Maria Biancone was a typical horse-crazy kid growing up in Roseland, New Jersey, but she never expected she’d have a career in horses. Decades later, though, she’s headed off to Paris to steward the Olympic Games show jumping competition.

As a kid, Biancone did the working student thing and rode any horse available at the local barn before heading off to college at St. Lawrence University (New York) where she rode on the school’s Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association team while studying sociology.

After college she worked at a high-end audio store and took a break from horses while she got her adult feet under her. It wasn’t until her 30s that she bought her first horse, a rescue, and connected with trainer Amber Hart and then Gary Kunsman to help her along in the adult amateur hunters and jumpers.

By that time, Biancone was bartending at night to be able to ride her own horse and get some extra rides on Kunsman’s sales horses during the day. But a conversation with Kunsman’s brother, Kenny Kunsman, changed her trajectory.

Kenny was working toward his U.S. Equestrian Federation steward’s license for hunter/jumper shows, and it piqued Biancone’s interest.

Biancone earned her ‘r’ national steward’s license in 2010, and she’s been moving up the ranks ever since. She earned her first Fédération Equestre Internationale jumping steward license in 2013 and now holds a level 3 license. 

“It was obviously a dream of mine to go to Paris,” said Biancone, now 58. “There were very few slots for [foreign stewards]. I was lucky enough to receive one. I got the email, and I think I might have even shed a tear or two. I know I did!”

“She has a huge compassion for horses and their welfare and takes her job extremely seriously,” said David Distler, whom Biancone considers a mentor. Distler is an FEI level 4 jumping judge and a level 3 steward, as well as a USEF ‘R’ jumper steward. He’ll be one of four show jumping judges in Paris. “She works hard; she does what she believes is in the best interest of the horse. She stands up for what she believes in, which is very admirable in this day and age.”

Moving Up The Levels

Biancone’s journey to the top of the sport and to Paris started at the very bottom—a ‘C’-rated show at Snowbird in Long Valley, New Jersey, where she was doing everything from checking on schooling areas to measuring horses.

“I remember getting my license, and I thought, ‘Wow, they’ve unleashed me on the horse show public, and I have no idea what I’m doing!’ ” she said with a laugh. “But I learned along the way, and I was a quick study. I remember being quite frightened going to my first horse show by myself [at Snowbird]. I was petrified that day, but I got through it.”

That same year, she was determined to volunteer at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. She sent Distler, who was discipline manager, an email every month for five months until he said yes.

“That was my first introduction to top-level sport, and I just thought it was the best thing on the planet,” Biancone remembered. “I had very little under my belt, and I was very lucky they took me on as a national steward. I just kept my mouth shut, opened my ears, and tried to learn as much as I could.”

Distler recalled that first big-time experience for her.

“I was very happy to have her on board,” he said. “I like to give everybody a chance, [and] she really wanted it badly. Sometimes the eager people get a little too overzealous, but that’s not Marie. She had a good balance. She knows when to push and when to pull back. She’s confident in her knowledge of the rules, which was great.”

Biancone met several people at that 2010 WEG who would become mentors to her, including Irish steward Kate Horgan, an FEI level 3 judge and level 4 steward who also holds a license as a level 2 eventing steward. Horgan has officiated at two Olympic Games and became Biancone’s go-to person and close confidant when she had questions about the job.

“I’ve worked with her many times subsequently, and she’s a very good steward,” said Horgan. “She’s organized, she’s very good with the riders, very good with grooms, she shares information, she is always accessible, and she’s a horsewoman. Her primary concern is the horses—always. She cares about the welfare of the horse.”

In 2012, Biancone served as a national steward at the Devon Horse Show (Pennsylvania), where the London Olympic selection trials took place. She was invited by Distler, who was show manager at the time.

“It was amazing,” she recalled. “I was watching the great American show jumpers vie for those five spots on the team. I remember being very nervous standing in the schooling area. But David has been very good to me. At that horse show he said that he was doing a clinic in Kentucky with Karen Golding, and they invited me to take their FEI clinic.”

After earning her FEI license in 2013, Biancone worked at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida) for a few seasons, going full-time steward in 2015, and she has since started spending winters at the World Equestrian Center-Ocala (Florida). 

“I’m a huge fan of show jumping,” she said. “I love to watch great horses and great riders. I enjoy watching the top level of the sport and what goes into preparing those horses to compete from the riders, barn managers, grooms. They all live, breathe and eat it. For that, a lot of sacrifice is made to show at the top level of the sport.”

Biancone credited her supportive husband, Martin Kearney, for allowing her to travel while he holds down the fort at home in Verona, New Jersey, with her retired horse and their dog.

“The travel can be hard,” she admitted. “Being away from home and my husband and horse and dog. My husband is very tolerant, and he’s happy I’m doing something I’m so passionate about.”

So far, Biancone has ticked off several bucket list horse shows. She worked at the CHIO Aachen (Germany) in 2019, the CSI Geneva (Switzerland) in 2022, and the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final (Nebraska) in 2023.

She’s hoping to do more work in Europe next summer, but already this year she’s made the North American rounds, stewarding at WEC—Ocala, Old Salem Farm (New York), Upperville (Virginia), Saugerties (New York), Spruce Meadows (Alberta) and Thunderbird (British Columbia). She’ll head to the Hampton Classic (New York), Washington International (Maryland) and the National Horse Show (Kentucky) after the Olympics to cap off a busy year.

“She knows her rules; she’s very good at her rules,” said Horgan. “She’s helped a lot of the national stewards by teaching them seminars and webinars. She knows how to interpret the FEI rules correctly. She has a good sense of humor. She’s easy to work with. She’s practical. She’s a worker bee.”

While she must keep a professional demeanor at shows to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest with riders, Biancone enjoys the interaction with people as much as watching their incredible horses jump. She’s often at the in-gate and out-gate to check boots and tack and knows she can always call on the community of stewards if she has a question.

“As a steward, you have to be professional. We are there to enforce horse welfare and a level playing field,” she said. “I do enjoy helping people—helping the grooms if they have a problem or trying to straighten it out. That’s a hard part of it—enforcing the rules across the board. It’s good when you have good communication within your sport and within your stewarding community. Kate will send me some trickle-down information. It’s good to have some connections. It’s always, phone a friend. We try to help each other that way. I’ve met some excellent people through stewarding that I’m very good friends with now. I’ve enjoyed those relationships as well.”