Life & Work with Nicole Dayberry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Dayberry

Hi Nicole, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began riding in 2008 and started my competitive journey shortly after, the following year. As a Colorado native, my introduction to horse showing naturally began in the hunter/jumper and equitation rings, although my focus quickly shifted to three day eventing. Subsequently in 2010 I began learning the ropes of eventing and have been dedicated to it ever since, with a passion for improving my dressage.

In 2012 I rode in my first USEA recognized event on a horse I developed myself, under my trainer’s guidance. This fueled my passion for working with green horses and retrains which I began taking on under the supervision of surrounding professionals. Soon after beginning working with retrains/starts, I began coaching my peers as a hobby.

Since then my love for the sport and for coaching have only grown and in 2018 I began teaching professionally. I have taught in several lesson programs across a range of disciplines including hunter/jumper, eventing, dressage, and even a few western disciplines, but most of my efforts focus on excelling in eventing with dreams to compete at international level one day.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has absolutely not been a smooth road, in fact it’s been about as far from that as it could be. Life and especially life with horses has a way of always finding a wrench to throw in your plans. Over the course of almost two decades I’ve faced my fair share of injuries, lameness setbacks, financial strain, and what for a time felt like the never ending COVID-19 delays.

My most heartbreaking setback to date has to be the unexpected retirement of a young horse that I had bought as a long term project. About a year into ownership she turned up with a minor lameness, which isn’t uncommon for young horses in full turnout that have the autonomy to get into trouble at times. However, after ruling out all of the most common problems we quickly progressed to radiographing said limb to find something very unexpected. She was diagnosed with a rare congenital disorder that impacted the way her navicular bone developed. After looking through all our options, with the guidance of my amazing vets and mentors, it was decided we needed to retire her.

I retired my (at the time) 5 year old mare that I had hopes of eventing for years to come. Between reaching this conclusion, finding a suitable and affordable place to retire her, and beginning looking for another horse of my own, I felt like I was at a standstill for what ended up taking more than two years. I eventually found my current mare, Vesunna, who has been a dream and a privilege to get to know, although that’s been a far cry from smooth sailing as well! Life with horses is never boring.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in jumping, and dressage and welcome horses and riders of all experience levels and backgrounds.
I tend to favor the green horses and have successfully started numerous horses from their first rides under saddle up to the low competitive levels as well as retrained horses coming from other disciplines and brought them along the low levels of eventing and jumping.

My goal is to help all my clients build confidence with their partners, and enjoy their horses and riding more by helping them solidify correct basics. I think training is a gift both for people and horses as it’s a crucial tool in establishing communication. Although I have lofty goals in my own riding that involve competition, most of my students do not compete and I absolutely love coaching people with and without competitive goals. I think there’s something very admirable to showing up for lessons every week with the only goal being to be better for your horse.

This may not be a popular answer, but to be honest I don’t think there’s anything that sets me apart from others. I think as horse trainers, all of us do this because we are passionate about riding and horses because it definitely isn’t for the money! I think all of us have our own style and way of doing things and that’s going to resonate with different people. I think horse training is more about finding your community than anything else. Being in Colorado, the three day eventing community is very small and because of that it tends to be tight-knit. I think it’s important that we all support each other because ultimately we all have the same goals of doing what we love with the animals we love.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think grit is what’s most important to success in this field. There will always be unexpected setbacks and challenges. I’ve faced more in the last five years than I ever would have imagined and I know I have many more to come. It can be frustrating and disheartening at times but ultimately you just have to keep going. There’s no better way to fail to reach a goal than if you stop trying.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dayberryeventing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dayberryeventing/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/DayberryEventing/