Temecula, Calif.—Aug. 29

Marilyn Schackner isn’t a daredevil, although you wouldn’t know it by the teen’s two passions: piloting airplanes and riding cross-country. What draws her to both isn’t the thrill, she said, but the steady, level-headed focus required of both.

“She’s very structured and calm,” said her mother, Layla Schackner. “I know it doesn’t make sense—but it does. Because she plans, she’s not reactive, she thinks things through.”

This week the 18-year-old is competing her Zangersheide gelding Georgie Z (George Z—Peggy), in the modified rider division at the USEA American Eventing Championships at Galway Downs. The pair is currently sitting at the top of the class with a 28.2 after dressage and cross-country before their final show jumping phase today.

Marilyn balanced the road to qualifying for the AEC with her busy schedule as an undergraduate student at Jessup University in Rocklin, California, where she’s studying aviation with the goal of becoming a commercial airline pilot. 

She didn’t grow up knowing she wanted to be a pilot, like many of her college classmates, she said. She graduated high school early and knew she wanted to stay close to home. Browsing the programs at the nearby university, she had only middling interest in their offerings until she came across aviation. She enrolled the week before the start of school and hasn’t looked back. Once she actually sat in the cockpit, she said, things clicked.

“I started flying and was like, it’s actually really similar to riding a horse in a weird way, because you control which way the plane is facing with your feet and the roll of it with the yoke,” Marilyn said. “It’s a similar feel to your inside leg and your outside rein. It really felt kind of natural and like, ‘Oh, this is something I’d actually want to do long-term.’ ”

While her mother describes Marilyn as logical, they both admit that horse shopping for “Georgie” was anything but that. Marilyn was about 15 years old when she began searching for an eventing partner who would be easier than the pony she was riding at the time. 

“I had to fight just to finish,” she said of that difficult partnership. “It was either, I get the perfect horse, or I’m not going to ride anymore.”

“The funny part is she had this list,” Layla said of the teen’s criteria for her next partner. “She said, ‘I just don’t want anything too big; I don’t want something like a plain bay; and I want something that’s been-there-and-done-that so I can just have fun.’ ”

So, of course, Marilyn ended up with a 17-hand, 6-year-old bay gelding with no show record. Although the horse was big and green (and bay), his personality told her he was the right match. 

“He’d never shown, and he had no steering or brakes, but he was so kind,” she said. “And I just needed something that was going to take care of me.” 

Between her undergrad classes and flight schedule, Marilyn occasionally takes lessons with Andrea Pfeiffer and Tommy Greengard. The trainers helped her put the pieces together with the now 9-year-old gelding. She’s landed on a program that works for her and Georgie, striking a balance of keeping him fit without adding too much mental pressure.

“Honestly, I feel like schooling for him is a little counterproductive,” she said. “He knows his job.”

While she initially didn’t want an inexperienced horse, she’s now glad they’re able to tackle new experiences together.

“He’s been fantastic,” Layla said. “She continues to learn from him, and he learns from her, and they kind of catch up. One of them moves up, then the other meets halfway, and then they start over again.”

Update: Marilyn Schackner and Georgie Z finished with a clear show jumping round on Friday afternoon, earning the modified rider championship on their dressage score of 28.2.

If you’re competing a cool horse or pony or have overcome the odds to make it to the AEC, email Hannah Sherk at hsherk@coth.com for a chance to be featured. Be sure you’re following the Chronicle’s coverage of the 2025 USEA American Eventing Championships on Facebook and Instagram @Chronofhorse.