It was 12 degrees Fahrenheit as Jenna Sack made the drive to Benchmark Stable, an Illinois riding facility. “Some nights it’s in the negative temperatures. We are so lucky to have a heated barn; riding in the cold still isn’t a ton of fun but we make it happen,” Sack said.

She isn’t kidding. Just last month, Sack determinedly changed her truck tire in 1 degree weather on the way to the barn. “I was not dressed for the weather at all—I was dressed for the heated barn,” she recalled. Sack does not lack resolve, not with transportation hitches nor bumps in the road on her competitive journey.

Sack started her riding career out doing the Illinois Pinto Circuit. “I don’t even know if that’s still in existence,” she laughed. “That was very short-lived and from there I did hunters and jumpers on a local scale. I did my first [U.S. Eventing Association] recognized event when I was 9, and kind of never looked back from there.”  

Sack’s first eventer, Just-N-Time, competed with her to the CCI* level in 2001. Unfortunately, he had a career-ending injury in 2002 and had to be retired. As crushing as this was, Sack eventually began searching for a new horse.

Jenna Sack’s best buddies, Grace and Bella.

In her senior year of college, Sack found Grace, a Selle Francais yearling bred by Kathy Lundsford. The filly was the kind of quality horse that Sack couldn’t have afforded if she had found her as a 4-year-old—this was Sack’s “second chance horse” to tackle eventing again. “Grace has been the horse of a lifetime. She was so easy to bring along, a joy to start under saddle and in every way the sweetest mare,” Sack said.

Grace had two great seasons at training level, including a second place in the American Eventing Championships in 2012. But in the fall of 2012, Grace came up with a mysterious lameness. Sack’s local veterinarian blocked, ultrasounded and x-rayed Grace, trying to pinpoint the source of the problem. Grace even had a bone scan that revealed nothing. “She puzzled everyone,” said Sack.

Sack was left with no other choice than to turn Grace out in a field and give her time off. Nonetheless, Sack found herself pressing on, never relenting in her quest to solve her mare’s lameness. It wasn’t until Sack traveled to the 2013 USEA Annual Meeting and Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, that she ran into a breakthrough: Dr. Chris Newton, of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. He listened to Sack’s story, then told her to bring Grace down to Kentucky; he felt they could fix her. Two weeks later Sack and her mother were packing up Grace and trailering to Kentucky.            

Proven Wrong, Happily                 

Lady Luck was still no fan of Sack and delivered a hefty obstacle along the way: her truck broke down in Indianapolis. “I reached out to a friend who put a message out on Facebook and within an hour, a lovely lady by the name of Becky Acheson pulled in with a horse trailer,” Sack said. They loaded Grace and Acheson drove them to her farm, allowing them time to re-group.

“A friend of mine brought my mom’s truck down from Chicago and we made it to Rood & Riddle after midnight. It was quite a saga getting down there but I made an amazing friend who I still keep in touch with to this day. The horse industry is such an amazing place,” Sack said.

Through a rectal ultrasound, Newton was able to confirm Grace was suffering from a sacroiliac joint issue. Newton worked closely with Sack to create a rehabilitation program for Grace. By the middle of 2014, Grace, the comeback mare, was back in action.

She and Sack placed in the top three of all five training-level events they entered. “Grace won the USEA Area IV Training Championships and the Hagyard MidSouth Training Three-Day in Lexington, Ky., last October. I never thought she would come back and compete again and she just kept proving me wrong. Chris Newton helped me out in a big way. I’m just thrilled to have her back—she’s just a fun horse to compete.” 

Sack and Grace on their way to their Hagyard MidSouth Training Three-Day win.
Photo by Xpress Photo

Sack’s goal since she bought Grace back in 2006 was to compete at the preliminary level. “My hope is to move up to preliminary at Fox River Valley Pony Club Horse Trials in June 2015, which is my home event.  I’ve competed there since I was a 10-year-old kid.”

Business Suit By Day, Breeches By Night

Competing and riding is no small feat for Sack, however. Her full-time job does not place her at the barn—or with horses. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Sack landed a job in the finance industry. “I always knew I was going to be a business major.  My whole family was in the insurance industry and I wondered if I might fall back into that. But then I did an internship in college for a finance role and fell in love with it. Now I am a finance manager by day,” she said.

 Sack does believe her work is a positive factor in her competition aspiration and feels gratitude toward her employer’s flexibility. “I have a good set-up. I don’t have set hours at work—I just get the work done. Typically its 8:30-5:30 but sometimes I log back on at night after a ride or I might end up stuck at work late. I receive a decent amount of time off and I can handle some tasks remotely and work email is forwarded to my cell so that allows a little bit of flexibility to not always be at the desk,” she said. Sack admits the downside of the flexible schedule is the need to shift into work gear even when she’s at the barn. “I remember one boss calling me in the middle of a horse show and it is hard to transition to work mode,” she said.

Sack also acknowledges a robust support system from friends and family. “I have a fantastic network of horse friends in the community. And my barn is very flexible by allowing me to show up at 9 o’clock at night to ride!” she noted.

Liz Atkins, a show jumper, runs Benchmark Stable, where Sack rides.  “She helps me with my show jumping, because that is defiantly my weakest phase,” Sack laughed. “And it’s fun too because Liz has a lot of quality horses that I have gotten to sit on as well—I feel blessed to have this opportunity.” 

Then there’s Sack’s primary event trainer, Cathy Jones, who has worked with Sack since she was a teenager. “And my mom is my biggest supporter and is so phenomenal,” Sack said. “She is at every horse show with a picnic basket full of baked goodness, wine and beer!” 

And then there’s the unlikely supporter: a Welsh corgi named Bella. “She is in the truck with me now—she comes to the farm with me every night. She’s my little sidekick,” Sack said with devotion. “People tease me; Bella is a tri-color Corgi and Grace is a bay pinto. They say I tried to match them, which was never my intention but…” Sack chuckled, “they are pretty matchy.”

Sack is clearly the prime example of how networking is such a successful tool. Still, even with support from family, friends, canine friends and strangers, how can one really juggle it all? “It takes a lot of planning and preparation. Sometimes you have to get creative on when you are going to ride. And you have to have the passion for it or you could burn out pretty easily,” she said. “But it’s about making the time for it.   It’s about finding a balance. And some nights you are just going to eat oatmeal for dinner.”