On the Rise: Susan Finney

Like many of the personalities profiled in this space since its inception in 2023, Susan Finney's adoration for equines began when she was a child. A native of Owensboro, Ky., Finney often traveled to Lexington to visit her aunt who rode and showed Saddlebreds. Finney spent considerable time at her aunt's barn, helping out and watching her ride, and then began riding herself. "I was around horses a lot as a kid, and really just took to them quickly," she said. Years later, in March 2025, with a robust resume in hand, Finney landed the position of broodmare manager at Resolute Farm, near Midway, Ky. Owned by John Stewart, Resolute was founded in late 2023 and quickly became a major player at bloodstock sales as a purchaser of high-priced broodmares, yearlings, and horses of racing age. The 31-year-old Finney's answers are edited for clarity and length. BloodHorse: What was your first exposure to Thoroughbreds? Susan Finney: Every morning in the summer when I was 16, my aunt dropped me off at Kesmarc (Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center). That's where I originally learned about Thoroughbreds. I did a crash course at Kesmarc as a volunteer. I learned about the hyperbaric chamber, bandaging, lay-up time, swimming, and the (water treadmill). BH: What were your next steps? SF: I graduated high school in 2013 and went to (University of Kentucky) and took the equine science and management route. While in school, one day, at 5 a.m., I went to the Keeneland September Sale. I didn't know anything about the Thoroughbred business really, but I could groom a horse very well. I went barn to barn, asking people if they needed help. Peter Conway (farm manager) at Dromoland Farm, said, "Hey, can you be here tomorrow?" That's where I learned a lot more about prepping yearlings and that sort of stuff. That turned into a summer job at Dromoland. They foaled mares there as well. That was another crash course for me; I was about 18. While in college, I did an internship with Mike McMahon and his Spruce Lane Farm and went to work there after graduating. From there, I worked at Bluewater Farm with Meg Levy, which is where my real passion for mares and foals began. I started there with yearlings, yearling prep, and then ended up doing a lot of everything there, breeding mares, foaling mares. Right before coming to Resolute, I was at Cypress Creek (Equine) for four years as the farm manager. I would say I was pretty experienced by the time I got there. I loved every second of it, and then this awesome opportunity came up at Resolute. It was the perfect opportunity for me to move on. I would say it was a God thing—all the pieces fell just perfectly the way they should have. BH: The Resolute job surely drew plenty of interest? SF: I knew there were going to be a lot of qualified people applying for this position, just because of what Resolute is, and how good they treat their staff. I knew that it was going to be a very competitive move for me to apply. I saw the ad for the job and had two or three people text me, including (veterinarian) Dr. Charlie Scoggin, who has been a huge pillar in my life. He (directed) me in the Resolute direction. I ended up getting an interview with Chelsey Stewart (the farm's CEO), and she and I really hit it off. After two or three interviews, it ended up working out for me to move here, which was great. I live on the farm now. BH: How busy has this foaling season been for you at Resolute? SF: We have about 30 foaling mares, and then we have about 20 other mares to be bred. Resolute is a growing operation. We are nowhere near where I think we are going to eventually be. But the good news is, the farm manager here, Noel Murphy, is incredible. He's got a lot of horse experience, and a lot of farm experience. He and I work great together; we make such a good team, it makes all of this easy. BH: What does your job look like when the foaling season ends? SF: The rest of the year, I'm overseeing the broodmare band, managing their pregnancies. I'm checking their pregnancies, either from the very beginning at 14 days, when they're in foal, through heartbeat day at 25 days, to fetal sexing at 60 days. Later on in the pregnancy, it's more about placental and overall foal health. The mares are pregnant for 11 months, so you spend a lot of your time making sure as much as you can control that the mare is carrying a healthy baby. I (also) raise the foals born here into early adulthood. The overall herd health management of deworming and vaccines involves foals as well. You want to make sure that they are nursing well, growing and developing, and gaining weight. You do all of these things to help them grow into successful yearlings. BH: What's your most memorable foaling at Resolute so far? SF: Last March, when I first started, Queen Caroline, the dam of Forte, foaled a Tapit filly. It wasn't your straightforward foaling; it was a little rough. The foal came out and was somewhat compromised. I put a feeding tube in and fed the foal. I stayed in the stall the whole night, reading my Kindle, lying in the straw while she slept on my lap. Everything turned out good. She's a yearling now and one of my favorite fillies on the farm. BH: When you talk about your jobs with horses, even dating back to when you were a volunteer at Kesmarc, it sounds as if this is a labor of love for you. SF: If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would be working with mares and foals, I would have told you, "No." I always thought that there was so much that could go wrong—yearlings were more my thing. I loved prepping yearlings. I loved watching them grow and develop. And then once I was at Bluewater and foaling mares, I was like, "Oh, my gosh. I love this." Being a part of it … there's just something so special about foaling a mare and everything going right. There's nothing sweeter. I would wake up every night to deliver a healthy baby. It's just a passion.