Wilmington, Ohio – This week’s Wilmington Sunday Spotlight shines on professional Molly Kindness. The athlete of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been a frequent competitor at World Equestrian Center – Wilmington with her string of young horses, including her top mares HJ Blind Date and BH Komara. When she is not in the barn bringing along the babies, Kindness can be found working her other full-time job. We caught up with Kindness to learn more about her journey in the sport and her experience at WEC – Wilmington.
WEC: Tell us about your riding journey.
I started riding probably about the same time I could walk. So, I’ve been riding since I was very little on some crazy ponies and I never looked back. Slowly over time I transitioned from the hunters and primarily got into jumpers but now I do a mix of both. I became a professional when somebody asked me to help them with their lesson program about 12 years ago, and for a while I just considered myself an amateur professional! So, I do lots of lessons and clinics and am still working towards some big goals. I’ve competed in my first FEI CSI2* and one of my dreams is to jump a four-or five-star one day if I ever have a horse for it.
I work with different people. I work a bit with David Beisel, and I do a lot of clinics. The most fun clinic I just did was with Jeff Cook. I learned a lot. I think he had a lot of fun with my horse Apple. I take any opportunity I can to get more education from not only seasoned riders, but ones that want to see success out of you is really, I think fundamental to anybody’s riding.
WEC: Tell us about your program at Berry Hill Equestrian.
My program is very small. I mostly have young horses. A lot of the horses I start myself and then we bring them along. I think the oldest horse that we have in my program is nine. Most of them range between three and seven. There is never a dull moment! I’m a mare girl, so my jumpers are very athletic and spunky mares. I have a good group of adult ladies and it’s fun and small. I don’t have a lesson program. We really just enjoy each other’s company and enjoy learning how to ride.
WEC: Tell us about your mares HJ Blind Date and BH Komara.
I got HJ Blind Date, also known as Olive in the barn, three years ago and I started her from scratch. I actually got her on an online auction when I was studying for the BAR Exam. She has done the 1.30 classes and the Futures Prix here. I also have BH Komara, aka Apple. They are both eight and they have a ton of potential. I just need to continue my lessons and education with them. Especially BH Komara, she and I had an accident together earlier this year and it took a lot of confidence to come back. We’re back at the 1.30m level and hope to move back up the levels.
WEC: How do you balance working full time and riding professionally?
I work as an in-house counsel for a tech firm. I do that full time and then I split my time with the horses. There’s only 24 hours in the day, but we figure it out! I am almost fully remote. I’ve been coming to WEC since I was a little kid, and it has always been such a supportive group of people. It helped me get through law school here. I was still showing, and they run such a good horse show here that it is easy to be down at the ring and then run upstairs to get work done. I actually have no clue how I do it, I just do it. It’s long days, but I love every minute of it.
WEC: Tell us about your experience with WEC – Wilmington.
I am located in Cincinnati, Ohio, so it is in our backyard, so traveling isn’t stressful on the horses. There are classes from the .60m all the way up. One thing I love about WEC – Wilmington is that you get to school at night, and you get to jump the jumps. There are all different jumps through the week, they change it out. Everywhere you are the horses get a good experience. I leave here and I’ll go to another venue and it is like nothing, the horses are well prepared. It is just a very welcoming, happy place. And it’s always warm, the weather is great!
Additionally, all of us in this area that have known each other since we were younger just makes the camaraderie here really cool. We are so blessed to have this in our backyard. You can talk to anybody at the horse show and everyone is just so happy and welcoming.