Anya

I have no official qualifications but I competed for several years in the USA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge. This challenge presents questions in both a hands-on and written format, including but not limited to: equine first-aid, stable management, competition rules, horse characteristics and conformation, and equestrian history. I also competed in the 4H version of this, where I consistently scored highly.

Exercising horses Helping to start young/green horses Tacking up horses Mucking out stalls Managing feed/water schedules Bandaging Lunging Basic clipping and plaiting Equine first-aid Bathing

I have been in a professional equestrian environment since I was six years old, and have been working for many of my trainers since becoming a teenager. When I worked on the side for my trainers as a competition groom, I would help tack up client's horses, muck out stables, exercise horses for the show day, prepare feed, and lunge. When I competed with my own horses, I didn't have grooms, but rather did groom-work myself. I recently began working with a sale barn that imports young warmbloods. Through this, I learned important skills about starting and managing young sport horses. Additionally, I was taught social lessons about the sale industry, from how to manage a sale to staying aware of all sides of a potential deal, while always putting the horse's needs first. As many of the horses we imported had a heavy dressage background, I learned how to adapt my flatwork training to become more dressage oriented, a skill which I have been developing since.

In my junior years, I was the team captain of a regional show jumping group. I would mentor my teammates to help riders identify strengths and weaknesses to succeed in their goals. While in this leadership role, our team competed on a national level. At all the barns I've ridden at I have also worked as a groom. I would take care of the horses morning and night feeding, bandaging, mucking out, etc. As I got older, I transitioned this experience into grooming for competition riders at shows.

As a junior rider, I catch-rode a variety of horses and ponies for clients in show-jumping competitions. My specialty in recent years has been working with and competing with young and/or green horses; primarily imported warmbloods and German Riding Ponies. I aided in their training and buildup of experience to make them well-rounded and confident sport horses.

I competed in United States Equestrian Federation show jumping, hunters, and equitation. I also competed in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association League, as a team captain. USEF Competition Highlights: National Champion Welsh Pony, Pony Finals 2021, Eighth place Overall Small Green USEF Pony Finals 2021, Third place USEF Horse of the Year 2021. IEA Competition Highlights: Zone 8 Finals Champion, Varsity Division, National Qualifier x2, Zone Qualifier x6, IEA Sportsmanship Award x2.