Lizzy Knight

Lizzy grew up in North Vancouver, BC, Canada surrounded by her mom Gillian, Dad Tom, and older brother Matt. From a young age Lizzy had always been drawn to horses, however coming from a non-horsey family in the city her parents were surprised by her hunger to pursue this sport.

Lizzy began riding at age 8 at a summer camp in South Vancouver. From the minute she first sat on a horse she was hooked. Lizzy continued riding in South Vancouver with Nancy Brook for the next two and a half years. During this time Lizzy competed at her first shows as well as participated in Pony Club and the Prince Philip Games (PPG). Three notable horses from early on in Lizzy’s riding career were Impy, Austin, and Oscar.

By age 10 Lizzy had been able to find a small barn closer to home. There she leased two different horses over the span of a year, Penny and Fio. Once Lizzy’s parents saw that she was committed to the sport and caring for horses as demonstrated through leasing, they decided it was time to take the next step and purchase Lizzy her first horse at age 11.

Thomas, a pure Le Cheval Canadien, lived on Vancouver Island when Lizzy and Tom first went to meet him. Right from the get go it was clear Thomas was exactly what they were looking for- a steady, safe, all-arounder who could give Lizzy experience and confidence. Soon after Thomas passed his Vet exam he came home to the mainland in North Vancouver. There he taught Lizzy the foundation of Dressage and took her on her first cross country outings and to 3-Day Events!

With the positive foundation Thomas provided Lizzy, she grew ambitions of continuing to move up the levels of the sport of Eventing. However, unfortunately the family could not provide for two horses, so Lizzy had to make the decision to sell him. Thomas found a loving home within BC. After Thomas’ sale, Lizzy and Tom were yet again out on journeys to find her next partner.

Lizzy and Tom made a week-long trip to Alberta in February when Lizzy was 14 as the horse market in BC wasn’t particularly promising at the time. In Alberta Lizzy had the opportunity to ride many great prospects, however one stood out. The fuzzy little bum-high 4-year old named Vixen. Being winter in Alberta she had quite the wholly coat! She was a fairly plain bay and not much to look at at the time, but she had the kindest eyes and a calming presence.

Vixen passed her Vet exam and then made the journey to BC. For the first couple of years together Lizzy kept Vixen at the same small barn in North Vancouver where Thomas had also been. The barn was small and training resources limited. However, there was direct trail access to a large hill with varying terrain, great footwork training and conditioning for the young prospective Event horse!

Lizzy struggled with the doubts of others, whether they were about herself or Vixen. Vixen was quite a challenging youngster, and Lizzy was just a teenager- she was often left to her own resources to learn through “trial and error” as the onsite coach thought nothing of the pair. This is also when Lizzy became inspired to become a coach herself after struggling with discouragement and negativity. Lizzy vowed that when she became a coach she would treat her students with better respect and encouragement. Lizzy was grateful that her family had their own truck and trailer allowing her and Vixen to travel for lessons at every opportunity. Lizzy enjoyed working intensively for several years with Sabrina Glaser. Through the years Lizzy and Vixen also had opportunities to learn from other great trainers such as, Ingrid Klimke, Hawley Bennett, Wendy Christoff, Maeve Drew, Sara Sellmer, Brandy Saunders, Sara Pocock, Courtenay Fraser, and other wonderful teachers.

Lizzy transferred schools to be as close to the barn as possible. She would sometimes start her day at the barn in the morning mucking out before jogging 15 minutes to school. Then she would come back at lunch to eat with her horse, and then head back to school to finish the last class of the day. In Grade 9 Lizzy was accepted into a program called Peak-Performance which allowed her to end her school day at lunch in order to ride and train. During high school Lizzy worked several jobs to care for Vixen, mucking and feeding at their home barn, riding for owners, at the local race track, and being a working student. Once Lizzy got her driver’s license she moved Vixen out to Langley, though a hour-long drive one way, to be closer to better training facilities and her coach. The pair stayed at a wonderful facility for several years before moving to her trainer Sabrina’s private farm as they climbed the levels. Sabrina also welcomed Lizzy and Vixen on two incredible journeys down to California to train and compete.

After years of blood, sweat, and tears- Lizzy and Vixen successfully competed at Preliminary Level for three years, as well as completing FEI’s CCI2*-S and CCI2*-L, and Intermediate level.

Lizzy had been training and selling horses though the years, but always had goals of becoming a coach herself, and in order to do that in Canada the individual must go through a series of test’s and evaluations- written, ridden, and taught.

Lizzy acquired all eight of the Equine Canada rider’s levels, CPR training, Coaching Certification, and independent insurance to train.

When Lizzy was 19 she began working at Semiamhoo Stables in Surrey, BC just 15 minutes from where Vixen was boarded. There Lizzy was welcomed by Marilyn and Allison Morris. Soon after starting Lizzy acquired several horses in training, Quiz and Voodoo being two of them, as well as becoming the head coach teaching over 40 students weekly. Lizzy is forever grateful for the time and opportunities to grow at Semiamhoo.

In early 2020 Vixen and Lizzy were involved in a freak accident that ultimately led to Vixen’s passing. Lizzy continued to teach and train out of Semiamhoo.

Early in 2021 Lizzy made the decision to make the next step up in the industry by moving to bigger horse country. Appreciating the benefits of Canadian-American dual citizenship through her Dad, Lizzy spent time in Florida and Pennsylvania before settling in New Jersey.