started riding in Wyoming when I was 5 years old at a western barn,” recalled Hill, who attends the Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches.
Jackson Hole might be an outdoorsy person’s paradise, but it is lacking when it comes to show jumping. “When I was old enough, I joined 4-H and competed at the county fair,” Hill said. “I competed in in-hand classes, western pleasure, reining competitions, even barrels and poles. I loved riding and wanted to progress, but my mom made me wear a helmet. Everyone else wore cowboy hats, and it was embarrassing! My mom encouraged me to try English, where everyone has to wear a helmet.”
So, at the age of 8, she changed disciplines, joined the Pony Club, and competed in both eventing and dressage. Her parents, Tom Hill, the founder and CEO of Summit Materials, and her mother Jane, have always been supportive of her equestrian aspirations.
“In Wyoming, the horse world is very different from what you will find here in Wellington and on the circuit,” Hill said. “There is no such thing as ‘full service’ in Wyoming. You did all the work yourself, grooming, caring for the horses, feeding them, and tacking up, which wasn’t easy because a western saddle is really heavy! There was no coddling either. If you fell off, the trainer would check to make sure you weren’t hurt and then tell us to ‘cowgirl up’ and not cry.”
Winters could be brutal, and by November, the farm would be under eight feet of snow. The family decided to board the horses south of Jackson Hole and trailer to a public arena a couple times a week to ride.
“You would have to use a hammer to break ice off of the handles to open the trailer door,” Hill remembered. “We’d share the ring with cowboys and rodeo folks. There were no jumps, but there were team penning cows waiting for the next arena session, and my horse hated them.”
She spent a few years participating in Pony Club activities and learned about being a good horseman. “It was a blast, but it was also hard work. We would go to rallies, and we’d be on our own for the tests. No one was allowed to help us, or even talk to us, over the two days when we were being judged,” Hill said. “It wasn’t just a test of our riding; it was all about horse care and horse management. The Pony Club, of which I am still a member, has a manual which is on my book shelf here in Wellington, and I refer to it whenever I have questions.”
When Hill was in fourth grade, the family purchased Randi, a Shire/Thoroughbred cross mare.
“It took at least six months to really grow into being able to ride her,” she said. “I did a bit of eventing with her, but transitioned to dressage because of her abilities. She had been competing at the Preliminary level and was a powerful and big mare.”
Hill was taking dressage lessons, but missed jumping, so her trainer Margie Boyd recommended her sister-in-law, famed hunter rider Liza Towell Boyd, and father-in-law, award-winning trainer Jack Towell of Finally Farm in South Carolina.
In 2015, Hill leased a horse named Nevada and started riding with Finally Farm. “I had to start all over really, and it was challenging and sometimes frustrating to have to relearn things,” she admitted. “There was so much I didn’t know. But I was really determined to make up for lost time and be competitive in the sport.”
Her first trip to Wellington was an eye-opener. “My grandparents used to live here, and they’d always mentioned going to the horse show, but it never happened. The first time I came to ride at WEF, it was surreal,” she said. “I was showing just in the back ring, and I was in awe of it all!”
The family rented a house at first, and Hill took online classes and worked with private tutors to keep up with her education. “I started in pre-children’s showing at Pony Island, where we were champion four weeks in a row, but I cried every day because I wanted to be doing the bigger classes,” she said.
Hill quickly worked her way up to the Children’s Hunter divisions, once again taking home the championship.
In 2017, Hill made the jump up to the 3’3” division, competing in the Junior Hunters, 15 and under. By the end of the circuit, she had enough points to qualify for the year-end indoor championships, winning top honors at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show and securing the year-end championship in the Southeast WCHR for 3’3” Juniors.
Wellington seemed to offer something for everyone in the family, so they decided to relocate and first purchased at the Equestrian Club Estates, adjacent to the showgrounds.
This past season, Hill moved up to the 3’6” division competing and winning in the Small Junior Hunters (15 and under) aboard O’Ryan and Large Junior Hunters (15 and under) with Cassanto, even qualifying to compete the 12-year-old Warmblood gelding under the lights in the WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular.
Since the family is now in Wellington for the school year, they are moving to Palm Beach Polo, which offers golf and tennis amenities as well. “I don’t like the cold and love the weather here,” Hill said. “Everything is so easy and beautiful — it is horse heaven. Everywhere you go, it’s all about horses, polo, dressage and show jumping. I actually have tried polo, and it’s harder than I thought.”
Her sister, who attends Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, skates at the Skate Zone, while Hill is able to balance her school work while training consistently.
Most riders dream of ending up in the Dixon Oval at the Devon Horse Show, but it usually doesn’t happen the first time they compete. But that’s exactly what Hill did, winning the Large Junior Hunter (15 and under) Championship with Cassanto and earning the prestigious Martin F. Bucko Family Perpetual Trophy.
“As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a professional rider, even back when I was riding western,” Hill said. “Things have changed now, but my goal is the same. There is never a day that I don’t look forward to going to the barn.”
