#TEAMDiO: MEET EMA KLUGMAN, THREE-DAY EVENTER

By Allison Armstrong Rehnborg

Although she’s only 23, Ema Klugman of Clarksburg, Maryland, has already made a name for herself in the world of three-day eventing. As a child, she learned to ride in Nairobi, Kenya, honing her confidence in the saddle by learning to ride a variety of horses. Over the course of her childhood and young adulthood, her family moved all over the globe, including Kenya, Italy, Australia and the United States, and Ema carried her passion for horses wherever they went. Today, Ema manages her own training and sales operation out of her family’s farm in Clarksburg. When she’s not competing on her own horses or training sales prospects, Ema travels around the country teaching eventing clinics.

Ema’s passion for eventing started when she was just 13. At the time, her family was living in the United States and she became involved with her local Pony Club. Around that same time, she met Patrick “Packy” McGaughan, a well-known eventing competitor and coach who won a team eventing gold medal in the 1987 Pan American Games. 
“Packy was a big influence on me and my development in the sport,” Ema said. “I rode lots of horses for him throughout the summers in high school. He’d coach me and pick me up off the ground when I fell off.”

With Packy’s help, a teenaged Ema found her first long-term eventing partner, a Trakehner-Thoroughbred gelding named Bendigo. Under Packy’s mentorship, Ema and Bendigo progressed through the levels of eventing together. Although Packy wouldn’t live to see it – the esteemed trainer passed away unexpectedly in 2020 – Ema and a 19-year-old Bendigo competed in their first-ever Land Rover Kentucky 5* Event in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2021.

“It was a huge privilege to be there,” Ema said. “It was definitely intimidating, and the course was big. In some ways, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I stuck to my plan and we went clear in the cross-country. At that level, dressage and show jumping are important, but cross country is the real test. It’s the endurance test. It’s the scope test. It’s the technical test. I was thrilled with Bendigo that he did so well. I actually finished the competition as the highest-placed youngest rider, which was a cool award to win.”

Ema’s relationship with Packy also led her to become a working student for accomplished eventer and show jumper Marilyn Little, who won individual and team gold medals in eventing in the 2015 Pan American Games. Along with many other accolades, Ema is one of only two people in the United States to have achieved three A level ratings – in traditional, showjumping and dressage – through the United States Pony Club. Although young, Ema has already secured a bright future for herself in the sport of eventing, and she has big plans ahead.


In addition to Bendigo, Ema owns and competes on two other horses: a 7-year-old Westphalian mare named RF Redfern and an 8-year-old Zangersheid mare named Bronte Beach Z. Ema competes on Bronte Beach at the 3* level and on Redfern at the 2* level. 


“Bendigo is my top horse because he’s at the highest level, but my two younger ones are exciting horses as well. I hope that they’ll be competing at the 5* level in a few years,” Ema said.


Like so many of her fellow eventers, Ema spends a lot of time caring for her equine athletes and ensuring they’re in top notch condition before, during and after every competition. On top of prioritizing her horses’ turnout time and general care, she keeps an eye out for products that can help decrease inflammation and prevent swelling. Enter Draw It Out! Ema first learned about Draw It Out when she won a bottle of Draw It Out Horse Liniment Concentrate as a prize at a show. 


“I started using it the day after an event on Redfern,” Ema recalled. “I was really impressed because the horse’s legs looked great and super tight. Usually after an event, you might expect some swelling or heat in a horse’s legs because of all the jumping and galloping, but it looked like she hadn’t done anything at all the day before. There was no inflammation, and her tendons were really tight. I look at my horses’ legs every day to keep track of any little things that come up, but her legs looked as good as they’ve ever looked after I used the liniment. I took that as an indication that the liniment worked well and penetrated well.”


Ema was also impressed with the fact that Draw It Out liniment didn’t hurt her hands or irritate her skin.


“Something that annoys me about other liniments is that they make your hands really cold. They’re painful to administer because the product gets on your hands and you can’t wash it off easily,” Ema said. “But Draw It Out seems to be more of a neutral and organic formula, and my hands don’t burn when I put it on a horse’s legs. I was quite impressed, and then after reading more about the company, I think Draw It Out is doing really good work.” 


Many poultice or liniment products can be quite messy and time-consuming to apply, but Draw It Out Horse Liniment Concentrate can be used as a soak, poultice or general body spray. It’s also safe and effective to use with or without polo wraps.


“The nice thing about liniments like Draw It Out’s liniment is that they’re not really messy or time-consuming to apply. You can slap them on the legs and rub them in without getting the product all over your hands,” Ema said. “Using liniment is a pretty quick way of preventing injury without spending 30 minutes on each horse’s leg, which is good because we’re busy enough. I love any little thing that’s really helpful without being time consuming.” 


Ema was also impressed with the fact that Draw It Out liniment didn’t hurt her hands or irritate her skin.

Not long after receiving her first bottle of Draw It Out as a prize, Ema opted to become a #TeamDiO member. In addition to liking the products, Ema says she was drawn to the fact that the product appeals to equestrians from all corners of the industry.


“I like it when there are people from different disciplines who use the same products,” Ema said. “In the horse industry, I think companies are kind of siloed sometimes and people think this is a product for eventers and this is a product for dressage horses. But I think good products are good products and if they work, they’re actually useful for pretty much any type of horse. I like that reiners say Draw It Out has helped their horse’s hocks not be as sore. It’s great to have evidence from people who do different types of things in the sport. I use this product on my horses, and I think that it works. If you’re looking for a new liniment, Draw it Out is a good place to start.”