Whether you’re a kid going to a summer camp or an adult picking up a brand new sport, it’s always intimidating to go into a space where you don’t know anyone, wondering “Will I be accepted? Will people like me?”

That’s exactly how Jeremy Scott felt when he decided he wanted to learn how to ride a year ago. But for him, it was even more complicated—not only was he a 35-year-old man wanting to take up a sport dominated by “horse girls,” he’s also Black and gay.

So when Scott showed up at Full Moon Farm in Finksburg, Maryland, to find out about their program, “I was very nervous, very nervous walking into it,” he recalled. “But I’m very used to being the only one sometimes—only Black person, the only male in a room and in a space. For me personally, that has never been a deterrent. If anything, it’s made me want to kind of go a little bit forward, because I’ve always grown up being told, ‘If not you, then who?’ If you don’t see yourself being reflected, that means it’s an opportunity for you to be that person, for yourself and for other people.”

Scott’s trepidation turned out to be unwarranted, however. He showed up with a Starbucks cup in hand and barn manager Christine Hryzak invited him to hop on the golf cart and showed him around the farm. That was on a Friday; Scott was back on Sunday to watch a horse trials and he’s been hooked ever since—not just by the horses, although they’re a major part of it, but also by the way he was welcomed into this new world. 

“People were introducing me, they were introducing themselves. That’s something I think speaks volumes, when people are saying, ‘You’re new, you’re not from here or around this, but let’s show you around. Let’s show you why we love this,’ ” he said. “It was crazy. A year later, I did that horse trial at pre-starter [level], and I got third place.”

With that experience it was a natural fit for Scott to join the board of the Full Moon Farm Eventing Foundation, a non-profit founded in 2024 with the goal of promoting good horsemanship, fostering inclusion and preventing marginalization. In honor of Pride Month, FMFEF is hosting an online panel June 27 to discuss how to support LGBTQIA+ athletes and employees and to share experiences about participating in the sport.

“I think right now we’re at a really important place in our country, here in the U.S., and just in general,” Scott said. “I think what we’re hoping for this to be is a conversation and a safe space for people that are in the LGBTQIA+ community, and those who are not. But I think what’s happening a lot right now is that people are talking at each other and not listening and not speaking with each other. I think a lot of times when we create spaces where we get to storytell—I’m a true believer, and I love how Michelle Obama talks about this is—it’s hard to hate up close.”

The panel, which will be held via the Microsoft Teams platform, will include Scott, who is a medical student preparing to start residency; Lt. Cmdr. Geirid Morgan, a trans woman who has served in the U.S. Navy for 14 years who will offer the perspective of a non-horseperson involved with LGBQTIA+ community; and Julia Zetlmeisl, a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association and eventing teams at Otterbein University (Ohio), who came out while a student at Full Moon. The panel will be moderated by Emily Jacobs, an instructor at Full Moon.

“Everybody’s coming together, different generations, different types of people to have a conversation,” Scott said. “It’s to also just show you that we’re a lot more similar than we are different. And whether it’s this sport, whether it’s another sport, whether it’s trans, whether it’s gay, whatever else it is, let’s just talk. Let’s talk about the things that are scaring us, the things that are bringing us together, bringing us joy.

“It’s probably hokey to have that hope that it will be something that just kind of makes people happy. But that’s what we’re working for right now, because I think we need a little bit of that right now. I think things are very tense. I think things are very heavy and we’re hoping that the event will have a little bit of lightness to it, joy, happiness, real discussion,” Scott said. “But I think that’s what we’re hoping for it to bring, and show that this horse community, it is open and welcoming. It can be scary, yes, because of the homogenous nature of what people may see, but there is more depth there than what some people really know. So you just got to step in and, you know, learn a little bit. And so that’s what we’re hoping.”

This is the latest in a series of panels FMFEF has hosted, including one on mental health and another on being a good ally for the LGBTQIA+ community. The foundation is also currently in the midst of its 25 In 25 Campaign, seeking to raise $25,000 to fund a perpetual grant through the U.S. Eventing Association. 

“We’re hoping to award a deserving athlete $1,000 each year that they can put towards either education, competitions, whatever it may be for their horse riding experience,” Scott said, adding that they’ve raised about $20,000 so far.