Tara Metzner, 40, is one of Canada’s most successful professionals in the competitive world of show hunters in the United States. With her wins against the sport’s top names at prestigious shows including Devon, the Hampton Classic, and the Capital Challenge, it is surprising to learn that as a junior rider growing up in Vancouver, BC, she was unsure that a role as a professional rider and trainer was possible.
In the early years of her career, Tara displayed humility and dedication in her role as a working student with Laura and Brent Balisky out of Thunderbird Show Stables in Langley, BC. “We didn’t have a ton of money growing up and I certainly didn’t have all the horses,” she recalls. “I was allowed to do five shows a year and one in the US. I wasn’t a super natural talent and really had to work hard to understand things like ‘track’ and ‘rhythm,’ but I wanted to win, so I worked hard! I would ride anything I was allowed to get on, and I would watch all the lessons and read every book I could get my hands on.
“What I learned from Brent and Laura was how to be a hard worker. Laura is an expert at barn management and Brent is still one of my favourite and most passionate teachers. My time at Thunderbird was invaluable.”
It wasn’t until the CET Regionals leading up to her wins in both the CEF and CET Medal Finals at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair that she began to believe in her ability to make it as a professional. “CET Regionals was really a turning point for me,” she explains. “When we had to ride all four horses in the swap and I was really good at it, all of a sudden it made me think, ‘hey, maybe I can do this!’”
After her success in the equitation finals, Tara accepted a job with Alan Brand in Calgary, where she spent most of her time in the jumper ring, but relished any opportunity to try her hand in the hunters. “I loved the challenge of trying to make everything look beautiful and effortless,” she says. “I think it’s part of the reason I moved to California – I wanted to see the bigger shows and watch the fancy hunters. Once I saw Indio for the first time and watched the open hunters on the grass, I knew that was where I wanted to be. I worked for a bunch of people in California – Joie Gatlin, DiAnn Langer, and Dick Carvin – and each job gave me amazing opportunities and taught me so much.”
It was at the Capital Challenge in Upper Marlboro, MD, in 2011 that Tara claims she earned her biggest break. Riding Destry Spielberg’s Rumba, the winner of the inaugural USHJA Hunter Derby Finals in 2010, she won the WCHR (World Championship Hunter Rider) Emerging Pro Challenge. The win allowed her to travel to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, and compete in the WCHR Spectacular the following year. The horse she rode in that class was owned by John and Tammy Williams of Davlyn Farms; Tara is now the trainer at Davlyn’s base in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, where she trains Tammy in the adult amateur hunters and competes aboard their string of eight horses.
It was aboard Davlyn Farm’s Come Monday that she won the WCHR Professional Finals at the Capital Challenge in 2014 and earned her spot in the USHJA WCHR Finals among legendary hunter riders Scott Stewart, John French, Hunt Tosh, Sandy Ferrell, and Kelly Farmer. “That class is by far my biggest accomplishment to date, because being able to break into that group of riders is so hard,” she says. “What those riders have accomplished, I still dream about; I look up to all of them so much and take every opportunity to learn from them.”
A familiar face at WEF every winter, Tara has clinched many championships on various horses. With many high-profile wins under her belt, she fondly recalls one particular success at Devon on the Davlyn Farms-owned Simply Red. “Devon is one of the oldest and most prestigious shows in the country, so that in itself was huge, but mostly because ‘Red’ had been a real project,” she explains. “He was super-talented, but one of the biggest chickens I had ever ridden. He was so spooky and would barely jump a pole on the ground at home. Over the years there was a lot of hand-holding and giving him confidence. He really reminded me of the cowardly lion, so it wasn’t just that I won the class, but that I had really trained this horse and let him shine on the biggest stage!”
Tara excels in the show ring, but believes in putting the horses first. “I really believe in good sportsmanship and being a good horsewoman. These horses do so much for us and we really need to look out for their well-being, first and foremost. I will sacrifice going to a show if I know that facility doesn’t have the best footing, or the stabling is not up to our standards. I believe in good vet care and an even better farrier. You need to have a good team around you in order to perform properly.
“We have some exciting horses and I want to continue doing it all with a smile on my face – just enjoying the ride!”
