Jane Hamlin became an equestrian judge 30 years ago and has been ascending toward the pinnacle of her sport ever since. The longtime Upper Valley resident — also a horse trainer, coach and competitor — was selected by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports to judge this summer at the Pan American games in Lima, Peru, and next summer at the Olympics in Tokyo.
The Cornish-based equestrian didn’t need to mull FEI’s invitation, which came in March, for very long.
“You do want to take these jobs, because they are jobs of a lifetime,” Hamlin said during a recent phone interview. “There are not that many championships and there are a lot of international officials all over the world, so when you get asked, it’s quite an honor.”
The Pan Am Games, which will include more than 6,600 athletes from 41 countries, are set for July 26-August 11. Hamlin, who also judged at last year’s World Equestrian Games in North Carolina, will sit on a three-person ground jury with officials from Canada and South America.
The trio will preside over the eventing competition, a triathlon of horse sports that includes dressage, cross country and show jumping.
Hamlin will return home from Peru for a just few days before heading over to Asia.
“We run a test event, which is kind of a rehearsal for the Olympics,” she said. “It is a competition, a very small competition and not at the level of the Olympics, but we make sure we run through. It’s quite an elaborate set-up with venues and making sure everything runs right, making sure the announcing system works well, the timing system works well, the medical system works well, (so) we know where we’re going.”
The upcoming globetrot will pull Hamlin away from her training and coaching duties at Pirouette Farm in Norwich.
“Yes, it is hard to have her away,” said Mary Piro, co-owner of Pirouette with her husband, Bob. “We get very dependent on her expertise all the time, but we’re grownups; we’ll cope. And she’s made some arrangements to have some other trainers come and give us a hand while she’s gone.”
Pirouette was built in 2004, but Piro and Hamlin worked together at the former’s previous farm in Massachusetts.
“We’ve known her for 25 years,” Piro said. “We’ve watched her come up the ranks and been associated with her, and we’re lucky enough to have her be teaching at our farm. It’s been really gratifying to see be her recognized at that level because you can’t get any higher, really.
“She’s almost better known nationally than sometimes she is even in the Upper Valley,” Piro said of her trainer, who doesn’t judge at local shows because they often include her students. “People don’t necessarily realize that we have such a bigwig eventing judge in our midst.”
Hamlin, who grew up in Kennebunk, Maine, started riding once a week when she was a kid, and her interest took off from there.
“It’s always been a passion, so it sort of progressed, and then I started getting jobs doing it,” she said. “It’s the kind of business where you really have to work your way up; it’s not just automatic most of the time. And you have to be willing to do a little bit of everything, which is, I think, kind of fun to be able to ride and train and do whatever you can do. It’s really a labor of love.”
An extensive competitive career — at both the intermediate and preliminary levels — has enhanced Hamlin’s teaching and judging abilities alike.
“My students compete and that, I think, makes you a better judge, because you stay quite current,” she said. “So even though I don’t compete at that level, it does keep your eye sharp and keeps you quite current with what you’re looking at.”
With such a busy schedule, can the Jane-of-all horse trades ever find time for fun rides?
“I think it’s fun every time I ride,” Hamlin said. “It’s a discipline. It’s a sport. I always have goals and things I want to accomplish, but it’s still, to me, it’s fun every time I get on.”
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Notes: Hamlin is typically compensated for her judging duties, but in the case of Equestrian Worlds, the Pan Am Games and the Olympics, it is strictly expenses that are paid. … Hamlin received early training through the New England Dressage Association and was later licensed by the United States Equestrian Federation and then the FEI. … Pirouette houses an average of about 26 horses that belong to various owners.