Elisa Wallace
Elisa (4) with Rick's event horse, Ultimate Trial.Elisa Wallace has been involved with horses her entire life. Both her parents are involved in horses: her father is an avid event rider and trainer, and her mother bred and raised young horses. Riding since before she could walk, it has always been a dream for Elisa to compete at the top international level and on the world stage at the Olympics. She did trot sets at the age of two and began eventing at the age of four. Everyone knew Elisa had talent to go to the top. Sometimes called part horse, she was often found sleeping or playing with the young foals that her mother and father raised.
Along with the guidance of her father, Rick Wallace, Elisa was very successful at a young age. At the age of nine, she was the youngest to win a gold medal at the Georgia State Games in Combined Training. She then shifted to the Hunter/Jumper and equitation to broaden and hone her riding skils. Elisa competed successfully in the medal and Meclay equitation and qualified for the Meclay Finals in Newark, NJ at the age of 12. In her latter teen years, she returned to her roots in Eventing with her mind set on competing in the Olympics. She trained and worked with many top riders such as Nick Larkin, Stephen Bradley, Peter Gray and Ralph Hill and studied what it takes to be an upper level rider: determination, patience, true grit.
In a bold move, Elisa saved all of her high school graduation money and purchased a $700 Thoroughbred yearling in Iola, Kansas that she had found off of the internet. Completely on gut feelings and intuition, Elisa and her mom, Laura, made the trek to Kansas to purchase a yearling named Jack. Fast forward seven years, and Jackson is now one of her top competition horses. With a knack for finding diamonds in the ruff, Jackson is a testament to Elisa's skills as a trainer and rider with the pair taking the Eventing scene by storm and marching their way to the top.
