Maddy Pielage: A Competitive Spirit

How Maddy Pielage balances her role as a Covetrus® account manager while competing in high-level equestrian sports.

Why did Maddy Pielage catch the “horse bug” early? Perhaps it was because her birthday falls on December 13, the National Day of the Horse. Or, maybe it was because she started riding at 12 years old at a local program associated with the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Although her parents didn’t come from a horse background, they were incredibly supportive. By 17 years old she had a horse of her own, MD China Toi, who she took with her to Colorado State University where she studied equine science.

“Maybe the stars aligned, and I was just born to be a horse girl,” said Pielage, an account manager for Covetrus in Colorado.

She was definitely born to compete. Pielage is a 2023 National Title holder in equestrian sports.

For many years, Pielage has competed in equestrian sports. She switched her focus to dressage about two years ago after friends in the horse community suggested her horse was a better fit for that style of riding. According to the United States Dressage Federation, the Olympic sport of dressage is derived from the French term meaning “training” and its purpose is to strengthen and supple the horse while maintaining a calm and attentive demeanor. Currently, competitive dressage involves progressively difficult levels incorporating multiple tests within each level. Each test is a series of movements that must be performed by the horse and rider. Each movement is scored by a judge on a scale of 0-10. Special tests are also written for musical freestyle, sport horse breeding and performances incorporating multiple horses and riders.

Pielage took a lot of dressage lessons, went to a lot of schooling shows, and jumped in with both feet to figure out the nuances of dressage riding. Because Pielage and her horse have been together almost 14 years, they have each other well figured out, so the new training emphasis didn’t require as much of a learning curve. But the time commitment was heavy. It involved riding four to five days a week, with a lesson every other week. Lessons were followed by more practices to memorize patterns. Then it was off to the schooling shows, where Pielage would take the judges’ critiques and apply it to her everyday riding.

“My horse is kind of small,” Pielage said. “So, I have to make her appear larger in the ring. When you watch her in the pattern, she’s out there by herself. So, we tried to emphasize her movement. That took a long time to realize,” she said. “Stay out of her way and let her shine.”

The hard work and commitment paid off. At last year’s Arabian Sport Horse Nationals, Pielage won two national championships, a reserve and a top 10.

“It was incredibly rewarding to see my name pop up at number one,” she said. “It was kind of this jaw dropping moment. All that hard work had paid off, all those days not going out with friends and different trips because I was at home training or at different horse shows, it all paid off. I had so many tears.”

Pielage loves competing against herself at dressage events. “You’re taking these different movements, and you’re changing how you do them within the pattern,” she said. “There’s always more to do. There’s never this feeling that you’ve completed it. You can always do the pattern better, and there’s always room for improvement. There’s always a higher score that you can get since you’re competing with yourself out there and your other previous scores.”

At Nationals, there were 20 to 30 other horses in each class. Pielage said it was challenging to focus solely on herself and her horse rather than on the other riders. “It’s just about you and your partner out there, which is your horse. And that’s all that matters.”

At press time, Pielage was still deciding whether she would compete in riding competitions in 2024. There is a lot of work involved in moving up a level, and her horse is 18 years old, which is older for a competitor.

Helping practices succeed

So why didn’t Pielage become a veterinarian? Her story is a common one in the industry, especially among distributor reps. Once she got to college, she realized there were other opportunities to work in veterinary medicine besides clinical practice.

Previous to her role with Covetrus, Pielage was an equine technician in Oregon. Before that she worked at an animal health diagnostic company. As an equine technician she became familiar with Covetrus, using the company’s in-clinic ordering website and online pharmacy. When she saw a job opening back in Colorado where she went to school, she jumped at the chance.

As an account manager for Covetrus, Pielage travels to companion animal practices across the Denver Metro area. A big part of her job is conducting meetings with practices about their goals or problem-solving something they’re struggling with. “I try to be more of a business consultant,” she said. “Covetrus is a great company that has end-to-end solutions for almost every part of their practice. So, one day we can be talking about vaccine backorders, and then we can be talking about how to establish profit sharing for their employees and increase wages. I do trainings on how to maximize the online pharmacy for practices, or how compounding and Fear Free can come together to offer a great solution for pet owners. We do lots of different things.”

Calling on companion animal practices, and helping independent practices succeed, is a rewarding aspect of Pielage’s job. “They’re feeling a push, especially with the corporate practices across the country,” she said. “Helping the independent practices put as much profit back into their pocket as possible is so rewarding. Covetrus has great programs for that. I love seeing my practices succeed and be able to afford their next piece of equipment to grow their practice. Even with staff shortages and other challenges independent practices are facing, the tools that Covetrus has can help them succeed.”

Pielage’s regional team is made up of a number of senior account managers. Pielage said she likes having that experience to bounce ideas off of to improve her sales skills. “They have definitely paved the way.” The reps use a group chat to discuss hard cases, encourage each other and celebrate wins.

Pielage said leadership too has been great at advocating for different personal and professional development opportunities for reps. They’re also very supportive of Pielage’s horseback riding passion outside the workplace.

Work-life balance

With clients from Boulder up to Englewood, Pielage spends a lot of time in her car. Visits with veterinary practices involve trainings and meetings throughout the day. Then she’ll come home and finish a round of emails. Around 5:30 to 6 p.m., Pielage heads out to the barn and gets a little therapy session in with her horse. Indeed, while her role as an account manager can be demanding, having the chance to log off and saddle up has been a great way for her to recharge.

“It’s so easy to get sucked into my desk and then blink and it’s 8 p.m.,” she said. “But I think having my passion for horses allows me to have a good work-life balance. That’s something that my manager specifically really pushes – a strong work-life balance. He’s super supportive of our side passions and being able to keep pursuing those while also growing our professional careers.”

To compete at the level Pielage has while succeeding in a sales role takes a lot of perseverance. “You have to be passionate about it,” she said. “You must be creative about your path. You’re always going to run into roadblocks, but you figure it out as you go.”

Meet Pielage’s Riding Partner

MD China Toi is a down-to-earth horse who’s understanding and sweet. “I don’t think she’s ever bucked me off – knock on wood,” Pielage said. “She is an all-around great horse.”