The Rise Of Jesse Jones

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196 – May/June, 2026

By Jessica O’Connor

AQHA Professional Horseman and all-around trainer Jesse Jones has never been one to seek the spotlight. Quiet by nature, he has built his career on feel, patience, and a steady commitment to doing right by the horse. In recent years, that approach has brought him to the forefront of the industry, with success on some of the sport’s biggest stages. But those who know him best would say the wins are only part of the story—it’s the journey behind them, and the clients who believed in him long before he believed in himself, that truly define his rise.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Jesse’s formative years as a horseman started early. Growing up on his great-grandparents’ Oklahoma City farm, Jones was four years old when he entered the pen for the first time as a lead liner. It wasn’t long before he was ready to take on walk/trot and, in essence, his training career began. Though his grandparents helped him greatly when it came to his horse-related endeavors, their focus was on halter horses—and Jesse knew he wanted to ride.

At the time, buying a show horse and putting it in training wasn’t in the cards for Jesse’s parents. So his first horse was, as he describes, “a reject halter horse”. What may have been a disappointment to some children was a challenge and adventure to Jesse. While he was still in the 13 and Under division, the horse became his first training project.

“He was a little stubborn, but he was pretty good-minded,” Jesse recalls. “For everything I put him through, he was very good-minded. At that age, obviously, I didn’t really have a clue, but that horse was really my only option, so I worked with what I had. I showed him in the walk/trot all-around into the 13 and Under, and we also did the all-around. I learned a lot from him.”

Young Jesse continued to learn by doing, facing showing without the help of a trainer with grit and determination—until 2010. Then, a chance meeting at a horse show would help set his dreams of becoming a trainer himself firmly in motion.

A TURNING POINT

Click here to read the complete article
196 – May/June, 2026