Donna's love for horses has been a grand passion from her very first spoken word.  As a child, she rode rented and borrowed horses of every description before purchasing her own.  Like your typical 'horse crazy' kid, Donna read everything she could get her hands on about horse health, behavior, care, riding, showing, and grooming.  As an adult, that constant pursuit of knowledge hasn't changed.  Donna still reads everything she can get her hands on and loves riding new horses, learning new methods, movements, and philosophies.  Years of study, instruction, riding, and working around horses has given her enormous respect and appreciation for this beautiful creature.

Donna currently rides and trains a young Quarter Horse named Marley.  In addition to coaching students aged 14 to 62, she enjoys showing dressage, hunters, english pleasure, and trail as well as going on trail rides and hunter paces.  It is this love of riding and teaching others to ride that has brought Training Level to fruition.  Mentored by experienced instructor Mary Casper at Little Oaks Farm, Donna is seeking her American Riding Instructors Association certification in 2010.

Donna believes that an instructors role is to teach safe, effective horsemanship through communication and centered riding.  Everyone can learn to ride well and have a lot of fun along the way.

In addition to her riding experience, Donna has a diverse background in nonprofit volunteer management.  This career path has presented lots of opportunities for training and teaching both children and adults.  She loves meeting new people, and would love to talk to you about your riding goals.

Donna & Diego at working trot