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In January, the United States Equestrian Team Foundation awarded Zayna Rizvi with the 2024 Lionel Guerrand-Hermès Trophy – one of the organization’s three most prestigious awards. “It was an incredible honour,” the 18-year-old tells WoSJ. “I was acknowledged for horsemanship and sportsmanship, which means so much to me. It's really nice to see that all the hard work my team, my horses and I have put in is paying off. The award motivates me to keep working even harder and to keep striving to be the best that I can be.” 

Based in Wellington, Florida, Zayna has been training at North Run with John Brennan and Missy Clark since she was ten. Currently, she has a string of four horses: Exquise du Pachis (Vagabond de La Pomme x Sauterelle de La Pomme), Exit of Ice Z (Gelha’s VDL Emilion x Ramirha), Kung Fu (Arezzo VDL x Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve) and Excellent (Cicero x Ahorn). “Getting to create these special relationships with these amazing animals is definitely my favourite part of the sport,” Zayna says. “I love every horse that I've gotten a chance to work with, whether they were mine or not. I just think that it's super special in our sport that we get to work with living animals. We get to make connections, and bond with them. My horses are my best friends for sure, no doubt about it.” 

“I started training with Missy and John when I was 10 and they've brought me from the low children's jumpers to jumping five-star,” Zayna tells. “I'm very grateful to be with them. North Run is an equitation and jumper barn, and I did equitation for a long time. I think that has really helped my riding. It can be hard at times because it's a judged class, it's based on someone’s opinion essentially, but what I learned from equitation – doing all the technical bending lines – I think that's really helped me when I now go into the jumper ring. I feel like I'm prepared and know how to ride the tricky lines based on what I did in equitation.”

“Missy and John, and everyone at North Run, are amazing,” Zayna, who is currently finishing high school, continues. “They are incredibly knowledgeable, but they're also very kind people. They just want to support us and encourage us to do better. They can obviously be strict at times, which is good. They really know what they're doing and I'm very lucky to be part of the team.” 

“A big lesson I've learned is how to deal with making a mistake, instead of being upset about it or dwelling on it,” Zayna tells. “First of all, a big thing we always do with Missy and John is going back and watching my videos. If I make a mistake, we'll replay it and we'll watch it over and over – not to dwell on it, but to learn from it. I'm a perfectionist and if I made a mistake when I was younger, I used to get really upset with myself. Now, I have learned that instead of being upset, I should go back and think about it so that next time when I'm in the ring and a similar situation comes up, I know how to ride it better so that the same mistake doesn't happen again. I think I've learned a lot by reflecting on my rounds and trying to do better each time.”

“I think that this sport can be mentally straining,” Zayna points out. “When I was doing equitation, I used to beat myself up. Having someone tell you if you were good enough to win or not, especially if you felt that you had performed the best you could and it still wasn’t good enough, could be hard. Although equitation did teach me a lot, I think it was stressful for me – like it is for a ton of other young riders, I believe. I think the mental doubt and insecurity that sometimes comes with riding is the hardest part of our sport. However, once you learn how to help yourself deal with it, you can overcome anything. I do sports psychology sometimes. Now that I'm focusing just on jumpers, I haven't had as hard of a time. When I do get down or feel like I’m starting to doubt myself, I honestly just get back to the barn and work on whatever I'm feeling insecure about. I know that if I keep working on things and improving, then I won't have to feel insecure.” 

Having been selected for the American team for the upcoming CSIO4* Nations Cup in Wellington, Zayna will be riding alongside Karl Cook, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward. “Furthermore, jumping the five-star here in Wellington has also been a goal of mine for a long time,” Zayna tells as she reflects on the season ahead. “I want to try to be consistent in the classes and hopefully perform well.” 

“Long term, I've always wanted to compete at the Olympics and on the highest level,” she continues. “I never really thought it was possible until now. It's been really cool just to realise that if I keep working hard, trying and putting my riding first, just continuing to do what I love – because I do love it – then my goals can actually turn into a reality. I hope that one day I can represent the US at the top level. I think many kids think about the Olympics in whatever sport they're doing and I always thought I would want to do it, but not until recently did I realise that it could actually be possible. Once you start doing the big FEI classes and you're jumping against the top riders in the world, you really start to think that ‘well, maybe one day I could be like them’.”

“I have an incredible horse who can jump these bigger classes and I've gotten a little bit of experience in them,” Zayna says. “Now, I feel that I actually have a chance to one day hopefully be at that top level with all the best athletes. I would definitely love to be a part of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles; it's a huge goal. I don't want to say anything too outrageous, but I think that in four years it could be possible – assuming I have a horse and I feel ready personally. If I keep working hard and keep my focus, that's definitely something I'm looking forward to as a major long-term goal.” 

“Obviously we have very big shoes to fill,” Zayna says. “All of the US riders that are at the top right now are incredible, so it's a lot of pressure to step up. I'm not there yet, so I have some time to try and work up to be even a slither of how amazing they are. I think it's exciting to be able to move up and hopefully be on those teams one day, but I know that I still have plenty of years ahead of me so I'm trying not to rush anything. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing with Missy and John and I feel confident that we'll get there one day."

“The USEF Pathway Program has been amazing for me personally,” Zayna says about the US Equestrian Federation’s systematic support for their next generation of riders. “I did do the equitation classes that were part of it and then, eventually, I was able to be on a three-star Nations Cup team – it's really all connected. Once you start doing some of these pathway program competitions, you start to make connections as well; you meet people and you can build on those connections and find mentors. As an example, Anne Kursinski was the Chef d’Equipe for my first three-star Nations Cup and I've known her since I was very young. It was really awesome to have a familiar face there. I think that the pathway programs are amazing for helping young riders learn how to ride on a team, and how to handle pressure. They teach you all the really important skills that you need to reach the top level of the sport.” 

After successfully representing USA in the junior and young rider divisions, Zayna did her senior Nations Cup debut last year during three-star competitions in Spain and Portugal. Prior to the Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain, Zayna impressed when she won the CSIO3* 1.55m Grand Prix with Exquise du Pachis – before she went on to deliver strong performances for the team.

“I got to stay over in Europe for five weeks,” she tells. “We started in Vejer de la Frontera for two weeks. It was a beautiful show and that's when I first got to meet my teammates and they were wonderful, such nice people who made me feel very welcome. It's always kind of nerve wracking to be the youngest person, but they welcomed me like a friend. I'm very grateful that I was able to get friends out of the experience. In terms of the actual competition, it was amazing. We finished third, which was awesome. My horse jumped great, we jumped a clear and four. It was a cool thing to be a part of, working with a team and having everyone root for you and support you. Even if you don't do your best, they're still there for you and they want to motivate you to do better. And then in Portugal, we finished third again. We were on the podium twice and it was a lot of fun, we had a really good time and I learned so much from Anne Kursinski – our Chef d’Equipe – as well as from everyone else there. I'll never forget that experience.” 

“When competing with the team, at least for me, I put a lot of pressure on myself just because I really don't want to let my team down,” Zayna continues. “I definitely put pressure on myself when I'm just competing normally on my own as well, but when it's a team, I think it's a different kind of pressure. If you have a rail, you're letting a whole village of people down and nobody wants to do that. I think it can be very stressful, but it's also very rewarding if you are able to have a good round. It's an amazing feeling to know that you've helped your team out. I just love getting to work with a team of people because obviously riding is normally a very independent sport. It's cool to make friendships out of it and teammates that you'll have forever.” 

“You need to be motivated and driven if it's what you really want to do,” Zayna answers when asked what she believes is needed to step from the young rider divisions to seniors and start competing against the best of the best. “You have to go out there and work really hard at it. Another big thing, of course, are the horses, which are not easy to come by. However, if you're able to get the right horses, then it's up to you to put in the work and really focus on working on yourself. Do everything that's possible to improve; keep going in the ring and practicing at home. I believe in putting in the work and trying to progress at all times.” 

27.2.2024 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.