PrintAt 28, he’s the youngest U.S. driver nominated for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Josh Rector drives through a mowed field, his four-in-hand team fit and fresh coming off their second-placed finish at the Bromont CAI in Quebec at the end of June.
Along the neighboring country road, a woman stops traffic to get out and snap a photograph of the team decked out in a custom camel and chrome harness and pulling a Van Der Heuvel carriage, which rattles and clinks. Old world craftsmanship is surprisingly loud.
Rector is warming up the team, walking the hills around his temporary home at Richard and Marlene Sipes’ Liberty Corner Farm in Scottsville, Va. Flambo, the right lead today, flicks his ears back and forth, checking in with both Rector and the team. One of the smartest horses Rector has owned, Flambo is the main link in communication and always gives 100 percent.
To his left is Jag, with a full straight blaze, the flashiest of Rector’s team of bays. In the rear is the team’s baby, Freedom, an 8-year-old Dutch gelding with the most expressive movement and the least experience. And in the final slot is Janosh, Rector’s rock, and the one horse who doesn’t have to be driven each stride. Janosh is invaluable to a person trying to coordinate four horses simultaneously.
Back at the barn are Pit 57, the “Eveready Energizer bunny,” Nicastri, a quirky 18-year-old going on 3, and Dollart 14, a packer who sometimes gets bored at home. These seven horses make up “The Boys” and will hopefully be Rector’s ticket to this year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
When A Gamble Becomes A Priority
Rector’s been busy. His life for the past year has consisted of eight-hour days at the barn followed by hours working via laptop to catch up with his day job—senior vice president at The Bromont Group. The commercial real estate development firm is based in Scotts-dale, Ariz., and only coincidentally shares its name with the Canadian equestrian venue.
At 28, Rector is the youngest U.S. driver qualified for the WEG and one of the few whips from the West. Combined driving is dominated by middle-aged men—men young enough to control a horse and carriage at a flat-out gallop but old enough to have the money to foot the bill.
Rector’s father, Walt, always told his horse-minded kids: “If you want to have good horses and be able to really advance in the horse world, the way to do that is to be able to support yourself in something other than horses.”
But this year Josh is gambling his life savings (he said the dressage equipment on the horses for his morning work alone totals more than $70,000) on a WEG team spot. Prioritizing horses over his day job for the first time, he moved his team of horses and grooms over the winter from their home, Nags Head Farm in Flagstaff, Ariz., to train at Canterbury Tail Farm in Ocala, Fla., before moving north to Virginia.
As one of the younger members of the sport, Josh is a physical driver. In the carriage, he’s a mountain of sloping shoulders topped with a ball cap and sunglasses. He has the solid feel of a football lineman, the sole counterweight to the horsepower surging in front.
“Upper body strength all the way through your back is definitely important,” he said, equating the pressure of the horses at their most intense to the weight of two hay bales in each hand.
