From the city to the coast, the champion rider finds her passion • The Malibu Times

Elsa Conrad describes show jumping as a compact camera.

“You just have to keep your reach short and they’ll jump it,” Elsa said as she walked alongside her horse Ben after practice. “I think it’s the adrenaline rush; it’s really fun to ride and ride.”

Ten-year-old Elsa won first and second place with her two horses, Sugar Plum Fairy and Tinnecarrig Ben, at the Spa Equestrian Park in Palm Springs February 13.

Elsa’s mother, Haylynn Conrad, said she remembers the first time Elsa rode her first pony at a fundraiser at Under the Oaks Preschool in Malibu.

“They had pony rides as an attraction, she must have been about 2, and they tied her to a pony and she refused to get off; she just wanted to keep going,” Conrad said. “Every time they took her down, she would get back in line and wait for her turn to come back up, and after that her passion started.”

Conrad said that when it comes to sports, his kids are against it. Her daughter loves horses, while her son enjoys football, surfing, snowboarding and spearfishing.

“I never thought I would have a daughter who would like this,” she said. “I have a 12-year-old son who doesn’t like it. He loves snowboarding and surfing, but I also surf — I do both. I surf with him and I ride with her.

Elsa was born in 2011 in Manhattan and moved permanently to the West Coast when she was 2 years old.

Elsa grew up attending the Rancho Sea Air riding school at Malibu Ranch, next to the Zad Ranch, and trained with Gina McCloskey, a former Malibu resident whose ranch has been in the family for years.

“She [McCloskey] fascinates all children for horses; he’s a wonderful person,” Haylynn said.

Practice for Elsa usually takes place after school and even early in the morning for competitions.

She has been training with Laura Kotimäki-Hurd of Malibu’s LKH Equestrian since she was 7 years old and started competing at 8 years old.

“I’ll never forget the first time I gave him a real jump. The box was about a foot tall and Elsa was looking at it like it was the scariest thing in the world, but she jumped it and it was a huge achievement for her,” Kotimäki-Hurd said. “And now she’s jumping .80s, .90s and I’m seeing huge progress, and that’s one of those things as a coach [that] makes you really proud to see that.

Kotimäki-Hurd, 40, has been riding ponies since she was 5, turned professional at 17, traveled in her early 20s and worked in countries including Canada and the UK before moving on. permanently settle in the United States.

“When I moved here, I worked for someone else for a bit, then I started my own business and I’ve been doing it in Malibu for about seven years, but I’ve been a pro since I was 17 years old,” Kotimäki-Hurd said. noted.

Born and raised in Coney Island, Brooklyn, Haylynn Conrad said she wanted to raise her children in Manhattan because that’s where her family is still, but moved to California and found stable ground.

“My husband is a born and bred Malibuite and fought hard for us to move to the West Coast and he probably won; we never looked back after that,” Conrad said. “My husband graduated from Webster and Santa Monica High, went to Berkeley, and is a noted scientist.”

When Elsa started horseback riding, Conrad said it wasn’t something she was used to as a New Yorker. Former model Conrad also enjoys surfing and horse training with Kotimäki-Hurd.

“In Brooklyn, it’s not a gimmick, nobody does that, but I didn’t know you could jump on horseback, so that’s all new to me,” she said. “It’s been an amazing learning experience for me because it’s not something I grew up with.”

Conrad said that while watching Elsa practice, she slowly began to ride horses.

“I needed to figure out what the phenom was with it because people who do it, love it and there’s a lot of women of all ages doing it, so I thought, maybe I should give it a try. “, she said. “The first time I jumped just a little bit, I said, ‘Oh now I get it, I get it. It’s fun,’ and there’s an adrenaline rush, but I don’t never thought that in a million years I would think I would be doing this.

Conrad said she learned to step back and let her trainer teach Elsa, even when she was falling.

“If she falls, the key is you gotta get over it – for a mum, you’re a little worried,” she said. “Fortunately, we have a coach who pushes the limits, but knows when not to.

“As a mother, it’s terrifying, but I’m always proud of Elsa. I’m always so proud of her because it’s not easy and it’s terrifying and scary to be on a horse, but she has such tenacity and perseverance, it teaches her and I know it’s the right thing.

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