DAVIS, Calif. — Jessie Weisinger still remembers the first horse she ever rode.
She was three-and-a-half years old and took a pony through its circular paces at a local carnival. From that point on, she was hooked.
"I can honestly say I don't remember what made me first fall in love with horses as I got the bug when I was quite young, but I am guessing it is the same way I feel about them now: they bring a sense of calmness out in me," Weisinger said. "There is something about their big, brown, kind eyes that look into your soul that just gets to me. As soon as the ride ended, I kept asking to go again and again and again."
Then came a pony of her own, Junior, who was a gift at age five. In third grade, Mariah, was born — a horse that she and her mother, Jackie Highfill, bred, raised, and trained. The two were joined at the bit, competing at the local and national levels through middle and high school, road-tripping to College Station for her collegiate career at Texas A&M and, then, traveling across the state of Texas teaching horsemanship clinics and the basics of riding to scores of young kids — including a future National Collegiate Equestrian Association first-team All-American in Avery Ellis — during their many summers together.
"I learned tons from her," Weisinger remembered fondly about her favorite companion. "She passed away at the age of 28 and she was truly one in a million."
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UC Davis head equestrian coach Jessie Weisinger and her first pony ride (left) and atop Mariah (right)
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All those experiences have been a labor of love for Weisinger, who also seems to have a "thing" about being first.
She was a pioneer as a student-athlete as a member of Texas A&M's first-ever equestrian team in 1999. Later, as a senior, she helped lead the Aggies to the school's first of 12 National Collegiate Equestrian Association national titles — which just so happened to be the first-ever NCEA national crown.
Now, holding the reins of a different group of Aggies, she enters a busy third year at the helm of the first-ever equestrian team at UC Davis, a challenge she readily accepted.
"First as an emerging sport within NCAA there are not many head coaches who oversee a full team, meaning both western and jumping seat," Weisinger said. "The opportunity to be in that group amongst some very successful coaches is an honor in itself.
"Secondly, I have been in the horse business for many years as an exhibitor, horse show manager, trainer, and also a collegiate assistant coach. I have learned different skills from each of those jobs that I felt would help me develop a successful and strong program from the ground up."
Announced as one of two new sport offerings by the university in the April of 2018, the former Texas A&M assistant, who also won back-to-back national titles as a coach in 2017 and 2018, traded the maroon and white of her alma mater for Aggie blue and gold three months later and immediately got to work, charged with the daunting task of building a program from scratch.
"We were all just overly excited to be a part of the first Division I equestrian team at Texas A&M and I felt the same way taking the reins of this new program," Weisinger said. "We knew there was going to be a ton of work if we wanted to be successful, but we were willing to put in the energy and effort and it is the same thing here."
While other teams were preparing for competition, Weisinger was just getting started. Even though UC Davis had an established equestrian club on-campus, her roster was empty, she had no equipment, she had no assistant coach and, more importantly, she needed horses with her program's debut against Delaware State looming a mere six months away.
A social media campaign ensued and the community responded with donations. Some of the newest "student-athletes" on campus went by the names of "Tom," "Eden," "Cappo," "Pee Wee," "Flash," and "Olaf," as the Aggies' stable grew to 11 horses that first season (and now number 27 heading into the 2020-21 campaign).
The department also built partnerships with the world-renowned UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which provide medical and leadership support from some of the top experts in their respective fields, and worked closely with Campus Recreation, which operates the UC Davis Equestrian Center.
With assistant coach
Jill Humphrey in the fold and a roster quickly coming together after a series of tryouts, the Aggies were off to the races, handing Weisinger her first victory as a head coach in that debut against the Hornets.
An emerging sport in the eyes of the NCAA, UC Davis is one of 16 Division I programs that compete as part of the NCEA as a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, joined by four other Division II programs and four more Division III schools.
After learning the ropes during the 2019 campaign, the Aggies tripled their win total and earned their first-ever national ranking during a shortened 2020 season against a schedule that featured six nationally ranked squads. UC Davis won three of its final four meets last year and entered the 2020-21 season as the No. 10 team in the nation.
"We knew we had a plan. We knew we wanted to be at this number of horses this year, this many at the next, this many student-athletes, and we're meeting our goals," Weisinger said. "With where the team is and how well we're doing, we're further along than anyone thought. It's not only that we're competitive, it's how much we've come together as a program, how unified and bonded we are, and how much each of the student-athletes support each other.
"Obviously, in a few years, we'd love to bring home a conference championship and everybody would love to win a national championship but, if we just continue on the path that we are on, continue to recruit great riders, and make this team the best it can be, I think we will be there before we know it."
However, wins and losses aside, she hopes that her student-athletes leave their time at UC Davis with that same love she felt on that pony at the carnival.
"As a student-athlete you gain a large family of peers who have your back no matter what," Weisinger said. "As a coach I love getting to watch everything unfold. You get to see the student-athletes as they grow from their freshman to senior years both in the arena and outside of it.
"I love it when light bulbs click on as they figure something new out with each horse and to see the partnerships they create with each animal. I love seeing the team cheering for each other at practice and competitions. It truly is an amazing sport. After all, what other sport allows you to work with another living being as your equipment?"
ABOUT UC DAVIS
With the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, more than 700 student-athletes represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation on one of 25 intercollegiate athletics teams.
UC Davis, a national leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, is centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley; and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.
Ranked annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.
