A year ago, I was wondering how my junior career would end. What would come next? Would I go to college? When would I go professional? Would I find a job? I had more questions than answers – and now, I have even more questions!
The last twelve months are a blur. I achieved many of my goals – but I fell short too. I made it into the U25 division and moved up to the 2* Grand Prix classes — and earned ribbons. My jumper, Amazing, is developing into a future 3* Grand Prix horse. Since it’s a first for us both, there’s a big learning curve. I am so proud of her every day. I sacrificed my last year in the junior jumpers to move up, because with one horse the options are limited. I was proud to compete in the NAYC Championships in Traverse City and Zone Jumper Finals at Pennsylvania National Horse Show. It was a blast to ride for a team and made me hungrier to represent our country in the future.
I had three years at the national level as a junior and it was meteoric – time raced by as fast as my skills improved, from a pony-nobody to winning Maclay Finals, finishing 3rd, 5th and 1st at WIHS Equitation Finals, 4th, 5th and 2nd at USET and 3rd at Dover/USEF Medal Finals with Cent 15, Beacon Hill Show Stables and Stacia Klein Madden. Under Plain Bay Farm, Katie and Henri Prudent – I went from a jumper first-timer to winning NAL Low Jumper of The Year and USEF Low Jr Jumper of The Year in 2020 with Douwe, winning 1.45m U25 classes and 1.40m Junior Jumper classes at The National Horse Show with my speedy Delia B, then winning my first Grand Prix with Amazing and moving up to the 2* level with her, and Plain Bay Farm’s mare, Go With The Flow.
Then – silence.
November 2021 felt like the absolute still cold quiet after a tornado. The junior years were over.
But I’ve known my next step all my life – I declared professional status and took a job as a groom and rider for Henri and Katie Monahan Prudent. I sharpened hands-on skills in FEI grooming, basic veterinary care, small engine repair, barn management, arena, and barn maintenance, loading and hauling — and of course riding at the highest levels. The plan was to go to Europe with Amazing for the summer, but things did not fall into place for that to happen. Acceptance, patience, and flexibility are the key life survival techniques I learned from COVID — so when my summer schedule changed, I ended up accepting a job as an assistant trainer for Stacia Klein Madden at Beacon Hill Show Stables. This was like coming home. I moved Amazing to Max Amaya at Stonehenge Stables, and I am very excited for a summer of working, riding, and continued learning as I build my career as a young professional. In the fall, I’ll start college at as a Foote Fellow in the Miami Herbert Business School at University of Miami where I plan to combine academics with riding, keeping my eye on my business and competition goals! So here we go – it’s time to start a new adventure!
Interested in my family? Here’s a fun article about “Circus Gibbs” featured in February’s Wellington Magazine!
Dominic Reilly Gibbs
3870 South Club Drive, Colorado Springs, CO. 80906
dominicrgibbs@gmail.com 719-569-2752