As prospective clients, you should know who we are, where we have been and where we are going. The bios of the key staff members of DHF will make it evident that we are not only professionals, but we are dedicated service providers.

Owner
Jennifer Truett
Instructor, Events Manager, President, Dancing Horse Farm, Inc.

Goals

• Ever improving her own riding skills through better, more effective biomechanics and “feel” development
• Enhancing her teaching skills through continuous education, vocabulary growth, an ever improving “eye” for what is right and ways to fix everything else
• Developing her horses into happy, healthy FEI athletes
• Making her first Grand Prix horse and riding down her first Grand Prix centerline
• Earning her USDF Silver and Gold medals and Freestyle Bars on a horse she trained herself
• Becoming a RWYM Accredited Coach, USDF Certified Instructor and an “L” Graduate
• For her students, “…to enjoy every moment with their horses, the good and the bad, because each moment offers a blessing, a life lesson and a memory.”

Jennifer Truett is a United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Bronze Medalist, Bronze Freestyle Bar recipient, past NAYRC (now NAJYRC) competitor, and active rider and competitor in Dressage. She also serves as the USDF Region 2 Youth Council Coordinator. She has been riding horses ever since she could safely sit up unsupported as an infant. She has competed horses in many disciplines starting with a childhood of showing Quarter Horses in western, hunt seat, reining, barrels, jumping, trail and showmanship; she also competed in saddleseat, driving, hunter/jumper, and eventing until she found her heart’s desire in the ideal sport for the obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist…dressage.

Jennifer earned both a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (1995) and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Research (1997) from Wright State University. She started a consulting company working with the Dayton Police Department in the Domestic Violence (DV) Squad. Jennifer quickly realized that a streamlined data tracking system would help investigators track DV offenses more efficiently, so she developed software that was sold to multiple police departments, prosecutor’s offices and the US Air Force. The USAF’s request to “Web-enable” their software led Jennifer to connect with the defense contracting company, James Gregory Associates, where she eventually became VP of Business Development for the Washington DC Region. In 2006, she realized her heart was really in the horse business and she decided to take the business, networking, managements, and marketing skills she’d developed into running her own equine corporation, Dancing Horse Farm.

Jennifer prides herself on breaking and training her own competition horses who she buys as untrained youngsters (Lydia DHF, Lisalotte DHF, and Nachtwind DHF and most recently, Sunset N). All of her horses have won numerous individual competition high score awards, Regional and USDF Year End Championships. In 2008, Nachtwind was sold to Jennifer’s client, Lori Aman, and has remained in full training with Jennifer. Sadly, in the summer of 2009, Jennifer’s sweet Lydia lost her battle with laminitis brought on by a terrible Potomac Horse Fever infection (despite a rigorous vaccination regimen) the weekend before she was to debut after a couple years off derailing Jennifer’s plans to compete her PSG that season. Jennifer is very excited about the future of her new superstar mount, Sunset N, (2006 Show Star-Sandro Hit x Florestan I) who she found on a shopping trip with Heather Blitz in Denmark in fall, 2009.

Jennifer believes that every teacher needs their own teacher to ensure continued growth, learning and skill evolution. Until November 2007, Jennifer had always ridden with “traditional” classical instructors but never felt like she had fully tapped into her body’s capabilities, nor did she truly understand the ways of the invisible communication between the top FEI riders and their horses. The turning point in Jennifer’s riding and teaching was when she was introduced to rider biomechanics through a clinic she hosted at DHF with Sandy Howard, USEF “S” judge and USDF “L” Faculty Member. Sandy worked with Mary Wanless for 17+ years at that point and had just successfully integrated her biomechanics theory, coupled with research results obtained by Dr. Hilary Clayton at the University of Michigan’s McPhail Institute, into the USDF L program’s certification training regimen. DHF clients were fortunate to have Sandy present the entire seminar she gave at the 2007 USEF Judge’s Forum to them that very cold, but life-changing, November weekend.

After that clinic, Jennifer’s eyes were opened wide to a whole new world of learning, teaching, and biomechanical pattern changing—she was totally hooked! Jennifer was invited and attended “Teacher Training” at Sandy’s farm with Mary Wanless in February 2008 and 2009 and began bringing in Mary-trained “Ride With Your Mind” clinicians like Sandy, Joanie Bolton (USDF Gold Medalist, short-listed for the Pan American Games and 2000 Olympics), international US Grand Prix rider, Heather Blitz, and Mary Wanless herself. Jennifer also gets coaching locally from George Williams, international US competitor and USDF President.

Jennifer very much enjoys teaching Mary’s Ride With Your Mind approach to dressage through riding, theory, and lunge line lessons focused on rider biomechanics that improve the communication and skills of the horse and rider as a team. She also enjoys helping her clients develop Musical Freestyles that represent the music in their hearts.

Jennifer finds the most rewarding part of her job to be the small successes that her clients experience on a daily basis. Her wish for her students is to enjoy every moment with their horses, the good and the bad, because each moment offers a blessing, a life lesson and a memory.

Jennifer can be reached at: 937.532.3108 or Jennifer@DancingHorseFarmOH.com.

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Barn Manager
Beth Leshner
Barn Manager

I practically grew up on horseback having started to ride when I was 5 years old. My mom had an old mixed breed horse she rode mostly on trails and I was hooked as soon as I got on her. It was not long until I had a pony of my own. I showed mostly Hunter/Jumpers with local coach Chile Rodgers enjoying the glamour of the A show circuit as I groomed and braided to help pay my way, until I went to college and discovered intercollegiate competition. I rode on the Ohio State Equestrian Team for 3 years, serving as vice president of the OSU Equestrian club my senior year. During that time I worked as a Polo groom, groom at River Downs as well as spending summers cleaning stalls at what is now Derbyshire Stable.

Upon graduation I decided to put my BA to work and took several jobs in sales before returning to my first love. Horses! I managed a dressage breeding and boarding facility on the east side of Cincinnati for three years, and a hunter/jumper facility for two. Finally choosing the craziest profession with horses I could find, I began exercising racehorses at Turfway Park and River Downs. I spent a little over a year with the racehorses before an accident sidelined me and I again took a job in sales at Verizon Wireless.

My10 year career at Verizon, culminated in Sales Manager for several retail locations in the Cincinnati area including the store on Fields Ertel Road, Downtown Cincinnati and Colerain Ave. I never lost my passion for horses, however, and once healed from my accident turned to eventing, which I have loved ever since. During that time I competed quite a bit and was blessed with a big grey horse that loved to do cross-country as much as I did. Sadly I lost that horse early in his life and have just never found a suitable replacement. I still love horses and working with them so I was thrilled to take the position of Jennifer’s groom in July of 2009. Since that time I have loved my time getting to know Jen, her horses and everyone at Dancing Horse Farm. I am so excited to embark on this new journey of my career as I take the role of Barn Manager at DHF. Stay tuned for information on “Whisper”, my new horse arriving in mid April.

Beth can be reached at: 513.933.0343 or Beth@DancingHorseFarmOH.com.

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Riding School Manager
Sheila Wilson
Eventing/Beginner Lessons, Young Horse Trainer

“Horses and Art go together. Sometimes one has to be very creative when training horses. My training as an artist, provides the” eye” to see the detail in every rider and every horse that I am fortunate enough to train.”

Sheila has been with training with DHF for over one year and brings a lifetime of varied and interesting equine experiences. Furthermore she has been part of the focused, regimented DHF program that enables trainers to reach their full potential. We are proud to have Sheila as a “graduate” of the DHF Riding School and welcome her to our Community in her new role as Assistant Barn Manager.

Career Highlights:

• Bachelors Degree in Fine Art, University of Oklahoma
• Masters of Fine Arts, New York City (only time she was ever separated from horses!)
• Lifetime of Arabian horse training and breeding (family owned and operated)
• 6 years training, 10 years practicing, Natural Horsemanship skills
• 10 years Joint District Commissioner of the Blue Ribbon Riders’ Pony Club
• Successful Competitor – saddleseat, eventing, dressage
• Lifetime member of 4H

Goals:

• Enhancing her teaching skills through continuous education, her artist’s eye for detail and her innate creativity
• Ever improving her own riding skills through a strong foundation of dressage and biomechanics
• Never losing the ability to find excitement in learning new skills
• Developing Lone Star (and all equine partners in training) into a happy, healthy athlete

Sheila Wilson started riding at an early age. At 15 years old she had the good fortune to learn from Vicki Humphrey, a dressage graduate of Meredith Manor. Sheila continued to ride with Vicki and work for her for several years until she graduated High School. Vicki used her dressage skills to train Arabian and Half Arabian horses for English Pleasure and Park. Sheila learned how dressage could lighten a horse’s front end and make their trot more animated and engaged.

When an offer to work Arizona presented itself, (knowing the approaching Ohio winter, Arizona sounded like a good deal), Sheila had the opportunity to meet a true horseman. Not only did he have a strong foundation in dressage, but he also knew how horses think. Although he may have looked like a cowboy and rode in a western saddle, he rode dressage. He learned traditional military horse training methods from a retired Calvary colonel and had studied horses and their behavior his entire life…Sheila’s education of natural horsemanship skills began. She learned that you could change how a horse moves to or from you by just your body position. How you could teach a horse to want to be with you. Sheila learned that once you were able to get a horse to “give to you” you could teach them anything. For six years, Sheila worked at repurposing horses and sharpening her training techniques.

After several years out west and later completing her MFA in NYC, she returned to Ohio. Sheila joined her Mother in an Arabian horse training and breeding business. It was a family operation, Dad made the hay, sister helped with the showing, Mom took care of the mares and foals, and Sheila trained the horses. Together they made and sold National winners in Halter, English pleasure and Park.

Sister moved away, Mom and Dad wanted to retire, that left Sheila. She knew to stay competitive in the show ring you have to keep honing your skills. Knowing how important dressage training is to any discipline; she sought a dressage coach, to improve her English horses. What she found when she started learning dressage was that dressage was much more interesting than English Pleasure. The more dressage she learned the less she wanted to show in the English/Saddleseat classes. Although she had a large Saddleseat clientele built up, she made the brave decision to switch to dressage. To her surprise many of her clients followed her!

Always seeking information to support continuous learning and education, Sheila regularly attends seminars and training clinics. At DHF, she has found a community who shares her thirst for knowledge and her unique perspective of the symbiotic relationship of art and horses, dressage and dancing.

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