more about steph
Hunters & Equitation
Like many horse-crazy girls, Steph started out in the hunter and equitation rings. Every October, she would sit at the Pennsylvania Farm Show and Washington International horse shows and watch literally hundreds of medal/Maclay rounds (to this day, you might find her studying ringside at the equitation rings at WEF or Princeton Show Jumping). She had a natural interest in biomechanics and the development of the horse-rider connection to enable virtually invisible communication.
United States Pony Club & Eventing
As her riding skills progressed, she joined Pony Club and started to gain a grounded approach to horsemanship. She qualified for Nationals in every discipline, and enjoyed a non-riding role as Stable Manager as much as riding on the team.
She rode with top eventing trainers like Jimmy Wofford and Mary Schwentker, and had to opportunity to further her understanding of the horse-human connection working with several Sallie Swift/Centered Riding instructors, Kim Walnes, and Daniel Stewart.
Show Jumping
While she enjoyed eventing and competed through Training level, she was drawn to show jumping, a natural progression from the precision found in the equitation ring. She traveled to ride with Chris Kappler and Jeff Cook as well as other local coaches. This was her first exposure to this elite level of riding and horsemanship. She rode and retrained mostly OTTBs, but started to work off her show jumping lessons and training, often schooling and prepping horses for the showing. She enjoyed the 'behind the scenes' work that went into getting a horse ready to compete at the highest levels of the sport.