Speaking Up for Diversity in the Horse World by Katherine O. Rizzo


In the September News & Views section of Te Equiery we reported on Nation Media’s Di- versity Scholarship. Tis month, we have fol- lowed up with the three Maryland scholarship winners asking them to share their stories on why they applied for the scholarship and what sort of feedback they have received since their stories were published on eventingnation.com. Each woman represents


different backgrounds, different experiences and different view points, but together, along with all 21 scholarship winners, they offer first steps towards a more inclusive competi- tive horse world.


Helen Casteel Helen Casteel of Silver


Spring first sat on a horse as a teenager in Mas- sachusetts when she fol- lowed a friend to a local barn and started taking lessons. “My dad was a mailman and would pick me up after school in his mail truck and drop me at the barn for lessons,” she said with a chuckle. “I just liked horses and wouldn’t let it go. Te place was an eventing barn and I just loved it!”


Casteel did not actively start competing in


eventing until much later in life when she pur- chased her first horse and began boarding at Waredaca in Laytonsville. “Tat’s when I got serious about the sport,” she said. “I’m not a professional [eventer] in any way, but that’s ok.” Casteel has competed at many different Area II venues, rode at the 2019 American Eventing Championships in Kentucky and spent part of this past winter in Florida. Casteel stated in her scholarship essay that


she feels “very fortunate in my experiences as a Black woman in the horse worlds and spe- cifically as an Eventer. I’ve always ridden at racially diverse barns and am based now at a place where I’ve only felt welcome and safe as I train and compete.” Casteel went on to write that “being the one that looks different from everyone else is something I’ve gotten used to but I’m lucky to not have to worry too much about it. Unfortunately, not all other BIPOC in equestrian sport have been as lucky as I have.” Tis is the reason why she decided to ap-


ply for the Diversity Scholarship. “When I first heard about it, I wasn’t going to do the essay,” she said. “Tis [diversity issue] has been hap-


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pening for years and it has been very easy for most people, as in white people, to not think about it. I started to think ‘come on guys, you knew these things were going on and haven’t done anything about it.’” So Casteel began to write her essay, not so


much for the scholarship money but because of the platform being offered to speak out on the issue of diversity. “Tis scholarship idea was a good way to get more people to come forward and share their thoughts,” she added. Overall the feedback


Casteel has received since being one of this year’s winners has been positive. “Everyone has been love- ly,” she said, adding, “Peo- ple I haven’t heard from in a while have reached out to me because of the essay.” One such friend told her, “having this come from you made me think of things a bit differently,” which Casteel feels is the perfect starting point, stating that thoughts on diversity need to change. Looking back at her es-


Helen Casteel of Silver Spring com- peting in the Waredaca Classic Nov- ice 3-Day Event in 2019.


say, Casteel does wish she had spent more time talk- ing about the history of Black Americans in shap-


ing the horse world across the country. “I could have talked so much more about Bass Reeves. I mean he IS the Lone Ranger,” she stated. “Te Black community’s contribution to the horse world across the country is so much more than people think.” It is changing the way people think about minorities and horses that will be- gin to make a difference. But as Casteel stated in the conclu-


sion of her essay, “However real change will only happen when white people truly prioritize diversity and represen- tation efforts. Tis has to become your problem to solve.”


Dawn Edgerton-Cameron As a young girl growing up in Queens,


New York, all Dawn Edgerton-Cam- eron really wanted was a cat. “I don’t know why, but I just kept begging my parents for a cat and read all the books on cats I could find,” she remembered. “And then I moved onto dogs but the answer was still always no.” Somewhere along the line, Edgerton- Cameron’s animal obsession turned to horses and her parents said no to buy- ing a horse but after her family moved


to Long Island, NY, she was able to start taking some riding lessons. “I think they liked the idea that the horses couldn’t actually come live with us,” she said with a laugh. Te first barn she rode at taught Western so


that is where her equestrian journey started. She eventually moved to a hunt seat barn and then road for Brown University’s Intercol- legiate Horse Show Association team. “I re- member the exact moment I learned about [the sport of] Eventing,” she said, “It was watching the 1984 Olympics. I just really loved the idea of being able to do a sport where you got out of the ring.” Now living in Annapolis, Edgerton-Camer-


on jumped head first into the Area II eventing scene while dabbling in competitive trail riding with her trainer’s, Dyanna Capuano, off-the- track Toroughbred. Edgerton-Cameron also was hesitant to write


a scholarship essay at first. “I had been watch- ing the comments online and I don’t mean this to be harsh but with my busy schedule, I just didn’t feel the scholarship amount was worth the time,” she explained. Edgerton-Cameron is a financial advisor currently working on transi- tioning to starting her own firm. “I just knew if I was going to write anything, it would end up being a long commitment because I wanted to not just address the problem at hand but give a way through to achieve an end goal,” she added. As more and more sponsors added their


support to the scholarship fund, Capuano kept pushing her student to share her story. “Fourteen hours and five pages later I had my thoughts written down,” Edgerton-Cameron said with a chuckle. “And even now as I re-read what I sent in, I keep wanting to add to it and change a word here and there.” Edgerton-Cameron’s essay reads exactly as she


continued...


Dawn Edgerton-Cameron at a MidAtlantic Horse Rescue Show aboard Jack.


THE EQUIERY A MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | OCTOBER 2020 | 17


GRC Photo


Perry Cameron


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