It Takes a Village

And Liz Austin is full of nothing but gratitude for everyone who has made her riding dreams come true. “I am simply speechless over the amount of time and effort people have put into helping me achieve my dreams. I can only hope that one day, I can give back to the community and help other riders, who perhaps aren't financially, well off, to reach for the top,” Austin said.

Ask Austin how it is that at the young age of 23 she’s come so far and she’ll tell you she didn’t get there alone. The first person on the list to whom she gives credit is her mother, Madeleine Austin. Not only did her mother teach her to ride and support her through the early years of her riding career, she also provided Austin with the horses she needed to improve her riding, including Olivier. The family runs a breeding farm in northern Vermont.

“I am so thankful to my mom, Madeleine, for breeding a horse like Fizzy, and even more importantly, keeping him for me to ride when the offers to buy him started to roll in from around the world. I consider myself so lucky to have the horses and people in my life that I do,” Austin said.

Austin is quick to rattle off a long list of people who have supported her and guided her riding career – Lendon Gray, Jennifer Baumert and most recently Page for whom Austin began working after she returned from Germany last fall.

“I came to Tuny's not knowing what to expect, but things have worked out perfectly. She has given me so much confidence, and as I've said from the start, how well Fizzy does is purely a result of how well I can ride him. He really is a horse with no limit to his abilities,” Austin said. “Tuny made it possible for me to show in Florida this winter by allowing me to work for her and thus, keep Fizzy in Florida virtually for free. It was the perfect situation.”

Within a moment of meeting Austin, one can easily see why the young rider has so much support. She’s gracious, enthusiastic, hard-working and hasn’t a bad word to say about anyone, not even other riders against whom she competes. She easily wins over people, as evidenced by the long list of sponsors she credits with supporting her.

“I have a number of sponsors who have made a tremendous difference in what I've been able to do with Fizzy,” Austin said. DevonWood Equestrian Centre (www.devonwoodec.com) helped in her road to the Brentina Cup victory and paid part of her trip to Germany. “Individual sponsors who helped were Mrs. Webster, Mrs. Seaver and Mrs. Bartlett,” Austin said.

She said additional support for her training trip to Europe came from the Dressage Foundation (www.dressagefoundation.org), Dressage4Kids (www.dressage4kids.com) and from the New England Dressage Association (www.neda.org). The Dutta Corporation (www.timdutta.com) gave her a reduced shipping rate to Europe for Olivier.