Life After Sweet Briar

Sweet Briar College attracts confident, intelligent students who are also interested in riding. Riders are consistently counted among the College's top scholars and student leaders.

The modern system of riding taught at Sweet Briar helps you to develop the problem-solving skills, discipline, and clear thinking that enables you to succeed both in classes and in future careers.

Sweet Briar graduates are women of accomplishment, both in the riding ring and in their professions. They have found that it's possible to continue to ride while pursuing rewarding careers. Alumnae pursue their riding interests in showing, judging, riding to hounds, veterinary studies, business and sales, public relations, training, teaching, and hacking for pleasure.

Alumnae Riders

The careers and interests of our talented alumnae riders reflect the options open to women who choose to balance a liberal arts education with a passion for horsemanship.

• Lendon Gray '71, who represented the United States in the 1980 and 1988 Olympics and in the 1991 World Cup, owns a riding and training business in Westchester, N.Y.
• Peggy McElveen '71, is Director of Equestrian Programs at St. Andrews Prebyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C.
• Jamie Planck Martin '81, three-time national individual champion and Dean's List student while at Sweet Briar, rides competitively in Jackson, Miss., where she is an attorney.
• Courtney Kneece Grimm '89, member of the 1988 ANRC Championship team, is an attorney in Jacksonville, Fla., and still finds time to show young horses.
• Lisa Hammerschmidt '90 trains horses and teaches riding at her farm in Montpelier, Va. She is also a USEF "r" judge in hunters and equitation.
• Cassie Thomas Campbell '97 completed her degree at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech and practices at Peaks View Animal Hospital in Lynchburg, Va.
• Katie Clarkson '97 continues to pleasure-ride and compete in horse shows in the Charlotte, N.C, area where she is employed by IBM as a computer program analyst.
• Shelley Steiman '01 founded a doggie day-care business and is assistant trainer at the Grosse Point Hunt Club in Grosse Point, Mich.
• Christy Rose Hart '03 recently completed her law degree at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• Megan Ogilvie '03, an environmental studies major and show team rider, is a reporter at the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper.
• Beth Goldring '05 is the new stable manager for the Goucher College Riding Program in Towson, Md.
• Karen Dennehy '05 completed her degree in economics and returned to Ashland, Va., to manage Eagle Point Farm, her family's thoroughbred racing and training facility.

Career Connections

The Riding Center offers on-campus internships in management, teaching, and schooling. Students may also propose internships in areas related to their interests such as preparing a horse for sale, exploring the use of audio-visual aids in riding, or researching the history of the Riding Program at Sweet Briar. The Career Services staff works closely with students interested in developing resumes and researching internship possibilities.

Riders also benefit from a collaborative Alumnae Office and Career Services program that connects students with SBC graduates who have gone into the equine industry, as well as those who have used their riding experiences to step off into a variety of other professions.

These graduates return to campus as "Alumnae in Residence" to meet with students interested in exploring similar career paths. For example, Vivian Yamaguchi Cohn '77 shared her experiences as a corporate lawyer in Chicago, where she rides recreationally.