It took Ashley Johnson seven years to get to her first four-star, but she finally made it to the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** this spring with Tactical Maneuver.

Now the Ocala, Fla., local is bringing her special partner to the inaugural Ocala Jockey Club International CIC*** this weekend for a chance at some big prize money.

“Ocala is a really fantastic horse community, and it’s really exciting that we’re going to get this premiere event here. Richard [Trayford] with Equiventures is an incredible visionary, and he’s done a fantastic job bringing this all together, and I know it’s going to be really good for the eventing community here,” she said.

Johnson, 41, grew up in New Jersey and earned her Pony Club ‘A’ rating with the Amwell Valley Hounds Pony Club.

She attended Rutgers University (N.J.) and studied English, theater and art history. During her college years, Johnson traveled extensively in Europe and has visited all 50 states.

She pursued other interests such as running marathons, sailing, kayaking in Alaska and studying French at the Sorbonne.

Ashley Johnson and Tactical Maneuver at Jersey Fresh in 2015. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Assuming eventing would be a hobby after college, Johnson worked in New York City for Christie’s Auction House, but after a couple of years, the sport lured her back from her “real job,” and in 2000 she was hired by Elkins Wetherill, a major eventing supporter, to ride his hunt and event horses in Pennsylvania.

“I would take him foxhunting, and he owned an event horse. As part of the deal I would event his horses for him, and it grew from there,” said Johnson. “He passed away at 92 [in 2011.] It was an amazing honor. He owned horses for Bruce Davidson since the 80s, he owned horses for Stuart Black. He was just a phenomenal person in the industry and very much a person of class—the old-school owner that everybody wishes they had.”

Wetherill owned several of Johnson’s first FEI-level horses, including Highland King, a former three-star horse of Black’s with whom she completed her first CCI***.

Upon Wetherill’s passing, Johnson moved full-time to Ocala and started her business from scratch.

That same year, Johnson came across Tactical Maneuver, or “Gucci,” as he’s known around the barn.

Her friend, Irish rider Ciaran Thompson, was in the U.S. for a working student position, and he didn’t have time to work with the gelding, who Katie Ruppel had found off the track.

Johnson wasn’t really in the position for another horse, especially a hot off-the-track Thoroughbred, but several friends who’d seen him thought he’d be a good fit for her, so she bought him.

“I took him to his first beginner novice horse trials, and as I was cantering cross-country at Rocking Horse [Fla.,] he was just so balanced and so fun and so game, I thought, this is going to be my Rolex horse,” she said.

It was a long road to get to Rolex though, as the gelding now 11-year-old (Thunder Gulch—Chelle Spendabuck, Dare And Go) needed some time to learn to enjoy his work.

Ashley Johnson and Tactical Maneuver at Rolex. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

“He’s a lunatic! There have been many years of needing a lot of patience. He’s very opinionated and very sensitive in his persona,” said Johnson. “He wasn’t very joyful about his life. Some horses are fine about being broke, and right from when I first got him I thought, this horse hates the bit, hates the saddle and he doesn’t like having a person on his back. He didn’t have much trust in that person on his back either, so it’s been a long process of teaching what his job is and establishing the trust in his rider.”

Even as recently as 2015, Johnson was still working to gain Gucci’s trust. During the Cloud 11-Gavilan North LLC Carolina International (N.C), a horse slipped and fell in show jumping and jumped out of the arena towards the warm up, and he got upset and became unrideable, leading to several rails down in show jumping.

“It was so discouraging because he was already four-star qualified, and I thought, I can’t even ride him. He just doesn’t want to be a partner. We had to go back to the drawing board and take another year before we attempted Rolex,” she said.

They dropped down to the CCI** at Ocala before completing the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (N.J.) that May with a great round to finish 15th.

“That was a completely unconventional route, because nobody would advise to do a two-star and then six weeks later a CCI***, but taking a step back and letting him bomb around and get the run and get the gallop, then he went to Jersey Fresh and he ate it up and was very close to time, and we had a good weekend,” she said.

“One of the things I changed is I actually changed my own perspective on why I was competing him. I decided that I was competing to do the best job that I could for him every time. I didn’t care how we placed, I didn’t even care about what shows we did. It wasn’t about being at this show or that show on the circuit. It was more, how can I do the best for him?” she continued.

Thinking outside the box and building Gucci up with “stepping stones” led to a great spring season this year and Johnson’s first four-star completion.

They placed 45th at Rolex with a clear cross-country jumping round. A longtime mentorship with Lucinda Green since Johnson was 16 and working with Clayton Fredericks were key to their success.

Ashley Johnson and Tactical Maneuver completed their first Rolex Kentucky CCI**** this year. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

“I think Rolex turned him around. I didn’t know how it would go. His whole thing is he’s the king, and he knows his job, and everything’s easy now,” she said. “He’s been a completely different horse as far as his confidence and his self worth, knowing what he’s supposed to do. He’s always a little hot, and he gets nervous under pressure, so that’s always a management thing.

“That was amazing. The first time I qualified to ride four-star was seven years before, so it took me seven years to actually get there and complete. It was quite a journey,” she added.

Gucci’s quite the princess around the barn, but is generally easy to handle.

“He’s kind of a girly man, a princess! He’s got a very beautiful head, very pretty eye, long forelock. He would be metrosexual!” said Johnson with a laugh.

“[His name,] Tactical Maneuver [is] because here I was completely switching gears having been in Pennsylvania, riding for an owner, then moving to Florida, restarting my business, completely starting from scratch, and here was this horse that I had an inkling was going to be a big time horse for me. That’s where it came from, and Gucci because he is very feminine. People will think he’s a mare when I’m on him! But he has an edge to him too—high end fashion.”

The pair have completed two intermediate horse trials as preparation for Ocala, and took the summer off because of the heat. Johnson’s hoping for a confident go and maybe an overseas CCI*** in the spring.

“Everything’s been a little too easy for him. I just want him to have to pay attention and be sharp. He needs to remember that he’s got a job to do. I’m hoping it will put something in his mind that there’s more stuff to come in the spring. He’s not on permanent vacation!” she said.

Curious about the new Ocala Jockey Club International? We’re on site to bring you coverage of the CCI*, CCI** and CIC*** and lots of photos! Check out a full report in the Dec. 12 print edition of the Chronicle.