Competing at the Four Star level takes hard work, endless patience, a bit of luck and a great support team, and support is something Jennifer Wooten and her mare, The Good Witch, are getting a lot of.
When Jennifer announced plans to compete at the Four Star event in Pau, France, her team rallied behind her to make her Four Star debut a reality. Pau’s Four Star event runs Oct. 24-28, and is a full phase CCI. A glance through Pau’s website reveals what the pair has to expect at this prestigious event: huge jumping efforts, dense crowds and an air of formality that seems to accompany all the proceedings. In order to be successful, Jennifer and The Witch will need to rely on the strong partnerships that they have established over their four-year career together. For Jennifer, looking to this future event means recognizing the hard work and partnerships that helped her reach this level.
Growing up in Central California’s Buellton, Jennifer always knew she wanted to make her living riding, training and selling horses. Her early days of teaching and riding were spent at her parent’s boarding ranch, where Jennifer competed her own mount, Tuco Territory, up to Intermediate level. Jen’s success with eventing came through her hard work and her discipline, and she founded her training and sales business out of her parent’s ranch.
Nancy Wooten, Jennifer’s mother, has been supportive of Jennifer’s goals since early on, driving Jennifer to Pony Club rallies and lessons, and helping Jen find work as an exercise rider at Flag Is Up Farm, a Thoroughbred training facility. Nancy continues to help Jen extensively, including being at competitions to cheer her daughter on and watch her success. As Jennifer competed, she established herself as a greatly talented rider, and Team Trinity soon became full of supporters of Jennifer, from family and friends to sponsors and, to the rider’s delight, two exceptional owners.
Don and Daisy Tognazzini, of Buellton, purchased The Good Witch for Jennifer to compete four years ago, and have enjoyed seeing the pair succeed at the Advanced and Three Star level. Highlights for the owners, as well as Jen and The Witch, include placing second at the Galway Downs CIC*** in March of 2006, taking third at the CIC*** hosted at Galway in March of this year, and most recently placing 14th of 50 at the Three Star at Jersey Fresh.
With Don and Daisy’s help, Jennifer and The Witch were also able to compete at Blenheim Palace, where they gained invaluable international experience to take with them to Pau. The Tognazzinis saw early Jennifer’s drive to compete at the upper levels, and approached Jennifer looking to become a part of her team. Jennifer and Daisy journeyed to Ireland on a horse shopping expedition, and knew what they had when they saw The Good Witch.

Small Package
Jennifer can’t talk about The Witch without smiling and her respect for the mare is apparent. The Witch, or ‘Pooh,’ stands 15.2 hands, with one small white sock on her bay coat. She’s built small and putting on her dressage tack means Jennifer needs to cross the girth straps of her Antares saddle and buckle them into a 22” girth. It’s hard to believe that this tiny mare jumps around Advanced level, but Jennifer has complete faith in her. She feels “incredibly lucky” to have the chance to compete such a “quality horse,” and is eternally grateful to the Tognazzinis for their help. The Tognazzinis are now firmly rooted in Jennifer’s support team, but they don’t do it alone: Jennifer’s generous sponsors supplement their help.
Tahiti Nui Travel, Antares, Grand Meadows, Ice Horse, APF Auburn Laboratories, ShowToes, and Copper Meadows actively contribute to Jennifer’s success both at home and in the show ring. For her everyday operations and training business, Wooten calls Copper Meadows Equestrian Center, in San Diego County’s Ramona, home. Jennifer’s relationship with Copper Meadows owner Carolyn Hoffos goes beyond board: Carolyn actively competes and takes lessons with Jennifer, and the two have been close friends for more than five years.
“Convincing Jennifer to move to Ramona has been so beneficial to both my riding and Copper Meadows as a facility. I feel like I’ve improved so much, and Jennifer has taken Copper Meadows to a whole new level,” says Carolyn. Their relationship is mutually helpful. Carolyn supports Jennifer’s Four Star goals completely, and Jennifer in turn, supports Copper Meadows by bringing in new clients.
Part of their relationship also includes the two working together to make Copper Meadows the best that it can be. With Jen’s help Carolyn has made several improvements to Copper. Most recently the pair is discussing adding on an Equicizer to the facility to help with exercising older horses and horses coming back from injuries. Carolyn, along with Jennifer’s other sponsors, are doing their best to ensure that Jen and The Witch are taken care of, both on a personal level and financially.
Jen’s support group has pulled together to help offset the cost of travel to and from Pau by organizing a fundraising raffle. Over 50 companies have contributed prizes to the raffle, with Tahiti Nui Travel donating the grand prize of a four-night stay at an exclusive Tahitian resort. Jen hopes to sell all 1,000 tickets, and plans to draw the winners at her Welcome Back party, being held in Ramona in November. The sale of all the tickets will cover an enormous amount of the travel expenses, and Jen is grateful to everyone who has donated time and products to make this a possibility.
The Witch and Jennifer departed for France in mid-October and, at presstime, all of Team Trinity was looking forward to seeing the pair in action and watching their hard work pay off. Pau’s website will be updated with results at www.event-pau.fr.
If you would like more information about Team Trinity, or would like to contact Jennifer Wooten, please e-mail Trintythreeday@gmail.com.