No matter what obstacles she faces, Mary Babick somehow manages to overcome them.
Her secret? “I’m like water; water always gets through,” she said, adding slyly, “the Grand Canyon was created by water.”
Babick, the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s vice president for hunters, was saluted with the Presidential Distinguished Service Award in Las Vegas last week at the organization’s annual meeting, which marked its 10th anniversary.
Two years ago, the Freehold resident was in line to be USHJA’s president, with the endorsement of Bill Moroney, who had held the job since the group’s inception.But after Babick’s nomination was made public, he decided to run again, citing requests from members who asked him to stay on for a restructuring. It was a difficult situation.
Rather than withdraw from the race, Babick continued to run, even while realizing she would lose.
“I’m not a fool. As soon as Bill came into it, I knew there was no chance for me,” said Babick, a trainer who owns the Knightsbridge Farm in Middletown.
“People wanted me to be embarrassed, but I wasn’t,” said Babick, who ran anyway, explaining, “I’m a woman of my word.”
She didn’t win, of course, but she also didn’t quit. Instead, Babick focused on what she calls “a big learning opportunity.” After having the rug pulled out from under her publicly, Babick regrouped, applying herself not only to being the vice president for hunters, but also to improving her abilities in a way that would benefit members of the 44,000-member USHJA.
She calls Moroney “an excellent co-worker,” adding, “in the end he’s my boss,” then commented, “some things I have learned from him I would like to do as well.”
For his part, Moroney said of her, “she’s awesome with attention to detail. She’s fair, impartial, insightful and has a passion for governance. In the last two years, she has embraced learning about every corner of the organization and grown as a leader.”
The two are in touch “10 times a day,” according to Moroney, who noted that after the election, “there was no animosity. That says something about Mary Babick.”
Continuing to educate herself, Babick has taken courses on public speaking, coaching and management. Her reading is heavy on books dealing with leadership and conflict resolution.
She plans to run for the presidency again in two years. While she thinks she would have done a good job if elected in 2012, she is now prepared to do a better one.
“Think of me as something that marinated a bit longer,” she laughed.
Geoff Teall, USHJA’s national vice president, said Babick “has done an unbelievable job of jumping in head-first for the sake of the sport and the organization. It’s been amazing.”
Asked whether he thought she would make a good president, he replied, “without question. She’s very bright, she’s completely dedicated, she knows the rules inside and out, she works well with everybody, she’s a great listener. She’s got all the qualities.”
Babick earned instructor certification from the British Horse Society, but her education has extended to other ares. Studying certified management accounting briefly at Catholic University helped her governance efforts, as did working in compliance on Wall Street, where she caught someone involved in insider trading.
“The horse world is its own little world. Working on Wall Street gave me a broader perspective,” she said. It also gave her a keen awareness of ethics, something that will come in handy because USHJA is incorporated in New York, which recently enacted stricter guidelines for non-profit groups.
“When you’re in governance, a lot of trust is placed in you and you should be held to a higher standard,” she said.
Although she continues to work as a horse show judge for hunters, jumpers and equitation, she won’t officiate more than once a year for any show manager, to avoid an appearance of conflict.
Up at 5:15 a.m. daily, she does governance work until 7:30 a.m., then goes to the barn to teach, saying having a good staff and understanding customers has enabled her to spend the time on her volunteer work.
She handles more governance duties between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. before going back to the horses. Returning home, she cooks dinner for her husband, Alex; then is in governance mode again, with a cut-off time of 9:30 p.m. In addition to her USHJA commitments, she is chair of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s national breeds and disciplines council.
How does she handle what she calls her “juggling act?”
“I have an extremely high energy level and I don’t sleep that much,” she reveals.
For inspiration, she cites “a large dose of Puritan work ethic” as well as the example of her mother, Carol Knowlton, who raised three children while serving as the undergraduate dean of nursing at Catholic University, and her father, John, formerly the head archivist at the Library of Congress. He says Babick takes after her grandmother, who had three children and ran a restaurant and bakery in an era when few women worked.
In discussing part of her vision for USHJA, Babick acknowledges many people go to unrecognized shows, as opposed to those recognized by the sport’s governing bodies.
“If we could all work together for the betterment of the sport, recognized and unrecognized shows wouldn’t have to have such a large gap between them,” she contended.
USHJA’s educational programs could be helpful to those going to unrecognized competitions, because some of those shows are outstanding, she said, but others are not, and the people attending them often “don’t understand they’re not receiving a quality experience. I would like to see them have better.”
More education through USHJA also could help riders who really aren’t familiar with such basics as rein aids and proper position; “they understand how to do things, but not why,” she pointed out.
Former USHJA director Britt McCormick says part of Babick’s value is that, “She’s in a number of leadership positions, so she has access to every single piece of information there is out there, and that’s huge.
“She listens to every single person. Another positive is that she really is looking out for the best interests of the sport. She’s not out there promoting one group over another group. It’s a totally level playing field.”
Read the full story: https://www.nj.com/sports/njsports/index.ssf/2014/12/obstacles_are_no_hurdles_for_ushjas_mary_babick.html
