ABOUT SARA

Sara McCloskey is a talented American young rider who aspires to reach the highest level of  equestrian sport. As a junior, Sara trained under the guidance of top industry professional, Val Renihan, and found great success in the hunter, jumper, and equitation rings. Sara’s resume includes numerous championship ribbons and top placings from some of the nation’s most prestigious horse shows, such as Capital Challenge, the National Horse Show, Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals, WEF, and USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals.

After aging out of the junior ranks, Sara decided on a gap year before attending University so that she could further her knowledge of the horse sport and industry. With Val’s encouragement, Sara thought that spending time learning about the European side of the industry would be an excellent way to do this. Val connected Sara with the team at Sorensen Stables and arranged for her to spend the summer training there. Sara arrived in Europe in the spring of 2018 and purchased two young horses, with the goal of learning to develop horses for a future in the sport. The horses were to stay in The Netherlands through the summer for her to learn the European system, and then, in the autumn, get imported to Florida.

The summer of 2018 was filled with countless learning experiences and Sara saw her skills as a horsewoman grow immensely. As planned, she returned to the United States to start school at Washington University in St. Louis. It was decided then that the horses would remain in Europe and continue to be developed by Chris Sorensen and his team. While Sara was able to make the occasional trip to Europe to train and compete throughout the academic year, she missed being a daily participant in both the sport and the development of her horses. Therefore, in the winter of 2019, Sara decided to transfer to Maastricht University. This would enable her to keep developing her skills in the horse industry, where she sees her future, while still getting an excellent education.

Now that Sara is a full-time Maastricht resident, she is excited to pave her way in both the sport and business aspects of the equestrian world. Under the guidance of the team at Sorensen Stables, Sara aspires to reach the highest levels, ultimately aiming to compete for the U.S. team in Nations Cup competitions. Additionally, Sara looks forward to using her knowledge of young horse development, as well as both the European and American systems, to establish herself as an industry professional and, upon completing university, operate a business of her own.