Having grown up in the horse industry, it is not surprising that Jake Parker Wymard is following in his mother’s footsteps as a professional equestrian. It is, however, unusual that he is doing it at age 18 and already experiencing success.
Ginger Parker operates Flower Farm in Glen Rock, PA, where she stands approved Dutch Warmblood stallion Vinca. In addition to the breeding operation, she also provides hunter/jumper training and showing services under the name Ashcombe Sporthorses.
Growing up, horses were always available to Jake and his older brother, but they were never forced to ride. “We always had a pony here for the boys. They could ride if they wanted to, but they didn’t have to,” Ginger said.
While his brother showed no interest in the horses, Jake did, and at around the age of 8, he asked if he could do more. “I thought it was a girl’s sport and I would be made fun of, so I avoided it for the longest time in spite of the fact I loved horses,” Jake said. “My mom started training a boy who was my age. After his lessons we started playing catch in the yard. Then I realized if he can do it I can too. That’s how I got started and I realized how much I loved it.”
Jake rode to the pony finals and did junior hunters and junior jumpers, but the horses he rode were always those that the farm had for sale.
“Everything he had to ride was something we had bred, so it was always for sale He never really got to get off the ground,” Ginger said. “Once they were ready to do their job well, they had to get sold. It was educational and an important part of his journey.”
Ginger has been a major force in Jake’s training as a rider, but she has also encouraged him to work with other trainers, exposing him to some of the best riders in the country.
“I was in 8th grade and had been riding so many green horses, I was scared to jump high. For my birthday, one of our clients who has just been amazing to me, gave me a lesson with (Olympic eventer) Bruce Davidson,” Jake said. That experience eventually led to spending a year as a working student for Davidson. “He really wanted me to become an event rider. He really tried to get me out of the hunter jumpers, but he couldn’t shake me.”
Jake was chosen for the USHJA’s Emerging Athletes Program two years in a row and has trained under many of the nation’s top trainers. Jake often works with Louise Serio on hunters and Kevin Babbington on jumpers. “The jumpers have always been my passion, I love to jump high,” he said. “I really want to be a jumper rider going forward, but I don’t think I’ll ever leave the hunters behind me. Our farm breeds great hunter horses.”
Last year, Jake’s showing career took a turn when clients brought in a new mare for him to show. Highland Farm’s imported mare Valhorona had only limited experience, but Jake took her from a youngster doing low fences to a contender in the 3’6” Green Hunter division. At the time of this interview, the mare was at 13th in the country in points for the division.
“Last year when I got her she was barely jumping a 2’6” course. It took a lot of time for me to gain her trust,” Jake said. “The moment I took her over a crossrail, I knew she had an incredible jump. It was just developing her talent.”
This year, Jake made his first appearance in the Devon Horse Show as a professional rider with Valhorona. “It was a fantastic experience,” he said. “As a professional, it was a different feel and expectation than it was as a junior. I went in there feeling a lot more confident than in years past.”
Jake appreciates being able to work with a horse on a long term basis. ”Each time I went to Devon before, I was on a horse I didn’t know, that I had been riding less than a month. I had always basically been on a new horse. To be able to show one horse throughout the entire season, it made the whole experience different for me,” he said. “I knew what was beneath my feet, how to ride her, and what to expect.”
Although the pair did not earn any ribbons this time, Jake is happy with the results. “The horse was fantastic, she jumped super well, and every class was great,” he said. “It kind of felt like making the All Star game as a rookie, I was just happy to be there.”
Jake turned 18 last November and has aged out of the junior ranks where he had been showing in equitation divisions the past two years, going to the Medal Finals.
“Now that I’m out of the juniors. I couldn’t be happier about it,” Jake said. “As a junior rider you feel like you are competing for yourself. As a professional, it’s more about the horse, which I love.”
The entire atmosphere is a different one. “There are so many kids that are in those classes. You’re sitting in the stands watching a ton of people mess up before you go into the ring. It’s a weird vibe. It’s so tense and every kid is competing with the person next to them, everybody’s on edge,” Jake said.
As a junior rider, competition caused him to miss 50 days from high school each year, but that did not hurt his grades. He graduated this June from York Country Day School with a 3.8 grade average and was captain of the high school basketball team.
Jake earned a full academic scholarship from Gettysburg College, where he plans to start in the fall, but how the future will play out is unclear.
Ginger understands that sticking with riding after his high school graduation is a major decision that will have a big impact on Jake’s future.
“I did ponies and junior hunters but went to college and law school and stopped for a while. I got back into it with a gusto after a while,” Ginger said. “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I look at it and think, if I had stuck with the riding and not the school thing, my business and riding career would probably be in a different place.”
Jake will make his own choices as far as continuing education is concerned. “I get where he is and where he wants to go. It’s hard for me to discourage him from going full throttle where he wants to go. I don’t think he wants to lose the momentum from where he is now,” she said. “I’m not sure what he will do. I would be amazed if he followed the traditional student path.”
Ginger sees Jake taking more and more of a role in the training and showing operations at the farm while she shifts her concentration to the breeding operation.
“He’s incredibly hard working and devoted,” Ginger said. “I’m so honored to be in a place right now where I can support him and watch him fly.”
“My mom is my best friend, she supports me so much. In a way, it feels like I’ve already branched out on my own. I’m encouraged to stretch my wings,” Jake said.
Jake does not see himself as the typical young rider. “The one thing I want people to know the most about me, I’m not like most kids my age. I don’t take anything that I get for granted,” he said. “Growing up around my mom, who’s a professional and all her friends who are professionals, I’ve been able to train with so many different people. It’s given me such a well-rounded insight of what the industry is. I’m now in a place where I’m training with some of the best people on the planet, and I’m just super excited to move forward toward that. I think the only place to go is up. I’m just so thrilled to have ended up where I am.”