With remarkable performances this fall on Corona, the rookie grand prix rider looks to have a big future ahead of her.

When Rebecca Johanson-Hofmann’s phone rang in early November, she didn’t expect that the news she heard would not only be the culmination of her goals for the year, but also a springboard to the future she wants.

Originally named to be the non-traveling alternate for the U.S. team at the Haras El Capricho CSIO in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Johanson-Hofmann had started planning her Florida season. But when team member Georgina Bloomberg’s horse couldn’t compete, Johanson-Hofmann got the call.

“I didn’t find out that I actually got to go until just a few days before I had to leave,” she said. “I was in my car, on the way to Florida, and my horse was still in New York when they called. I really didn’t have enough time to be nervous about going because from the time they called to the time my horse left, I didn’t really have time to think. I was trying to get everything done in a few days that would normally take three weeks to get done.”

The rush paid off, as Johanson-Hofmann, 23, and Corona turned in the only double-clear performance in the Nations Cup in Buenos Aires, helping the U.S. team win, and then placed third in the Ericsson Grand Prix CSI-W.

“My goal from the beginning of the year was to go to Buenos Aires, and the fact that I got to go was a miracle,” said Johanson-Hofmann. “It was a nice feeling to accomplish that goal. Corona has been exceptional this year; her results have been amazing. The fact that I got to end my year going to Buenos Aires and getting a gold medal—I can only hope every year is as positive as this year has been.”

While in Buenos Aires, Johanson-Hofmann got to experience riding for U.S. Chef d’Equipe George H. Morris.

“She’s a very nice girl and a good caretaker of her horse. I think it was a good experience for her,” Morris said. “She’s obviously new to that level of competition, but she’s very serious and a good worker. She has a great partnership with that horse. That’s a wonderful horse she has, and she’s made it up.

“I like her basics, and she’s very competitive. This year’s team was a very nice team, with Ashlee Bond, Michelle Spadone, Kirsten Coe and Rebecca. They were all very dedicated to their horses. It was a very refreshing team.”

Corona Is The Queen

Corona—a big gray mare—has made it all possible for Johanson-Hofmann.

She was horse-shopping at McLain and Barney Ward’s Castle Hill Farm in 2004 and wasn’t even planning to try Corona, but something drew her to the Holsteiner.

“She was a very hot horse, but from the second I saw her in the stall, I just knew there was something about her. When I first tried her, it didn’t go perfectly, but I loved her and had to have her,” Johanson-Hofmann said.

Corona (Coronado—Eunice) might not have been the ideal choice for Johanson-Hofmann, then 19. She was a difficult ride and had a known problem with water jumps and liverpools. “When I first got her, it took me about a year and a half before I could get around a course without something major going wrong,” recalled Johanson-Hofmann.

“I’ve really taken the time with her to do things the right way. I’ve tried to not scare her but to get her confident at the water. For two years, at home, I jumped courses of liverpools and tarps on the ground. It’s a partnership I’ve never had with another horse before. I know her; I know when a hair on her shoulder is going the wrong way. And she can read me and she knows me. It’s a partnership that I can’t compare anything to—it just works.”

“That was always a very talented mare, but she takes a very sensitive ride. Rebecca has done a beautiful job with the horse,” said McLain Ward.

In the summer of 2005, they reached a turning point together and helped the Zone 6/7/8 team take silver at the CN North American Young Riders Championships (Va.), where they placed seventh individually. That year, she and Corona also placed in the top 12 of each of the 11 grand prix classes they started in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and California.

“It’s when I realized that she was a little bit more than what I thought she was going to be,” said Johanson-Hofmann, who grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah.

They kept adding experience in grand prix classes on the West Coast in 2006, and by 2007, Johanson-Hofmann had traveled to the East Coast for the first time. They competed on the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit (Fla.) and at the HITS Saugerties (N.Y.) summer shows. In 2008, Johanson-Hofmann showed Corona to a multitude of top-10 grand prix placings, including a win in the $30,000 KHJA Grand Prix (Ky.), second in the $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix and the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix at Saugerties, and fifth at the $80,000 New Albany Classic Invitational (Ohio).

“She just keeps getting better and surprising me. She’s never jumped better than she has in the past six months. I’ve never felt more confident in her,” said Johanson-Hofmann.

Not Just Handed To Her

Johanson-Hofmann hasn’t let the success go to her head, however. She has big goals, but they’re realistic ones.

“The World Cup Finals aren’t a goal for me with her. The qualifiers are a totally different ball game than the Finals itself. Myself as a rider—I’m not ready for the World Cup Final. I don’t know that it’s an ideal situation for her, either,” she said.

“After my experience in Buenos Aires, I would really like to go on a Developing Riders tour this summer. I just have to see where my results take me from here. I’d love to do a few more Nations Cups and get some experience under my belt. Of course, the Olympics are a goal, but I have to be realistic—I’m not at that point yet. I hope someday to be there, but I know I’m years away from that.”

For the past year, Johanson-Hofmann has been on her own, without consistent help from a trainer.

“It’s affected me a lot; it’s made me sit down and think about what I’m doing, what I know, and what I’ve learned from the people I’ve been able to train with throughout my career,” she said. “It’s helped my partnership with Corona too. I manage her, and I’m with her seven days a week. I think that because of that, my communication with her has been better.”

The most influential trainer in Johanson-Hofmann’s life has been Betty Beran, of Scottsdale, Ariz. Beran, together with her assistant, Renee Wasnik, shaped Johanson-Hofmann’s career as a junior rider.

“She’s a very natural rider,” Beran said. “She wasn’t one you ever had to harp on about position. I just had to teach her the why of riding. She has great natural instincts. Even when she got frightened or worried, instead of letting her emotions run away with her, she was able to channel her emotions. She could separate emotions from thought, which kept her very focused.

“On her groom’s days off, she mucks, feeds, cleans and grooms. She does all the turn-out and bandaging. She’s never been one that you could say ever had it handed to her,” Beran added.

Bitten By The Bug

Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, Johanson-Hofmann didn’t have much access to the higher levels of horse showing. Her parents were horse people, so she got her first pony at age 10 and showed locally. By age 13, Johanson-Hofmann had Blue Moon, a pony she showed to much success and at the 1998 ASHA Hunter Pony Finals (Ill.).

“Unfortunately for my parents, I wasn’t happy with the local scene anymore, and I wanted to keep going,” said Johanson-Hofmann. “So, I started riding for Betty during the summers when I was 15, and then I made a deal with my parents that as soon as I was 16 and could have my own car, I would move down there.”

Johanson-Hofmann lived with Beran and finished high school in Arizona. “She taught me a lot, and I got to ride all kinds of different horses. Fancy hunters, horses off the track, tough ones—every kind of horse you can imagine. I think that experience is immeasurable. I had a few of my own horses, but I always helped out in the barn,” she said.

Beran recalled that Johanson-Hofmann was always willing to lend a hand. “She was a hands-on kid from Day 1. She always wanted to understand the ‘why’ of what we were doing. She didn’t have a groom to wait on her hand and foot. She was always at the barn from the dark of the morning until whenever we got done,” Beran said. “She takes excellent care of her horses. She does a lot of it herself and always has.”

Johanson-Hofmann showed in the junior ranks and attended the University of Arizona, graduating in just 31⁄2 years with a degree in business. Once she was done with college, she struck out on the show circuit, debuting in the grand prix ranks with Corona in 2005.

Her first trip east was in December 2006 to compete in the amateur-owner jumper division at the National Horse Show (Fla.).

“I never wanted to go back west!” she said.

She stayed for the 2007 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit and then showed at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) in 2008, getting sporadic help from various trainers.

“I’ve always kind of been a very small fish in a big sea everywhere I’ve gone,” she said. “Going from Utah to Arizona, I had a lot to learn and that was an eye-opening experience. And then from Arizona to Southern California, I was a small fish again. I’m a little used to being a bit of an underdog. I have no problem being a small fish in a big pond; I just hope someday to have a name like Beezie Madden or Laura Kraut.”