Derek Braun - Practical Horseman Podcast

0:00You are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network family. I love the creative aspect of it, honestly, it's what keeps me and my team going. We've been lucky enough to create like new events all the time, right? We have some new events almost every year, and that allows our creative juices to always stay fresh. We're always working on sort of like a new project and things like that, so that keeps it exciting for sure. We just love sitting down multiple times a week as a team here, and we have full-time staff all the time that are working on it, and just, you know, brainstorming new ideas to be creative and make our clients happy.

1:06Welcome to the Practical Horseman Podcast, featuring conversations with respected riders, industry leaders, and horse care experts. The show was co-hosted by Practical Horseman Editors, and our goal is to inform, educate, and inspire. I'm Kathleen Landware, and this week's episode is with Derek Braun, the competition organizer of the FBI World Cup Finals Fort Worth, 2026. Derek and I spoke in mid-February as he and his team were busily preparing to host this premiere event in Fort Worth, Texas. To give you a little more background on Derek, he grew up in New York and competed on the 100 Jumper Circuit as a junior, winning the 2001 USCF Talent Search Finals East and team gold at the 2002 USCF Junior Jumper National Championships at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. After graduating from Rollins College in 2007, Derek turned professional and started his

2:07training and sales business, Split Rock Farm. He competed successfully at the national and international levels, including as a member of the US Nations Cup team in Brazil in 2013. Derek realized he wanted to shift his focus from competing to organizing competitions, and in 2015, he created the Split Rock Jumping Tour. Today, the 100 Jumper Series runs 10 shows in four cities, stretching from Lexington and Tucky to Los Angeles, California. Derek and his team are also taking on the job as the organizers of the FBI World Cup Finals Fort Worth, 2026, happening from April 8th to 12th, which consists of the Lawn Jeans FBI Jumping World Cup Final and the Zen Elite FBI Dressage World Cup Final. In our discussion, Derek talks about special horses from his riding career, how he got into competition organizing, details about the FBI World Cup Finals, and more.

3:10Before getting into the conversation with Derek, I'd like to share our word from this episode's sponsor, Zoettus. Has your horse experienced lameness? Did you know your veterinarian can use the healing power of your horse's own blood to help manage lameness, joint pain, and more? The Pro Stride APS Regenerative Medicine device is designed to help keep horses feeling and performing at their best. Ask your vet if Pro Stride APS may be a great option to help support your horse's joint health journey. Zoettus is always by your side in the barn, down the center line, and everywhere in between. Now, let's jump right into the conversation with Derek where he talks about why horses have kept him involved with the sport. Oh, I mean, I've been in horses my entire life, honestly, when I was a really small child, my sister competed, that's kind of how I was introduced to it.

4:13So for me, you know, the horse industry, I think it's like anybody else, once it's in your blood, you kind of can't get it out. So, you know, just finding ways to create a great life for my family, good place to live, and really just live the way of life that we've, you know, chosen to try to create for ourselves. So, whether that be, you know, starting my career and as a professional show jumper and competitor myself to transitioning to an event organizer, you know, that's been all part of that process. Awesome. Can you talk a bit about your competitive career? What drew you to show jumping and why did you kind of stick with that discipline? Well, I mean, I'm, I'm just extremely competitive by my nature, you know, so, you know, when I was a junior rider, I competed very competitively all the way up the ranks, won a couple national championships as a junior in, you know, equitation and the jumpers.

5:18So that's sort of like led me on my trajectory to do show jumping. I really had an extreme passion for show jumping because it is what it is, you know, you know, the scores are what they are, you know, if you knock a pole down, you knock a pole down, if your, your time is too slow, it's too slow. So I, I really like the, the very definitive nature of show jumping comparatively to something more subjective, like a dressage or, or hunters or things like that. So that's not a knock on them. That's just, you know, what I gravitated towards from a competitor standpoint. So yeah, I mean, I just really loved riding horses, being around horses, competing with horses, the industry in general. So that was sort of my niche of how do I start my business as, as soon as possible graduating from college and, and what do I see my skills are best suited for? Yeah, could you talk about a bit about some of the most influential horses you had in

6:18your riding career, who they were, what they were like, and why they were influential? Yeah, I mean, the, the few that really come to mind, the couple that come to mind, actually funny enough, one of them in the very beginning was a hunter that my family purchased for me, his name was Kesarah, really like springboarded me into another level of competition in riding. When we first bought Kesarah, I believe I was probably 13 or 14 years old, and it took, he kind of took me to the national level just away from the local level in the New York Tri-State area, I had really great results on him at all the national finals and everything like that. It was a really special horse, special jumper, you know, style-wise jumper for my career. And you know, that kind of actually led me to, that horse led me to my, my future trainers

7:21as a junior that really took me to another level on a national stage in training with Quaid Hill Farm and Bob Braswell, Bobby Braswell, and, you know, that introduction of leading into that, those trainers really jumped start my entire career, honestly, instantly. So that would be one, the next one would be a jumper that I had while training with, Bobby Braswell and O'Cala as a junior, and that horse's name was Mandela, really introduced me to, you know, the high level junior jumper ranks and entrowing into that ground pre-level as a 16, 17, 18-year-old, that horse, I remember, probably the most, I won U.S.E.T. finals in 2021, but the most memorable portion of my career, as my junior career was, winning a team gold medal at pre-the-states and I was the anchor rider on that team, and I remember having to make up as a total six seconds and jump clear for the win, and I remember

8:27doing the entire second round in under 50 seconds, and there was, there was no other horse I could have done it on other than Mandela. I mean, that horse was as fast, as efficient as it gets, and so that horse created probably the most memorable moment of my junior career, and then really there's only one in my professional riding career that is just stands like a horse of a lifetime type of horse, and that horse's name is Lackarolis. We called him Rolls, because we considered him a Rolls Royce, and I developed him from six years on until he retired at 16. He stayed with me my entire career. He battled numerous injuries throughout his career. He led me to my first nation's cup experience. So many Grand Prix wins across America and and placings. His clear round percentage was like mind blowing, honestly, like I don't, I could have never

9:29had a horse that produces many clear rounds as that one, his abilities as talent, my relationship with him. He's retired here in Kentucky with us, and yeah, I mean he, from a, on a Grand Prix level, I had other Grand Prix horses, you know, throughout my, my jumping career, which I would say ended very short, because I decided to pursue horse show organizing, but there no horse compared to that horse compared to my results and relationship. Awesome. Yeah, it sounds like three really special horses, you know, and it's so just into here how that kind of shapes people experience with the question and sport and kind of led to where you are now. For example, like he is the horse that we have on a painting in our kitchen, you know, like we, we, we look at it and see it, see him every day. Oh, awesome. And it's great that he's retired with you still too. Yeah. So as you mentioned, you kind of, your career shifted to horse show management and competition

10:33management. So how did you get that start into that part of your career? Well, I'm a very big long term planner, you know, that just by nature, you know, I want to know, I want to have goals, I want to achieve those goals, I want to always be able to, to do that successfully and really, there's really two things that kind of led to that. Creating a stable future for my family and my kids was definitely one of it. I did very well at being a competitor and professional equestrian. I had a great business here in Lexington with amazing clients. But I really, there's a couple of things that led to me shifting my focus, one, my competitive nature. I kind of came to the realization. I knew I was always a great writer, but I fell short in a few things that I struggled with over the years of being able to acquire good enough horses to compete at the highest

11:37level, always being forced to sell the ones that I thought were good enough to make it in the end and keep my business going. And then internally kind of, I struggled with that, knowing that I wanted to do it at, even though I made nations cups and things like that, I just, it still internally wasn't good enough for me as a competitor, you know, I, I wanted to be able to, you know, crack the top 50 in the world and, and, and, you know, do all that to a certain level. And, you know, I didn't feel like I, I was good enough at acquiring, getting owners to be able to purchase that thing. You have to have a certain skill set to, to be able to get, make those relationships and everything in a, in a certain industry. I was realizing that I just, I was not good enough at that. I, I struggled with that, maybe a little bit of an insecurity that, you know, I always

12:39have really good confidence in myself, but when it came down to it, my feeling in the show ring was also that, even though I had amazing results and everything like that, I, I really also felt like I just wasn't good enough to be a top 10 rider, to be something that like my head told me I should have, should have been. So although I had all the accolades and did all the things, I don't know if it was doubt or just realization that I, you know, I couldn't create, do those two things together, create a future for my family, give it the time that it took to, be that good of a rider and the sacrifice that it took to do that, I couldn't combine those things. So, you know, about 15 years ago, and I'm still pretty young, but really I, I made a quick realization, I'm okay doing that for myself, of saying like, do I, what do I do, and how do I pivot here to make sure I can, you know, provide them up for my kids to the ability that I feel like I need to have consistently and, and be the best at whatever

13:42I do, because internally I, I, I hold myself to those standards. So that was a little bit of an internal awakening for me a long time ago. Combining that with my like perfection, perfectionist mentality, I was always at a question in events, I was always the complainer. You know, like I was always extremely hard on the event organizers, I always spoke my mind, everybody knows about me, I always do, I'm getting better at it as I get older with discretion, you know, but I was always that exhibitor that was very critical of events, and I've competed everywhere, I've competed in South America, I've competed in Europe, I've, I've been to all the shows around the world and the, the good ones and the bad ones and everything, and so my critiques came from, you know, a place of, you know, knowing

14:45it could be done better, and that's what kind of led me to, to saying, well, maybe I should try to organize events and, and horse shows, and, and taking my experience from competing and everything like that and using that angle to my advantage. So, but being methodical and knowing that I just wanted to be the best at it no matter what, I actually organized two years of, of, single day schooling shows at my private farm here in Kentucky to give me sort of get my feet wet and, and establish, you know, a runway for me and experience level to organizing events, and then in 2015, the application process has actually started in 2013, but we, in 2015, we launched our very first international show at my farm in Kentucky, my pre, one of my previous farms in Kentucky, and that's how it really all started, you know, I just wanted to create a, a, an equestrian event

15:48that was way more detail oriented, way more exhibitor focused, competitor focused, equine focused than the traditional big box horse shows here in America, and, um, that's how it all started. And it's involved into, um, something, you know, I, I dreamt of over the years, um, you know, the type of events we're organizing, we have, I think we're one of the only organizing groups that literally organizes like every variety of horse show in the hunter jumper world. We, we run single ring equestrian events, um, with, that are only spectator focused all the way to massive events at the Kentucky horse park with a competition rings, and, and, you know, 2000 plus stalls, um, you know, we now have the experience to pretty, pretty much do any type of horse show in any kind of location, and, um, our, our mission statements

16:51from the beginning still run true today. We are extremely detail oriented. We want people to feel like we organize the best events in the world now, not just America, and that's why our, our, we, we consider ourselves a specialized horse show management group. Doesn't matter whether it's a one ring horse show or a neat ring horse show or a 10 ring horse show. Like we, my team 24 seven puts attention to detail into the planning process, then not many people see, but hopefully the end product is, is what people expect of us. Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. That's awesome. You know, such a range that you, you and your team do from like the one ring to eight rings and 2000 stalls. What do you think it is about your, to or your series that keeps people wanting to come back to shows year after year? Keeps me wanting to come back to, um, competitors or spectators, come in.

17:51It all comes down to trust, you know, with everything, you know, um, and I know that we, we are in a customer service industry and running events, and I think a lot of events in America don't come from that angle. Um, they're more of a dollars and cents business oriented companies, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but, but we, you know, I'm, I'm a competitor at heart. My wife is a competitor at heart. We competed at events are, you know, like that's how we grew up. So I feel like we come at it from a different angle, and I think our, our exhibitors and our clients know that. One thing I think that really separates us from others, which our competitors tend to come back to us because of it is, is we are always present, no matter what to answer questions for anybody and everybody at our event. We don't hide. We, we are at the arenas, I, I employ and hire on my team as many managers as it takes.

18:52So we have managers at every single ring at all times. And that's an aspect that I think is very unique to us. Um, and that doesn't, it doesn't matter how much that costs to me, to me. We want to make sure that people can trust that we're going to be there, that we're going to make a decision that benefits the event as a whole. Maybe not somebody, one person individually, and we'll compile all that information and make sure that they can trust that they're, their competitors and, and the exhibitors and the horses are going to be safe in the long run. And I've built our entire business on, on hopefully gaining that trust that we are going to account for the details in advance that matter to our exhibitors. Awesome. No, yeah. It's so important. I think, you know, it's a great point about trust and listening to, you know, your customers, like you said, customer service kind of focused industry. Sure. So with your being a horse show organizer, what do you enjoy about it?

19:54I love the creative aspect of it, honestly, it's what keeps me and my team going. We've been lucky enough to create like new events all the time, right? We have some new events almost every year, and that creates our, that, that allows our creative juices to like always stay fresh. We're always working on sort of like a new project and things like that. So that keeps our, it keeps it exciting for sure. And yeah, we just love, you know, sitting down multiple times a week as a team here, and we have full-time staff all the time that are working on it and just, you know, brainstorming new ideas to be creative and, and make our clients happy. Awesome. I met, so your team, you and your team, you are organizing the FBI World Cup finals coming up in April, in Fort Worth. So obviously that's, I'm sure, a new event for you all to host, and what does it mean

20:56to you to be able to organize this event? Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's everything to us, all of us. You know, when we, when we took that leap about four years ago to bid for this, you know, I don't want to say that I was sort of blind to what it would take because I knew I'd organize events, but I knew it would be completely different. I knew it would be the biggest challenge we could possibly do. Honestly, in this sport of organizing equestrian events, I mean, there literally does not get bigger. You know, you have three global championships in the world. You have World Cup finals, you have the World Championships and you have the Olympics. So when it comes to high performance, it just doesn't get bigger. The entire world will be watching. And we just love that challenge, you know, so for us, like I said, we're a specialized organizing group and we want to keep striving to be the best at organizing equestrian events.

21:58I think we are the best in the world at organizing equestrian events. And I believe my team can execute the best of the best. So, you know, those goals and, you know, holding ourselves to that standard is really, really important. But we've learned so much along the way and there's so many things that we didn't expect and we didn't know that we needed to focus on. I think after, you know, organizing this World Cup final, we hypothetically would be able to organize any event in the world at any time. And that's been a huge goal of mine, you know, looking forward to what the future holds for Split Rock. I don't know what those, what that holds, but I know that we can accomplish any equestrian events in the hunter-jumper world at any level after accomplishing this and that's been a huge goal of ours. And yeah, we're in the throes of it right now and we're tired and we're a little daunted,

22:59but you know, we're getting there. So you kind of mentioned that there's a bidding process with the FBI to host this event. What do you, I mean, you may not have full knowledge, but what do you think it was with Fort Worth that kind of set that bid apart? There's a few things, for sure. I think FBI's trust in us was number one, Split Rock in general. Same thing like it is an exhibitor or one of our clients trusting us to produce a certain level of an event, but it's also the federations. Trusting us to organize a quality event, detailed event, knowing that we can handle that pressure, that's probably first and foremost. And that took a long time to build that report and that experience level and trust. And secondly, the city of Fort Worth, honestly, the city of Fort Worth for an event like

23:59this is just built for an event like this. It's an ag-oriented city in state, obviously, Texas. People really are already accustomed to support equestrian events, whether it be Hunter Jumper or Western or Cutting or the other things that they focus on normally. And our partnership with the city was a big factor. The city really backed Split Rock and myself to help us contribute to it on a workload level and financial level, which not many cities are that willing to support in the way they've supported this endeavor and partnership with them for this final. And I think FBI saw that partnership from the beginning and commitment. So that was a huge factor. And our venue, Dickie Zarina, is literally second to not. There is no indoor stadium as quality as Dickie Zarina is in the world under 15,000 spectator

25:06seats. So it's been rated by Bill Board of the number one indoor stadium in the world. So, combining those three things are sort of like a perfect storm to hopefully, you know, we follow through with producing that high level quality event. Awesome. Yeah, it sounds like it's, you know, like you said, very well set up for this event and it should be really great for the competitors and spectators and I'm sure sponsors as well. Yeah, and I hope people that are coming to spectate it understand they're going to get what they pay for. You know, the sport is going to be at the absolute highest level anywhere in America in 2026. The venue is as quality as it gets anywhere. There's not a bad seat in the house, literally like no matter what seat you pick, you're going to feel like you're a part of the action. And the town of Fort Worth is just awesome.

26:06So. Awesome. This is a bit of a loaded question, but can you kind of give listeners an idea of what is into planning a event of this caliber? Oh, that's a tough one. You know, it's funny. Like on all my outlets, my, my, my own podcast or social media pages and everything like I try to explain that along the way and nobody's really ever done that. We're pretty much an open book when it comes to what it takes to organizing events. All events are different. The best analogy I can provide people and I've said this from the beginning, but with World Cup Finals, this rings true more than ever that planning an equestrian event no matter what the level is like planning a wedding three times a day for five days straight. If you have a, if you have a five day show, right? World Cup Finals is like that times 10, I would say.

27:07If you guys saw our level of, we have a master run of show, right? Which is what every major event goes by that's like the Bible when it comes to the process of organizing the show by the minute of what team has to do what on every single minute of every day. I believe our run of show is 38 slides long. So the detail that goes into it is just extreme. The time that my team has spent over the past, let's just call it calendar year, even though we spent a lot of time before that, it's been like really hit us in the past year. It is all day every day, honestly. You can't turn the phone off on the weekend. You can't not respond to an email until you clock in at work like that's sort of how we operate. We're available at all times for anything that could arise, both pre-event and during the event.

28:07And financially is just insanity, honestly. I think people don't realize what it takes financially to organize equestrian events. The margins are not what people think they are. And in order to do it properly, you have to be detailed on every inch. Our budget for World Cup Finals is over $9 million. So it's a real financial risk, and you just have to be really organized to make it work. You had kind of mentioned goals with your horse shows. So with this event, what are some of your goals with hosting it? Well, I mean, for me, I think the city of Fort Worth, the entertainment and everything is going to take care of itself. It's such a cool, fun town, stockyards, the city. It's incredible. I have no doubt that the city will lay out the red carpet for everybody joining us. But for me, a successful event, that's a good question.

29:10What does that look like? If the sport is 100% safe. Like for me, as an event organizer, that is my number one goal is to make sure the competitors and the horses are safe. And that has to be every event organizer that runs any kind of equestrian event out there. Without that, without those principles and without those goals, you'll fall short. So for me, if the sport, the footing, the stabling environment for the horses and the riders and the grooms are happy, then it'll be a win. Awesome. No, that's safety is so important, and it's great to hear, you know, competition organizers have that at the forefront. Well, it's our job to plan for everything that could possibly happen. Every detail, every aspect of keeping those riders and horses safe. So for us, if that happens, then we've done our planning job and process. And quite honestly, that's the tough part in our industry that I think people don't

30:14appreciate of event organizers, honestly, like it is our responsibility, you know, and we take, and I take that responsibility not lightly, and I know that it's on my shoulders to make sure, you know, every animal and every equestrian is safe at our event. Obviously, there's a lot of things out of our control that we can't, we can't control. But, you know, if there's something that we can prepare for, we try to do it. No, that's great to hear. And, you know, with the FBI World Cup finals, they have been held in the US several times over the years, but they're typically held in Europe. So, why was it important to you to host this event on US soil? Well, all my events are in America. You know, we live in Kentucky, we're here in the home of US equestrian and everything. And, you know, we haven't organized any events outside of America, so that's one. But honestly, like, you know, the events that have been held previous to us have

31:18led me to believe that I can be successful at this in Texas. You know, when I look, I've attended all the World Cup finals in America, you know, all the ones in Vegas, all the ones in Omaha and everything, and they were just pretty awesome. And, dating back, you know, 20 plus years to those World Cup finals in Vegas, really was like sort of like the catalyst for me thinking about we could do this in Fort Worth. And trying to emulate those days back when Vegas held the World Cup finals and creating that special of an event was sort of like that stepping stone for me to saying, you know, how can we do this? So, I mean, those events were extremely influential on us beginning to plan this process and thinking that we can accomplish it. Awesome. Yeah, it's, you know, it's interesting to think, you know, how you attended those in the past and kind of are now leading the charge with this event this year.

32:18So, you've answered most of my questions. I kind of have a couple wrap up questions. And one is, is there any advice that you would give your younger self? Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Lighten up. Honestly, you know, I just put a lot of pressure on myself to accommodate everybody and make sure everybody's, you know, pleased with the product that we provide. Same thing with my riding career as younger self. I think if I was a little more lenient with myself, I would would have done things along the way a lot better, honestly, and not been clouded by my own mind. I think as I get older, I learn, you know, a lot better ways to be a better leader, a better

33:20team player, be more compassionate and more understanding of other people's ideas. And our events get better and better because of that. So, you know, if I were to look back, you know, 20 or 30 years, that's what I would say. I would be like, be a little softer and lighten up a little bit. Sure, yeah. It's always, always easy to look back on hindsight, but, you know, it's kind of a interesting retrospective to think about, you know, if I could do anything differently. Yeah, yeah. And I'm always, you know, I, I'm always pretty tunnel visioned, you know, when it comes to accomplishing a goal. So, you know, there's more ways than one to skin a cat. So, or I don't know if that's appropriate or not. I don't know what the analogy is, but, you know, what I mean, like there's, you know, so being open to a lot more ideas, a lot more personalities, a lot, all those things, like if I, if I could have told myself that, you know, 20 years ago,

34:23I'd probably be a little bit further than I am right now. That seemed like in too bad of a spot, though. So, and kind of a, it's kind of a fun question, but is there something that people don't know about you that you could share? Sometimes people have some fun hobbies or something like that. Not everyone has something to share, but is there some fun hobbies? No, I don't really have anybody. I mean, this horse show world is, besides my family is my whole world. So, not necessarily, I don't know if you'd call it fun, but, you know, my family is the most important thing to me and everybody knows that. So, you know, trying to find that, you know, entrepreneur slash family life at, you know, balance is extremely important to me. And just making sure I'm there for my kids when, as they grow up, is number one

35:28for me. Yeah, absolutely. Family is important. And like you said, it, you know, kind of, what you were thinking about your career, it was helped you kind of make decisions that won't be best for your family. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. So, another one that kind of my last question is, what do the next few weeks look like for you in the lead up to the World Cup finals? We have three trips planned to four words in the next few weeks. We're literally within two months of the event. I think we're six, seven weeks out. So, we're making multiple trips back and forth in the planning process, looking at final measurements and things in the planning process. My calendar is completely full every single day with call after call after call after team call. We have, we have about 20 different small teams within our larger team for planning this event.

36:32So, what their roles are going to be, what are they going to operate, starting our dry runs and going through the motions of, you know, becoming ingrained in our heads of how the entire process of the events can operate and run, dealing with the USDA and the quarantine aspects of transporting horses from all around the world to Texas is a big part of the planning process, making sure that all those details are ready and planned for. So, it's like complete crunch time for us and we probably from this point forward, it's been about a month or two like this, but we don't, we will not come up for air until mid-April. Oh, no. I can only, I can't even imagine, but it sounds like it's going to be a really exciting event for everyone who attends and something that yeah, people hopefully plan to attend if they aren't having booked their tickets yet.

37:33Yeah, I think it's going to be so special. Honestly, I think this board is going to be at the forefront, but just combining this, you know, the best riders in the world are going to be there, they're proving to qualify around the world. So, I think we're going to literally have the best riders in the world. I think we're going to the best venue in the world, best viewing experience for spectators, possible, and the city of Fort Worth will provide the best entertainment. So, I mean, I think like if you're, to anybody out there, if you're planning or on the fence of coming to, to view this World Cup finals, I know it's a, it could be a financial stretch for some people or this or that. I promise everybody you will get what you pay for and it's going to be, I hope, you know, a rock of finals for the ages. Thanks for listening to this week's conversation with Derek Braun and a big thank you to the

38:35episode sponsor, Zoetis. Learn more at zoetis.com. You can listen to the practical horseman podcast on your favorite podcast player or on horseradionetwork.com. While you're there, be sure to like, subscribe, and leave a review. Thanks again for joining us. I'm Kathleen Landware and you've been listening to the practical horseman podcast.