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Crystal Wise
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Crystal Wise
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Crystal Wise
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Crystal Wise
Erin Davis-Heineking has been around horses for as long as she can remember. Her father taught her to ride for fun, and at 8 years old, she started training in English show jumping. “I never stopped,” she says. “By the time I graduated high school, I was competing at some pretty big competitions and winning.”
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Heineking attended TCU. She continued to compete throughout her education and later moved to California to start her own horse-trading business. “I would train the horses, travel with them, compete with them, and then sell them,” she says. When she turned 30, Heineking moved back to Texas and started running her operations out of October Hill Farm — a horse breeding and training facility that she co-founded with her sister in the ’90s.
A few years ago, after a hiatus from competing, Heineking started riding and training a horse named Leonie. “That mare is amazing,” says Heineking. “She brought me back. She’s not easy to ride, but we really clicked.” In 2020, Heineking competed with Leonie at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. The pair took home first place and a $137,000 prize in a Grand Prix — the highest possible level in competitive show jumping.
“When I realized what I had done, it was surreal,” says Heineking. After the win, many encouraged her to continue traveling the world and competing — but she had big dreams of hosting an international show jumping event in Cowtown. “I’ve been a lot of places, but I have never seen a facility like Will Rogers,” she says. “I wanted to show the world Fort Worth.”
Heineking recruited Derek Braun of Split Rock Jumping Tour to help bring her dream to life. He encouraged her to think even bigger and placed a bid to host a World Cup Qualifier for the International Federation of Equestrian Sports (FEI). Since they hadn’t yet hosted their first show, Heineking was skeptical, but she agreed to place the bid — and she won.
In December of 2021, Heineking and Split Rock debuted the Fort Worth International Horse Show at the Will Rogers Coliseum with participants from around the world. The event was a resounding success and inspired yet another big idea from Braun — to place a bid for the FEI World Cup Final. “I told him he was crazy,” says Heineking. “We had only run this qualifier for one year.” Nonetheless, Braun and Heineking convinced the city of Fort Worth to place a bid with Split Rock.
“The day they made the bid, we were on the bottom floor of Dickies Arena on a Zoom call with people from all over the world,” says Heineking. Despite the odds, Fort Worth won the bid. Thanks to Heineking’s vision, the FEI World Cup Final — one of the world’s biggest show jumping events — will take place at Dickies Arena in 2026.
“I saw the dream, and I made it happen,” says Heineking. “It’s been a lot of time and money, but I’ve had sponsors help me, as well as the community of Fort Worth, friends, and family.”
Heineking is always dreaming up more ideas — though she’s not willing to share them with the world just yet. “When I start talking about something, it usually happens,” she laughs. “Maybe I’ll write a book one day. We’ll see.”
From The Feed
Erin Heineking
Heineking competing in California.
Heineking winning the $137,000 Grand Prix in Wellington with her daughter by her side.
Competing in a major league Grand Prix in Traverse City.
Heineking’s daughter at a show in Illinois.
Heineking taking home a win in Santa Fe.
Heineking and Leonie.
By The Way
What is a fun fact about horses that most people don’t know?
“International show horses are required to have passports! Horses frequently travel on airplanes all over the world.”
Favorite things to do in Fort Worth?
“I love taking my daughter to the zoo and to the Japanese Garden to feed the fish. I also love visiting the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo and watching all the different events and animal shows.”
