Hilary Thompson has devoted her entire life to horses. She grew up on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, where she earned her "B" Pony Club rating and plotted a steady course in eventing, exciting her junior years with wins and a championship on her way to the top levels. It was a different sport in those days with the 3-Day long format of dressage, show jumping, and that challenging four-phase endurance test of Roads & Tracks (A & C), Steeplechase (B), and Cross-Country (D). She found Innisfail, her event horse of a lifetime, and trained the young mare while attending Oldfields in Maryland.

After graduation from Oldfields, Hilary and Innisfail went to ride with Olympic legend Mike Plumb. One particularly gratifying win took place at Radnor when Hilary and Innisfail bested Tad Coffin and Torrance Watkins, both Olympic gold medalists. Her next mentor was Nancy Escott in Aiken, SC.

"I knew how to go fast, but I had no clue how to gallop a racehorse," Hilary recalled. "Nancy taught me a lot, how to proceed in my riding, and she told me that I should learn how to handle two-year-olds. I stayed with her for a year and then she told me to come back up here."

Here happened to be Virginia, specifically to the Middleburg Training Center where, in her first few days, Hilary was picked up as a rider by trainers Tommy Lee Jones, Larry Curtis, Freddie Fox, and Chris Kolb, to name a few.

"These were the best and biggest experiences I ever had," Hilary said, whose 387 career starts as an amateur jockey produced 59 firsts, 74 seconds, and 52 thirds. She also raced in Europe on the ARCA Fegentri circuit, riding against the likes of Julie Krone, the first female jockey to win a leg of the Triple Crown in the 1983 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair.

Hilary's racing debut in September 1980 was very encouraging, with two wins in her first two starts aboard Allowance Flat horse Bangka at Rolling Rock and Foxfield Fall Races. For two years, Hilary raced on the flat and over hurdles in sanctioned and non-sanctioned races. She won her timber debut aboard Noble Order (NZ) in a field of eight Lady Timber riders at Rappahannock Point-to-Point in March 1982. What stands out in her memories was being in the right place at the right time for a catch-ride the following week at the Blue Ridge Point-to-point when the jockey named for Boca Bird was injured in an earlier race. Owned by Roy "Tennessee" Graham and trained by Tommy Lee, Hilary and Boca Bird finished second out of 10 starters in the Lady Rider Timber. One week later, they won the ladies' timber at Warrenton Hunt Point-to-point.

"I was shaking in my boots, but I ended up doing well even though I'd never sat on the horse before," recalled Hilary. "Boca Bird was one of the best horses I could ever have raced over timber. He was a wonderful horse."

Timber specialist Boca Bird raced from 1974-1983 for 11 wins, 15 seconds, and 23 thirds in 68 career starts. He earned two Virginia Point-to-point Foundation titles in 1980: Owner-Rider Timber Champion and Timber Horse of the Year. In 1982 and 1983, Hilary partnered with the bay gelding in the hotly contested Lady Rider Timber series, picking up three wins, four seconds, and two thirds in their 12 starts together. In 2011 Boca Bird was designated a "Legendary Horse" and inducted into the Virginia Steeplechase Hall of Fame.

Another memorable mount was Man of Rhythm, whose 18 career starts began with two "also rans" on the flat as a 3-year-old. The horse disappeared from the racing scene and showed up a few years later with new owners Tennessee and his wife Anne Graham, with Tommy Lee training. Hilary rode Man of Rhythm in two of his six starts in 1982, winning over timber at Potomac Hunt Races and the prestigious Middleburg Bowl at the Middleburg Spring Races.

Hilary rode racehorses for big-name owners, including Maggie Bryant, George Ohrstrom, and Betty Bird, but there isn't enough space here for all the details. It's important to note that even chronic runaways galloped politely for her. "I love the feel of the horse galloping and flowing," she said. "People told me I had the best hands of anyone."

In 2002 Hilary retired from racing and continued to work with Thoroughbreds, teaching young ones their jobs on the flat and over hurdles or timber and galloping more experienced campaigners.

Hilary has a lot of heart, and she has needed it because you can't dedicate your life to horses without determination, grit, and stamina. She needed all that—and a whole lot more eight years ago when a freak accident riding a racehorse put her into the hospital for eight months, where she endured twelve surgeries to repair her severed limb. She managed to emerge from that trauma with more heart and even greater enthusiasm for her life with horses. Talk about courage…

Hilary recalled going to the rehab center and meeting a war veteran who put her injury into perspective. He watched her walk and said simply: "Get rid of it." Hilary looked at what he had lost, and suddenly it was crystal-clear what she needed to do to get her life moving forward again.

"Things like this riding accident make you believe and I had some serious discussions with Up There," she said. Like a Thoroughbred with heart, she is simply not a quitter.

"Compared to what the war veteran had lost, I realized that what I had was just a paper cut," Hilary said. "Riding horses has been everything to me. I would have been failing without horses. It's hard sometimes, when I think about what I had to give up, but I still hack and ride. I still work with horses. It's only a paper cut."

A severe paper cut, but what a positive attitude. Hilary credits her mother, Sheila Thompson, for encouraging her since early childhood. They speak every day, which helps buffer the long distance between them. Sheila was a powerful matriarch in their St. Thomas home and the family's very own chef d'équipe and cheerleader.

Hilary doesn't think she would have made it in life without the horses and Sheila, her role model since early childhood. "My mother was the spine for the entire family," Hilary said. "My father Rudy Thompson went to the Olympics in Mexico in 1968 with the first-ever sailing team from the Virgin Islands. CY Thompson, my nephew, also competed in sailing at two Olympics. I loved horses and riding. The only reason we made it was because of Mom and Dad."

Hilary is living proof that children live what they learn. "My mom was a big help in the rescue of every animal, including horses, and I learned a lot from her and from the animals," Hilary said. "My mom's compassion for animals is the biggest thing I learned from her. She also encouraged me to settle down and find what I really wanted in life after losing a leg. My mom has always been there through thick and thin for us—my dad's spine, my brother Chris's spine, my spine. She's still there for me all the time. She told me to go and volunteer at a local handicapped riding program where I saw war veterans come to life the first time they sit on a horse. What I have is a paper cut."

Hilary has youthful energy (still has her baby face!) and plenty of compassion and kindness. Even after riding through the peaks and valleys, her love for horses is her life, and, just like her beloved horses, Hilary Thompson is all heart.