Three professionals, two professions, one goal.

LAUREN HUNKIN

Lauren’s equestrian career began at a small riding school outside New York City. At seven, the Hunkin family moved to the equestrian hub of Schomberg, Ontario and Lauren started competing locally on the Trillium and “A” circuits. When Canadian Olympian Jay Hayes moved into the farm next door, her began training in earnest.  Under the tutelage of the close-knit Hayes family, Lauren graduated from riding Harvey Wallbanger in the Medium Pony hunters to competing in the High Junior/Amateur jumpers. Her years with the Hayes laid the foundation for her riding career.

At 24, Lauren made the second most important move of her career when she relocated to Perth, Ontario to train full-time at Millar Brooke Stables, home of Canadian show jumping legend Ian Millar. It was there she learned the skills to succeed in the business of show jumping.  Making her debut on the Grand Prix circuit in 2005 with Air of Gold, Lauren quickly established herself as a contender in the National Kubota Cup series. In her rookie season, she finished fifth overall in the Eastern Conference and the following year nearly took the title riding Dutch-bred gelding Orleans. Seasoned professional John Pearce narrowly edged Lauren out of the top spot. She finished second overall.

In 2007 came the turning point. Lauren found the equine partner that would take her career to the next level in the Oldenburg gelding Larry 0146. The two formed an instant partnership, accumulating several top 10 finishes throughout the year. The end of summer saw a nail-biting jump off between Lauren and one of her mentors, Amy Millar, for the $75,000 FEI World Cup Qualifier at Halton Place, Ontario. A few tenths of a second—and one stride – separated her from first place.  In 2008, the years of hard work finally paid off when Lauren and Larry 0146 captured the Grand Prix at the Beaulieu’s Summer Classic I Horse Show. A week later, they led the victory gallop again. Lauren was named Cavalor’s “Athlete of the Month” (June 2008) by Equine Canada for the back-to-back wins and signed a sponsorship contract with Omega Alpha.

Lauren entered the professional ranks in the winter of 2008. With partner Mark Struthers and four horses, she established Synergy Farm at a rented 10-stall barn in Florida. She quickly doubled her string competing on the Ocala circuit.Returning to Canada in spring of 2009, they leased a stable in Kemptville, Ontario, picking up sales clients, students, and a new sponsor—Performance Horse and Rider—over the summer. That same year, Lauren was “short listed” by Jump Canada and finished second in the $100,000 World Cup qualifier at Halton Place for the second year in a row.

With the New Year came a new string of successes. Second in the Grand Prix at Pépinière and first in the Grand Prix at St. Lazare, she was again named Cavalor’s “Athlete of the Month” in May 2010. One month later, she and Larry 0146 captured the Grand Prix Jumping du Quebec and the FEI Open Welcome in Blainville before scoring a career best with a first place finish in the $90,000 World Cup Qualifier in Palgrave, Ontario in August.

These impressive results earned Lauren a well-deserved spot on the Canadian Equestrian Team. In November, she donned the red coat for the first time in Buenos Aires, Argentina, helping to secure the Silver Medal in the Nations Cup.

Modelled after the Millar Brook system, Lauren’s teaching program emphasizes sound fundamentals, progressive development, and good horsemanship. The care and well-being of the horse always comes first and foremost.

Since September 2009, Lauren has coached the University of Ottawa Equestrian Team. Over the years, the team has grown from 12 members to more than 40 riders and two show teams, competing in the highly competitive Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) and Ontario University Equestrian Association (OUEA) leagues. A supporter of aspiring talent, Synergy Farm also offers lease opportunities to uOttawa members for the summer “A” Circuit season and a comprehensive working student program.

In May of 2014, Synergy Farm moved to its current location in the small town of Ashton, Ontario just 15 minutes west of Kanata, where it was renamed Synergy Farm & Forge. Since the retirement of Larry 0146 Lauren has taken a step back from the International ring to focus of clients while she develops a crop of young horses at home, currently being especially excited with the development of her 2015 Nebab de Reve gelding, and her 2016 Diamant de Semilly colt.

HAYLEY MACKINNON

Hayley’s tremendous passion for horses and equestrian sport surfaced at the age of 6 and has been growing ever since.  Starting at the age of 8, Hayley spent every free minute at the barn, volunteering her services to muck stalls, groom horses, or do any other farm chores in exchange for opportunities to ride as many horses as possible.  She was very fortunate to have an excellent coach and mentor at her first barn who, over a period of 6 years gave her a solid grounding in the fundamentals of riding and in the care, training and development of horses.

After completing her education, Hayley joined the team at Synergy Farm as a rider, instructor and eventually Stable Manager, successfully managing her job responsibilities while also advancing her own show jumping career, working her way up to compete at the 1.50m Grand Prix level and the 2013 North American Young Riders Championships. Recognition of her success and talent with a number of challenging horses led to an excellent opportunity to gain more experience in the sport outside of Canada.

At the end of the 2013 show season, Hayley joined Heartland Farm in Omaha Nebraska, a successful horse breeding and sales operation. In the role of rider/trainer, Hayley was responsible for developing and executing training programs for high quality, competition horses preparing them for their debut in the show ring.  After spending the better part of 4 years at Heartland Farm, Hayley returned to Synergy Farm with new skills and expertise that are now being utilized to train and develop young horses for sale in Canada.