We were lucky to catch up with Karen Bowersox recently and have shared our conversation below.
Karen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Back in 2018, my late husband Rob came to me with the idea of Major League Eventing. He wanted to highlight the sport of Eventing and find ways to highlight everyone’s story. At first I thought he was crazy but then the idea grew on me and then we started the Major League Eventing podcast where we would interview riders from up and coming to Olympians and everyone in between. It was a slow start at first, but now we have listeners from all over the world.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I grew up riding and mainly focused on Equitation. My main goal was to always try the sport of Eventing after touring a local farm with my 4H club where the legendary Bruce Davidson was a rider. My parents thought Eventing looked too dangerous and would not let me attempt it. Years later, after getting married and having 2 sons, I bought a horse and started competing at local horse trials. Once my sons got older, they both started riding and joined Delaware Pony Club. My oldest, Robby Eventers up to Training and then went off to college. My youngest, Joe became a working student for Boyd Martin and that’s where the idea of Major League Eventing came about. We saw how the sport lacks support and sponsors and wanted to do something about it. Rob came up with the idea to start a podcast to find out the whole story behind riders. Most interviews we had heard would only talk about recent wins or riders that were at the top of the sport. We wanted to hear how they got their start in riding and what they have currently going on in their business. We also give riders a chance to highlight their sponsors and supporters, which we feel is so important for them to do. Besides the podcast, we help promote events and also organize the Maryland Corgi Cup which happens during the Maryland 5* in October.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think what has helped us is the fact we try to show the positive side of our sport. We feel it’s important that sponsors should be highlighted and recognized for all that they do and they have reached out to us that they appreciate it.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met Rob in high school. He played football for another high school and I was a cheerleader. We started dating not long after we met and were inseparable since. We got married in March 1994 and have 2 sons Robby and Joe. Unfortunately, Rob passed away November 14, 2022. My son Robby has stepped up and became my co-host for the podcast.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.majorleagueeventing.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/majorleagueeventing?utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MajorLeagueEventing?mibextid=LQQJ4d