FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Jerry Lee Rosa’s life as a horse trainer is a stark contrast to his job as an engineering technician with the Fort Leonard Wood Directorate of Public Work’s Engineering Division, but they balance each other out.
“Training horses is almost completely by feel — spiritual and emotional — while engineering is all intellect — logic and concrete,” he said. “So, they’re very different. It’s kind of like a yin and a yang.”
Known to most as J.R., Rosa has been working with horses his whole life and comes from a family whose legacy is steeped in Missouri’s horse history — his grandfather was one of the founding fathers of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse, now the state horse of Missouri.
A native of Newburg, Missouri, Rosa said he would follow his grandfather — who made a living training horses — around the farm from the time he was in diapers, as if he were his grandfather’s shadow.
“My grandpa was my hero and idol,” Rosa said. “His whole living was horses and every weekend I'd want to go to Grandpa's house. He never turned me down and would carry me around at work all day long.”
Rosa has been training horses his whole life and successfully competing in shows since 2011. Training a horse is like an artist starting with a blank canvas and watching it form through the training process into a final piece of art, Rosa said.
“I don't really enjoy a fully trained, finished horse,” he said. “I enjoy taking a young, immature horse and bringing it full circle to a finished state, where it can show discipline in shows or be a trusted family pet for somebody.”
His ability to train horses is a gift rather than something that’s been learned, he said.
“It takes understanding psychology and a lot of persistence,” he said. “I can understand a horse’s logic and thinking better than a person’s most of the time.”
His primary focus is on the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse, and despite being an international breed now, the breed is still headquartered in Missouri, with the World Grand Championships held annually in the small town of Ava, Missouri, located about two hours southwest of Fort Leonard Wood. People come from across the nation to participate in the week-long event each September, Rosa said. His family took home some big wins this year.
His son, Isaac, won the reserve (runner-up) world grand champion for 11 years of age and under; his daughter, Rebecca, won the reserve world championship for adults; his daughter, Mary Ellen, won the reserve youth world grand championship for ages 17 and under, and Rosa himself took home the world championship for the 5-year-old (horse’s age) specialty.
“Grandpa is in the Hall of Fame for winning shows down there for many years, so it’s about the legacy,” he said. “I've been going to that show with Grandpa since 1988. I haven’t competed every year, but I haven't missed a year since.”
Over the years, Rosa has worked hard to ensure that legacy continues through his own children by taking them to the show, camping and making family memories — something he encourages other young families to consider.
“There’s less kids interested in horsemanship than there was in the 70s or 80s,” he said. “Now they have so many options, and so much technology, that I kind of feel like a steward of the breed.”
To help fulfill that role, Rosa has started sharing his family’s experiences on social media and provides riding lessons to those wanting to learn more about horse-riding and horses in general.
One member of the community who takes lessons from Rosa is Julie Pedlow, who moved to Missouri earlier this year and decided to rekindle her love for horses.
“I haven’t been able to ride since I was a teenager, so learning again how to care for a horse and learning how to ride again has been great,” she said. “I’m just in awe of what he (Rosa) does. I’m not expecting to get to that level, but I think what he can do is amazing.”
Rosa has lost track of how many horses he has trained, but he said it’s somewhere between 100 and 200. Moving forward, he plans to continue competing in the world championship and has already began training a horse for next year’s show. Having competed at the amateur level up to this point, he will be competing as a professional for the first time in 2023.
While his days are long, trying to balance a full-time job with his duties as a horse trainer, Rosa doesn’t mind the late nights because he loves what he does.
“It's a labor of love,” he said.
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