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INTERNATIONAL SIDE SADDLE ORGANIZATION
2022 Board Changes

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Jennifer Stevenson has stepped down from her General Board Position to take some personal time.

We would like to thank Jennifer for her many years of dedicated service in so many capacities. She started her side saddle journey by borrowing a saddle for her wedding from Shelly Liggett who convinced her to continue riding aside and ultimately joining ISSO. Years later Shelly begged her to come onto the board and since then she has helped with many facets of improving the organization including singlehandedly creating the new website for this organization and being co-editor of Aside World for the last several years. Thank you again Jen for all you have done and we wish you the best in the future.

Treasurer: Appointed by the Board

• Sarah McKay

Sarah McKay has been an avid equestrian since the age of 8 years old and grew up in central Virginia. Training under Sally Lamb and various influential instructors, Sarah competed in the Hunter/Jumper rings as a teenager while developing a passion for foxhunting and side saddle. After graduate school, Sarah moved to Minnesota and then Missouri, where she actively pursues her love of foxhunting and side saddle. In 2020, Sarah co-founded a private foxhunting pack, Ozark Highland Hounds, where she currently serves as President and co-Master. As part of this role, Sarah is also diligent in providing well maintained and transparent financial and organizational records. In addition to the hunt, Sarah enjoys volunteering at local therapy barns and sharing her love of side saddle and foxhunting with fellow riders, especially juniors.

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Outside of her equestrian pursuits, Sarah is the Director of Market Development at the National Corn Growers Association. Sarah provides key support to NCGA's animal agriculture industrial use and new use efforts. Prior to NCGA, Sarah worked as part of the procurement/supply chain team supporting dairy operations at General Mills. She earned a master's degree in agricultural and applied economic management from Virginia Tech and bachelor's degrees in both animal and poultry sciences, and agricultural applied economics with an emphasis in international trade and development from the same institution.

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Secretary: Open, running unopposed

• Jacquelynn Holly

Jacquelynn Holly has been riding since the early age of 12 months (riding double with her mom on the family mules) and began showing at three years old. As a teen, Jacquelynn focused on training her green mule “Rosy” through high school. Rosy was a five-year-old with no prior training. Jacquelynn introduced Rosy to competitions, drill, parades, trail and camping, and instructed beginner and novice riders using Rosy. After graduating from University of California Riverside, Jacquelynn was an active member in numerous riding associations throughout Southern California. She acted as Secretary for the Lakeside Frontier Riders and Social Chair (board member) for the Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society (VRLRS). As an active member of VRLRS, Jacquelynn discovered her passion for sidesaddle. The lady’s society takes pride in period accurate habits, which inspired Jacquelynn to ride in a period accurate saddle!

This newfound fascination was not only an exciting riding discipline, it led to a massive collection of sidesaddles. Jacquelynn began studying the fabrication, styles, and history of various western-built sidesaddles. In 2017, Jacquelynn moved to Idaho, where she began planning a sidesaddle association. By 2018, she had co-founded the Idaho Sidesaddle Association (ISA) and has held the position of President since. ISA is non-profit association and is ecstatic to be co-hosting the May 2022 Sidesaddle Clinic with ISSO in Boise, Idaho.

In 2019, Jacquelynn was able to expand her passion of restoring and rebuilding western sidesaddles, and in 2020 she remodeled a portion of the barn to facilitate her dedication for these unique, beautiful saddles.

Outside the world of sidesaddle, Jacquelynn is a busy stay-at-home mom of two boys (9 years and 7 years) and two girls (4 years and 4 months). It goes without saying that afternoons and evenings are filled with extracurricular activities, including bagpipe lessons, gymnastics, karate, basketball and much more. Jacquelynn graduated early from UC Riverside with a B.A. in Journalism and Creative Writing and prior to becoming a mother, was working fulltime for the Department of Defense as a Technical Writer and Editor at Space and Naval Warfare.

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General Board Member: Appointed to vacancy of Jennifer Stevenson 

• Barbara Drogo

Barbara Drogo has ridden astride over 60 years and aside for four years. She got her first horse when she was sixteen and did local and 4-H shows for a couple of years then started hunting astride starting in her twenty’s. After a few years she borrowed a friend’s Mayhew and taught herself to ride aside by reading books and any resource she could find. A few years later, she started a farmer pack of fox hounds which meant she gave up on riding aside while she was busy hunting them. Sadly, the pack eventually folded, and Barb stopped riding all together. Fast forward to 2018 and the horse bug bit again, she remembered how much she enjoyed riding aside, so she picked it back up at an ISSO mounted clinic and has been riding side saddle periodically since then.

Barbara owns a half Friesian/half Standardbred mare named Kiara that she likes to practice ring work and elementary dressage with, as well as trails and cross country riding which she uses to help condition and train her horses to handle the demands of the hunt field. They both recently moved from New York state to Kentucky and have recently gotten back into some low-level hunter showing and am also embarking into historic reenacting. She enjoys attending Camp Leaping Horn each summer and has gained lots of friends through it. She is also very involved with her congregation and loves studying history and current events. She hopes to be a good ambassador of side saddle and to help get others involved in this beautiful art of riding.

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