It’s safe to assume that for the typical rider, a day off doesn’t necessarily mean a full day sans horses, which is the case for up-and-coming show jumper Brian Moggre, who celebrated his 18th birthday last week (Happy Birthday!). Brian stepped up to the five-star level this year after a stellar junior career, which included winning the 2018 Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final. Now making a name for himself in the jumper ring, Brian quickly pinned himself as one to beat.
So what does a typical day off look for the young show jumper who’s resting up at his Kentucky base after a big summer at Spruce Meadows? Spoiler alert: unicorn sprinklers are involved.
Sleep-Ins and a Caffeine Fix
I get to the barn around 8 a.m. during the week, but on Mondays I get to the barn at 9 a.m. so I get an extra hour of sleep. But of course I’ll stop and get coffee beforehand. My go-to is Starbucks — I would die without it. I’m addicted at this point. I’m very into iced coffee. I was very into iced macchiatos for awhile and iced lattes. But you can never go wrong with an iced coffee with cream and sugar. You better believe it.
Coffee in hand, I get to the barn and we let the horses out. Obviously no riding [today]. We let them hang out in the paddock for about an hour or so. Then we relax and don’t do too much. After we turn them out, we bring them in and, depending on the Monday, we typically do laundry. Especially after a horse show, then it’s a huge laundry day.
A Healthy Lunch
After we take the horses in, I typically go and get lunch. In Kentucky, my favorite place is CoreLife Eatery. It’s so good. You can get salads, grain bowls, or soups — it’s a naturally healthy place. They have this BBQ ranch chicken bowl that’s really good. It’s kind of like a rice bowl and I get it with spinach to make it kind of like a salad.
Birthday Party Prep
On this particular Monday, I did some extreme party shopping. My whole evening was party shopping and party organizing. We got four unicorn sprinklers and a mechanical bull for my birthday party — it was so much fun. A bunch of my friends were there and we made it very open to everyone. So many people came, it was awesome.
Shopping Therapy
I like to treat myself and do a little shopping. Sometimes I’ll go to lululemon (that’s right around the corner from lunch) and get a few things. Typically I’ll go grocery shopping as well — we go to Whole Foods. My diet is full-on normal, but I like to eat healthy for sure. I do cheat a lot and I know one day my metabolism is going to slow down. I eat a lot but I like to eat healthy. I’m just waiting for the day when it all goes south.
Dining In and Fashion Trends
I don’t like to go out to eat for dinner on Monday — I’d rather order Postmates, sit in my bed, and catch up with what’s going on in the world. I’m not a huge TV show guy — I watch Netflix often, but not to a point where I’m obsessed with it. I’m more into seeing what trends are in, but not necessarily social media. My favorite website is Highsnobiety — it’s where I keep up with all the trends because I’m very into fashion and what’s in at the moment. It’s kind of like new, cool things that are going on in the world. I mean, obviously I like to know about the things that actually matter for myself, but I like to see what’s going on in the fashion world.
I like to follow a lot of Instagram accounts that revolve around men’s fashion. My favorites are @whatusmenlike, @thepacman82, and @keshav. I’m really into clothes. I love shopping; I spend a lot of time doing that. My favorite brands are lululemon, All Saints, Rag & Bone, and Vince — those are my go-to. I love Rag & Bone because it’s not such an intense take on streetwear, but you can make it street or you can dress it up — it has a lot of variety. I ride in a lululemon shirt every day I’m not showing. I recently got a really cool camo shirt from there. It’s black on black with very subtle camo. Where the camo markings are, instead of it being a different color, they used texture to create a camo look. It’s so cool.
Self-Care
I’m big on whitening my teeth and taking care of my skin, there’s nothing I hate more than having bad skin. I don’t do anything too intense, but I have my face wash and Mario Badescu treatments. I use a detoxifying pore scrub and the Curology skincare line which works really well. They create a custom formula for you, but mine isn’t too intense because I don’t naturally break out that much. You send them a photo of your face — I might’ve Facetuned mine to give myself more acne so they would up my dosage. How funny is that? I love smoothing my face on Facetune.
Workout (Or Not)
I tell myself every Monday that I’m going to workout but to this day I have not. I’ve been telling that to myself for two years.
Read this next: Danielle Goldstein’s Day Off: Martial Arts, Paella, and Knife Throwing
Photography courtesy of Brian Moggre.