On many mornings, equine orthopedic surgeon and eventer Alex Curtiss, VMD, DACVS, is up well before dawn to squeeze in a lesson or training ride with her 8-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred Spate.

After getting her two young daughters, 3-year-old Emma and 6-month-old Daphne, ready for the day and dropping Emma off at school, Curtiss heads to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. There, she’ll spend the next eight to 10 hours performing surgery or doing rounds to check on her many patients before heading home to begin the family’s evening routine with her husband, Jason Ginn.

While maintaining this hectic schedule would sideline most riders from competing, Curtiss—along with the help of her devoted support team—managed to carve out enough time to prepare Spate for his first CCI1* this October. This was no small feat, considering the family had relocated to Lexington from New Jersey in the fall of 2025, and Curtiss gave birth to Daphne in May 2026.

But their preparation and hard work paid off. Curtiss and Spate won the CCI1* at the 2026 Hagyard Mid-South Three-Day Event, held Oct. 14–18 at the Kentucky Horse Park, finishing on a score of 32.8. Spate had done a handful of Modifieds in the spring of 2025, but his competition schedule slowed down when the family moved and during Curtiss’ pregnancy.

“It took a lot to get him out and competing again. I took him to a Training Level event in August, and then we did a Modified in September before Hagyard,” she said. “So, I was thrilled he went so well and that I could do it with work and family and that we could put three good phases together.”

While it’s a constant balancing act, especially since Ginn also has a demanding job as an equine practitioner and an equestrian passion of his own, Curtiss says the family always finds inventive ways to make it work—and it’s well worth the effort.

It Takes a Village

When the family relocated to Lexington, Curtiss made a connection with eventer Elissa Gibbs, who owns and operates To The Max Eventing in nearby Georgetown. She found Gibbs’ program and barn the perfect place for Spate and his continuing education in the sport.

“Elissa has been wonderful with the latest addition to our family and both my and Jason’s work commitments. She and her team were really instrumental in bringing everything together so we could be ready to compete,” Curtiss said. “It was a huge team approach.”

Leading up to Hagyard, Gibbs rode the gelding several times a week when Curtiss couldn’t get to the barn and helped improve his fitness to ensure he was ready for his one-star debut.

“I only have one horse to focus on right now, so that makes it easier. And Elissa has been great about filling in the gaps when I can’t get to the barn,” she said. “There’s no way I could do it all without her taking care of Spate’s routine needs.”

This summer and fall were even more chaotic as Curtiss strove to get as much time in the saddle as possible before Hagyard. “Jason was great about watching the girls when I rode after work. And the weekends are helpful to be able to ride whenever it fits into my day—whether that’s early in the morning or the afternoon,” she said. “Every second is precious though. I have to be very efficient with my time.”

With her eyes on Hagyard, Curtiss remained active and maintained her fitness throughout her pregnancy with Daphne. “I was very lucky in that I had a straightforward pregnancy. I worked up until the day I had her and rode through my eighth month—no jumping, obviously,” she said. “It all sort of just came around.”

Curtiss added that she couldn’t have done it without her support system. “My first credit goes to my husband for helping me do all of this and taking care of the girls to make sure I could get to the barn,” she said. “He owns his practice, and October is a very busy month for him, so it was tough to figure everything out.”

During the weekend of the event, Curtiss’ parents came up from South Carolina to care for Emma and Daphne, and Ginn’s parents were in town earlier in the month to offer their support. “It helps so much when the girls are covered, and I can scooch away for a lesson. Emma is fortunately in school now, and we have daytime care for Daphne, so that helps a lot,” Curtiss said. “But everyone pitches in.”

Last summer, when things felt overly complicated, Curtiss proposed the idea of selling Spate when she and Ginn were discussing his future. “But Jason put his foot down and was like, ‘Absolutely not! If you want to compete this fall, pick out the event and we’ll make it happen.’ And we somehow did it,” she said.

Finding Spate: A Fortuitous Surgery

Curtiss first met Spate as a 2-year-old through TAKE THE LEAD—a program with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association that helps rehome off-the-track Thoroughbreds for new careers—when he came to her clinic in New Jersey with a minor injury. After performing the surgery he needed, Curtiss took a liking to the young gelding and decided to keep him as an eventing prospect. After six years of working together, she and Spate have forged a deep partnership.

“He’s really started to blossom in the sport. He’s very expressive and still young at heart, but he’s become quite rideable,” Curtiss said. “And he really enjoys the sport. He loves cross country and storms out of the start box.”

Both she and Ginn work with a lot of off-the-track Thoroughbreds in their veterinary practices, and Curtiss has been a longtime advocate of finding these horses second homes.

“Thoroughbreds have such strong work ethics. They like having a job and usually thrive in a program,” she said. “Spate is a classic example of a former racehorse who’s truly loving and flourishing in his second career.”

Despite her busy career, Curtiss makes time to put a lot of miles on her horses herself and enjoys the process of bringing youngsters up through the levels, but she also gets help where she can find it.

While living in New Jersey, she and Spate made the hour-and-a-half drive to train with five-star eventer Sally Cousins, who’s based in Oxford, Pennsylvania. “I loved working with Sally. She’s a big advocate of Thoroughbreds, too,” Curtiss said.

While Spate can be fresh under saddle, Curtiss says he’s also level-headed. She’s even perched Emma on his back. “He’s quite dynamic and interactive, but he was so easy-peasy with her. This is only the second place he’s ever been stabled in his career, and he’s really figured out how to go with the flow,” she said. “And with my lifestyle, he kind of has to.”

About a week before Hagyard, Curtiss hauled Spate for a show-jumping lesson and then took him with her to the clinic to do her rounds. “He just patiently waited in the trailer while I checked on my patients,” she said.

Curtiss feels that Spate is ready to move up a level and is hoping that goal will come to fruition in the spring of 2027. While busy springs at her clinic make planning for competitions tricky, she’s not ruling out the possibility—especially with her village of support.

A Family Affair

Growing up in a family of fox hunters in Sunshine, Maryland, Curtiss started riding out in the hunt fields at a young age and was eventing by the time she was 12. She went on to compete with Young Riders and also breezed horses at the racetrack, where she fostered her connection with Thoroughbreds.

Curtiss said her experience fox hunting inspired her to try her hand at eventing. “I already sort of had that cross-country mentality from fox hunting. Eventing is such a fun sport, but it’s also unforgiving—you could have two good phases and one really bad phase that ruins your weekend,” she said. “But when it all comes together, it’s so rewarding, especially bringing young horses up through the levels. It’s a great feeling.”

During veterinary school and throughout her internships and residencies, Curtiss took a hiatus from competition but continued to ride friends’ horses. “Work was definitely the priority during that period of my life,” she said. “But after starting my own practice in New Jersey and settling in, I found a little more time for myself, so that’s when I really got back into it.”

Ginn also has an equestrian passion outside of his veterinary practice. He enjoys harness racing with his 8-year-old Standardbred pacer Stun Gun, who’s in training with Shea and Roni Vandervort in Columbia, Kentucky. “It’s fun when they race in Lexington on the weekends, and we can watch them at The Red Mile,” Curtiss said.

While many spouses who share the similar careers—and passions—might find themselves butting heads, Curtiss said their common experiences actually help them make it work.

“He understands my job demands, and I understand his. When I’m on call at night, he has the girls on his own. He gets that,” she said. “And the other weekend during the Breeders’ Cup, he had patient horses running at Keeneland. His last horse ran at 6:15, so I took the girls trick-or-treating, and he came and met us afterward. We both have a mutual respect for the demands of our jobs.”

While it might be too early to tell, Emma appears to be showing signs of developing the horse bug. “She definitely loves the horses. Sometimes she goes to the racetrack with Jason before school, or she comes to the clinic with me after school and sees the horses there,” Curtiss said. “We probably would rather she play soccer, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think horses are likely in her future.”

For More:

Read more on Practical Horseman about off-the-track Thoroughbreds here.