Jessica Kent began riding lessons when she was four years old in the North of France. She moved to the U.S. when she was eight with her French mother and American father.

As a teenager in Santa Fe, she became a working student, acquiring a solid foundation in dressage from Olympic riding coach Jean Philippe Giacomini and furthered her education while working at Piñon Farms, an international show jumping stable.

After graduating from high school, Jessica got her start grooming on the international show circuit, initially for rider Rich Fellers, 2012 World Cup Champion, at Whip ‘n’ Spur Farm, and then back at Piñon Farms for Olympic gold medalist and current Canadian Chef D’Equipe Mark Laskin. At Piñon Farms Jessica became an exercise rider and started young horses under saddle. It was there that she fell in love with the process of developing young jumpers.

In 1998, Jessica moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work as an assistant trainer for Willow Tree Farm, one of the top hunter jumper barns in California. Three years later, Jessica rejoined her mentor Mark Laskin and honed her skills as a rider and trainer. Then she relocated to the Bay Area again to be near family and work as an assistant trainer at Sun Grove Farms.

For the next eight years, Jessica worked full time in Monterey County for Videoranch, an Internet-based company. She continued to work as a trainer with private clients, and rode one horse for two consecutive years at the Young Jumper Championships, placing in the top ten on both occasions.

Jessica married Chef Jerome Viel in 2006 and had two daughters, Layla Rose Viel born in 2006, followed by Anaïs Winter Viel in 2011. Watching her daughters develop their own love of horses has led Jessica to her decision to focus entirely on creating a business combining her passion for horses and her love of teaching. In 2014, with the help of her incredibly supportive husband, Jessica decided to start Winter Rose Farm so she could focus on riding, training, and the development of young sporthorses.

In 2007 Jessica met Ellen Eckstein. Ellen was long listed as a candidate for the United States Dressage team in 1977 and has earned both USDF Gold and Silver medals as well as many national and state awards in dressage. Throughout her career Ellen has brought along many young horses and was a longtime student of legendary horseman Tom Dorrance. The integration of these two schools of horsemanship has been Ellen’s lifelong professional pursuit. In 2018 Ellen began mentoring Jessica as she honed her skills with the young horses. A dream come true for Jessica, who has always dreamed of using these methods to bring along young horses into the dressage and hunter/jumper disciplines.