PrintWhat’s the quickest way to win Natalie Varcoe-Cocks’ heart? Compliment her on her superior organizational skills.
The perfect groom has an abundance of affection for horses and a healthy sense of humor, with a dash of obsessive compulsive tendencies sprinkled on top—that description fits Varcoe-Cocks to a T.
“I have been laughed at for folding all the towels the same. Everything’s done very particularly, which sometimes drives people crazy, but I love for people to notice it,” Varcoe-Cocks said. “Who doesn’t love a little positive affirmation?”
Better known in eventing circles as “just Nat V-C,” Varcoe-Cocks has stood anxiously at the cross-country finish lines of events all over the world. She’s known for her irreverent humor, vintage Aussie accent and matter-of-fact candor. (And for her shadbelly dancing skills.)
Varcoe-Cocks now works for Will Faudree at his Gavilan Farm in Hoffman, N.C., but she’s also done time at Jan Byyny’s Virginia farm and at British rider David Green’s farm in England. Varcoe-Cocks is at her best figuring out quirky horses, and she’s had to call on that expertise in understanding Faudree’s Pawlow.
“I don’t want to say something cliché like 'she’s the backbone of the organization,' because we’re such a team, and we work really well together,” Faudree said. “But I have total trust in her, and she’s such a strong person that I can rely on for whatever situation is being dealt with, whether it’s positive or negative. She’s a great friend.
“I don’t ever have to wonder if things are getting done the way I want them done because she takes as much pride in these horses as I and [owner] Jennifer Mosing do," he added. "She takes incredible pride in their turn-out, in their health and their performances.”
Many Turns On The Path
Even at age 38, Varcoe-Cocks claims she isn’t quite sure she’s found what she wants to do when she grows up, but she’s pretty content for the moment. She’s not a big fan of planning well into the future, and she’s lived an interesting life by jumping at opportunities that came her way.
Her first ride on a horse came at age 6 when her mother took her on a birthday trail ride near their Melbourne, Australia, home. “I cried for the entire hour. I hated it,” she said. “But a year later, for my seventh birthday, I said I wanted to go riding again, and I haven't stopped since.”
By the time she was 10, Varcoe-Cocks had her first pony. “We kept my pony at a huge place, and the Pony Club was pretty much based out of there. We’d go for the weekend, get the ponies out of the field and ride them in from the field bareback. I could only ride on weekends, so I’d ride Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. And then I wouldn’t see my pony again for another week,” she said.
