Cornelia Fletcher wasn’t sure what to expect at The Event at TerraNova in Myakka City, Florida, last November. But taking top honors was not among her expectations. Despite being out of the competition field for a little over a year to give birth to her daughter Sparrow last June, the 26-year-old, five-star eventer and her plucky Oldenburg mare Daytona Beach 8 had a dynamite comeback, claiming victory in the CCI4*-L on a final score of 41.4.
“This win meant more to me than I can put into words—for so many reasons. But primarily because it was my first competition since having Sparrow,” Fletcher said. “I knew I wanted to start a family, but I didn’t know what that would look like while trying to balance my career. I was so nervous about taking the time off and putting my goals on hold. And winning with ‘Daytona’ just made it even more special.”
Fletcher had less than four months back in the saddle to prepare for TerraNova but noted that once she got her riding muscles back, piloting the mare was like riding a bike. Over the course of their almost seven-year partnership, Fletcher and Daytona have developed a strong bond and were able to help each other in their respective weaker areas throughout the three phases of competition.
“I think that really shows our partnership and the bond we’ve developed. And I’m so grateful the stars aligned for us this weekend,” she said. “I was hoping we could put all the pieces together to do well, but I never imagined we would win it.”
While Fletcher worked hard to maintain her physical and mental fitness during her pregnancy, she credits her close-knit support team and especially her husband—four-star eventer and grand-prix show jumper Jacob Fletcher—for her success at TerraNova and enabling her to make her post-Sparrow competition debut. “It was definitely challenging with a lot of ups and downs,” Fletcher said. “And they don’t lie—it truly takes a village in this sport!”
Managing Dressage Meltdowns
Fletcher and Daytona first partnered up through a connection provided by five-star eventer Sharon White. After learning about the potential prospect, Fletcher flew to Germany to give the mare a test ride. “I called Sharon and told her Daytona made me feel like I was invincible. Jumping her is one of the most unreal feelings. I was addicted,” she recalled. “Daytona has 100 percent shaped who I am as a rider and trainer and is genuinely my best friend.”
After moving up the eventing ranks, the pair made their five-star debut at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in 2022, where they finished in 10th—and were the top-placed U.S. combination—despite a 50th-place dressage score. At both TerraNova and Burghley, the pair came back from being underdogs after dressage to surge ahead in cross country and show jumping.
Fletcher notes that Daytona certainly doesn’t lack the athletic ability to perform the challenging movements required in dressage. She instead attributes their higher scores to the mare’s emotional state during the phase. “I think she would be a world-beater if her brain could stay on planet Earth in dressage,” she quipped.
At home, Fletcher says Daytona is trainable, focused and soft, but she’s prone to extreme bouts of anxiety during competition. “Specifically in dressage, it was like she had some version of PTSD. She’s a very sensitive horse,” Fletcher noted. “And it became this vicious cycle she was in with herself.”
Over the course of their partnership, however, Fletcher learned how to manage the mare’s anxiety and finessed her strategy going into dressage. “In the beginning, I did what we normally do with hotter, nervous horses—riding her a lot before dressage, longeing her, getting her out more,” she said. “But after doing this without much success, I decided to try the opposite—just leave her pretty much alone.”
Now, their pre-dressage strategy includes a bare minimum 10-minute warm-up and no longeing. “The less time we’re up by the ring, the better her mind is. But she definitely has a 20-minute time limit. So, I always hope to end our test by then before she explodes,” Fletcher laughed.
Learning From the Best
Fletcher grew up in a non-equestrian family in Hamilton, Massachusetts, near the former United States Equestrian Team headquarters and realized she had the horse bug from an early age. After finally wearing her parents down, they agreed to help her half-lease a pony at a local barn with eventing history. And even from her early days in the saddle, Fletcher had a hunch that eventing might be her sport as she always preferred the field to the arena.
In middle school, she started working with trainer Babette Lenna, who helped Fletcher find her perfect and longtime eventing partner in the loudly colored Zweibrücker gelding Sir Patico MH. “Daytona is my best friend, but ‘Hugo’ is home,” she said. “He went to boarding school with me when I was 13 and has been with me through so many life transitions. And he’s still with us at 19.”
Fletcher and Hugo went on to train with White and had a stellar career together—including an individual bronze at the 2017 FEI North American Youth Championships, top finishes at the three- and four-star level and a European debut at Blenheim. They were on the cusp of tackling their first five star at the 2020 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, before it was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.
“Sharon shaped who I am as person both professionally and personally. I owe my Young Rider career to her producing me and putting me on good horses,” Fletcher said. “I tend to be a high-stress, sensitive person, and she also helped me with that through meditation and mindset work that really resonated.”
In 2022, Fletcher and Daytona ventured across the pond to Surrey, England, to train with Australian five-star rider Kevin McNab, based off the recommendation of her then boyfriend Jacob who’d previously spent two years with the renowned eventing trainer. While Fletcher never anticipated they would be ready to make their five-star debut at Burghley, she suspected McNab had that goal in mind for the pair.
“At first, I thought he was crazy. But he never really pressurized it,” she said. “About a week before, he told me, ‘You are never going to be more prepared than you are right now.’ And that was my mantra going into Burghley.”
One of Fletcher’s early struggles with Daytona was getting her to maintain the walk without jigging in dressage. Instead of trying to keep her fully connected in the walk, McNab advised Fletcher to simply loop the reins. “He reminded me that we’d get better points if she walked even if we weren’t in the correct frame. This was so helpful for us,” she said. “Kevin’s like a magician in his understanding of horses.”
Making Her Own Strides
In the small training program she and Jacob operate in Ocala, Florida, that focuses on producing eventing and show-jumping mounts, Fletcher prefers to take the slow track to ensure her horses are happy, relaxed and confident before they face the pressure of competition. She strives to emulate the calm, quiet environment she experienced at McNab’s farm and applies the wisdom she gained from him and White to all her horses based on their individual needs.
“I enjoy producing horses for the long game. For their fitness, I’m a bit old-fashioned. I believe in interval trot set training and lots of hacking out,” she said. “Overall, I prefer to keep things simple and find the less-is-more approach best.”
Fletcher admits she still experiences anxiety before high-stakes competition and has learned to manage her nerves with the help of sports psychology methods she’s learned through a book called “Mind Gym.”
“It’s helped me learn how my mindset affects my riding and the people and horses around me,” she noted. “My brain tries to convince me of things that aren’t based in reality. So, I repeat a mantra from the book—‘I’m not what my brain says I am.’ This really helps when my thoughts or nerves start to spiral.”
Fletcher attributes her success at such a young age to providence and surrounding herself with knowledgeable professionals who prioritize their horses’ well-being. “You can’t deny that some of it is luck, and some of it is drive and work ethic. But the biggest thing is setting yourself up with people you learn well from and whose morals align with yours.”
Risk and Reward
Fletcher is still glowing as a proud, new mom but admits that taking time off to have Sparrow did not come without its physical, mental and emotional challenges. “It was probably one of the lowest points of my career— just feeling like I was stuck on the sidelines,” she confessed. “I was lucky and had an easy pregnancy. But it was really hard to watch everyone else progressing while I was stagnant.”
But her resolute support team remained positive and fellow eventing professionals like Olympian Mike Huber reminded Fletcher that her time off was just like being out of the game while recovering from an injury. “It was really hard to keep my mind occupied. But I just kept telling myself that this too shall pass,” she said. “And in two years I wouldn’t remember, and it wouldn’t feel so all-encompassing.”
To stay fit during her pregnancy, Fletcher stayed active with barn chores, lots of walking and took up Pilates. “Pilates was a game changer and really helped me maintain my muscles, especially my core,” she said. “I think it’s one of the best exercises any rider can do.”
In true horsewoman fashion, she was back in the saddle just two weeks after having Sparrow and said it wasn’t as challenging as she expected. “I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going back so soon to everyone,” she laughed, “but it was very healing for me. I just needed to be back at it ASAP.”
You Can Do Both
While sharing the same passion with a spouse is bound to present its challenges, Fletcher said in hindsight she can’t imagine being married to someone who doesn’t know the sport and understand the time commitment, sweat and tears that go into competing at this level.
Jacob, who put his show season on the backburner in order for his wife to compete last fall, helped keep Daytona fit and sharp in the three eventing phases during Fletcher’s pregnancy. This proved key in helping the pair prepare in the short amount of time they had leading up to TerraNova.
She also noted that becoming a mother has altered the way she thinks about her riding. “I think it’s actually improved my riding. It’s made me a little bit more careful, because I generally tend to be a bit bold on cross country,” she noted. “Being a mother definitely adds a new dimension to it all.”
At home, Team Fletcher has an intricate babysitting system to ensure the new mom gets plenty of time in the saddle every day, while friends and family help with Sparrow at shows. After her experience balancing motherhood with a full-time eventing career, she encourages fellow female eventers who have family aspirations but worry about putting their careers on hold to keep an open mind.
“I hope it becomes more common for women eventers to have families. There seems to be this common school of thought that you can’t have both. And I would like to try and break down that barrier,” Fletcher said. “Because you can do it. You need the right team, and things have to go well. But for anyone wishing they could do both, I hope they find confidence in my experience. It’s very much worth it.”
For More:
- Can’t get enough of eventing? April kicks off our coverage and countdown to our favorite event of the year—the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. Look out for new training articles from top eventers and everything you need to know about this year’s Kentucky Three-Day.
- Read more about our coverage of The Event at TerraNova 2024 here.
- Want to incorporate Pilates into your riding fitness routine? Click here for rider Pilates videos on EQUESTRIAN+.
Thanks to Kent Nutrition Group and Blue Seal for our coverage of the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, including lead-up events, rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more!
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Practical Horseman.
