1988 was a pivotal year in the life of Molly Ashe Cawley. It was the year that her father passed away, but also the year that she was named by USEF as the Junior Equestrian of the Year. “That was a bright light in a dark moment,” Ashe Cawley recalled of receiving the honor. Now a successful grand prix rider in the U.S. and internationally, Ashe Cawley has numerous accolades to her name, including being the first American and first woman to win the Grand Prix of Berlin in Germany.
Up until that life-changing year, 17-year-old Ashe Cawley had been riding and competing in her home city of Knoxville, Tenn., with her mom, Sue Ashe (winner of the 1958 AHSA Medal finals and a respected judge), as her trainer. Having been limited to smaller shows in Tennessee, Ashe Cawley's equestrian career took a huge leap forward when she went to train at Beacon Hill Show Stables in Colts Neck, N.J. “I loved all my time at Beacon Hill. It was a lot of fun,” she said. “There were other kids my age there, and they were all working hard. It was very different, and nice to have people around a lot.”
Not only did she have the opportunity to compete in bigger shows such as The Devon Horse Show, but Ashe Cawley also had exposure to elite mounts at Beacon Hill. “The horses I had were incredible! I haven’t had anything like them since,” she said. “It was a privilege, and I was appreciative of it.”
Trainer Bill Cooney took the talented teenager under his wing and taught her invaluable lessons about riding and horsemanship. “He was an amazing trainer but also an amazing rider, which people didn't always get to see because he didn't like to show,” Ashe Cawley explained. “He got nervous in front of people, which was crazy, because he was so gifted and so good at what he did. It was really those years with him that I learned so much.”
Cooney was also meticulous about the care of his horses and passed down that attention to detail to Ashe Cawley. “In Tennessee, my brother and I took care of our own horses,” she explained. “We did all the work ourselves, which was great as far as a work ethic, but we didn't have the sophistication that you get at big barns. Bill was the first person where I saw the sophistication and the importance of turnout, and everything being clean and perfect. You couldn't brush the horse's tails, you had to pick them out by hand ... just things like that. He was such a perfectionist, so I learned a lot from him,” she added.
What was also eye-opening during that time in her life was the amount of travel she did to big shows, such as to Ox Ridge in Connecticut and to Florida, where she spent some time living with hunter/jumper trainer, instructor, and USEF Pegasus Medal of Honor recipient, Judy Richter.
“When we stepped into that scene is also when I got all these amazing horses to ride. It made me understand where I was as a rider, and it helped me a lot,” Ashe Cawley said.
At that time, Ashe Cawley didn’t have any aspirations of becoming a professional rider or a trainer. “My mom was the driving force behind us, but I never did it by choice back then,” she said. Having taken a year off before college to ride as a professional at Beacon Hill, Ashe Cawley tried out the student lifestyle. “It took about a semester in college before I was like, ‘OK, you are ready to go back to horses!’” she laughed. “But if I hadn't gone to school and never made the choice for myself, I don't know if I would have survived the ups and downs of this world we live in.”
Having been very independent during her time as a teen at Beacon Hill where “there was nobody making sure I got up in the morning, or that I did my job well, or that I was where I should be when I had to be,” Ashe Cawley found that her college classmates were mostly behind her when it came to personal development. “That was why I was going nuts — it was the first time normal college students had been released from their parents overseeing everything ... I was so past that,” she explained. Ashe Cawley stuck out college for another three years, however, and left after the first semester of her junior year.
Ashe Cawley said that winning the Junior Equestrian of the Year while at Beacon Hill was “a wonderful way of preparing you for life, whether you go on in the sport or not. Life's not fair, there are ups and downs, and you don't succeed unless you work hard.” Her drive, sense of responsibility, and strong work ethic all come from that time in her life and are traits she has passed down to her own daughter, Taylor Cawley.
“Taylor [was born] dying to ride,” Ashe Cawley explained. “She always wanted to be at the barn. She had the bug right from the start and is a hard, hard worker in terms of her riding.” The proud mom said 17-year-old Taylor is “very driven, very competitive, and she has her whole life all mapped out.” However, Ashe Cawley notes that the sport has changed since she was Taylor’s age.
One way that her daughter differs from her, Ashe Cawley said, is that Taylor is very sociable and outspoken. “I always struggled with that. I never felt comfortable in that setting, while she is.” Ashe Cawley hopes that going to college (she is committed to Auburn) will help Taylor continue to grow as a person with a strong work ethic and business sense. “I think she has to go out and see the world a little bit,” and possibly find something that drives her as much as riding does. Ashe Cawley stressed that the sport has become even more challenging for young professionals today: financially, competitively, and mentally.
Ashe Cawley is proud and excited that Taylor — who was the recipient of the 2024 Kip Rosenthal Memorial High Score Equitation Award — is following in her footsteps, and she is always on hand to give her advice. However, Ashe Cawley said the greatest way she can protect her daughter is to surround her with people and horses that are going to give her confidence. “I don't want her to lose her confidence. I think that's a hugely important thing that isn't set in stone yet no matter how capable she is,” she said. “It's important that she keeps believing in herself — that's the biggest thing I try to keep solid.”