The Trainer

Credentials

Amy Hunter is a horsemen of almost 30 years. She has a BS degree in Agricultural Engineering from UW-Madison (transferred after 2 years at Colorado State) and spent several years as a professional writer.

    This past year, Amy successfully initiated campaigning Irish Draught stallion Cradilo on the Midwest Grand Prix circuit (see 'The Stallion' page for recent videos and 'HF News' for results).
     In 2006 Amy spent time as a hired trainer in Naples, FL. She won a championship each on privately owned thoroughbred mares Seattle and Honest Fighter in the Training and Low Schooling Jumper Division respectively at the Littlewood Presidents Day show in Wellington, FL and several blues at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, FL in the schooling jumper division (clean round blue ribbon) on Seattle and then Laddbrook Farm's D'artagnan.
    While residing in California (from 1997-2002), she competed in several rated shows on the self discovered and trained American Thoroughbred Sweet Baby James. She was in the ribbons in the Preliminary Division at Indio, CA against over 100 riders and did well in the Pebble Beach Derby/Grand Prix several years in a row.
As a junior rider in Massachusetts, she successfully qualified for the New England Medals and won numerous jumper and hunter championships on the East Coast rated circuit.




     Amy put the initial jump training on and rode the imported Irish Draught stallion Cradillo, owned by Ladbrook Farm, to the 1998 National Irish Draught Horse of the Year in Virginia and started and introduced the imported Russian Akhal-Teke stallion Gorhon, owned at the time by Dr. Tito Pontecorvo, to his first successful blue ribbon campaign at Indio. Amy also put jumping training on the imported stallions Kogan, Grom and Gigar (owned at that time by Dr. Tito Pontecorvo) and saw Kogan go on to successfully competition under Grand Prix rider Suzie Hutchison.
     Amy has a versatile background of teaching, training, managing, breeding and competing. Though she specializes in hunter/jumper she has studied and uses dressage, cross country jumping, racing and natural horsemanship. She has taught riding at two Universities, through Pony Club, and at several private and commercial hunter/jumper facilities. Amy's students have enjoyed a wide range of competitive successes under her supervision, including several high places in the SAHJA medal finals, consistent success on the WWHSA circuit and a positive showing on the USET and Medal MaClay Florida circuit.
     She has successfully trained and worked with a wide range of breeds and has also managed several private and commercial farms ... up to 70 horses and 40 students at one facility. She has successfully stood (and is currently standing) several top sport horse stallions.
     Amy is particularly proud of her farrier ability (the most difficult work she does in the horse world!) and the technical shoeing of her own horses, including Sweet Baby James and Cradilo (currently) while showing at the Grand Prix level. Though she has studied farrier science since the age of 13 and has practiced trimming inconsistently for about 15 years, she began shoeing her own horses almost 10 years ago out of the desire to receive the farrier work she needed for the sake of soundness and movement (and her shoers were getting tired of her asking them to shoe in a very specific way!)

Amy feels a strong formal education for a professional horseman is required, and has received hunter/jumper instruction in the form of clinics and lessons from junior trainer Mitch Steege (MA), George Morris (NJ), Chris Kappler (NJ), Frank Madden (CT),Fran Dotoli (MA), Dean Battaglia (IL) and most recently Niall Grimes (Ireland). She received instruction in dressage from Hilda Gurney, Pam Goodridge (NH) and Kathy Prior (WI). She has also received general instruction from her mentor, race horse trainer and horse shoer Danny Quinlan (MA), clinician Deb Bennit (CA) and Parelli Natural Horsemanship Level III Instructor Dean Voigt (CA). She has studied veterinarian medicine under Dr. Mark Beverly (WI) and engaged in a two year farrier apprenticeship with Jerry Hey (CA).
     Amy believes in a classical and slow approach to starting and training horses and feels the animal's mental and physical well-being must always come before any imposed human goals. She sees riding first as a disciplined art and believes any form of horsemanship should be considered a path to a fuller and healthier life.
     Amy is currently managing her business Huntington Training Farm LLC and working primarily out of her family's Huntington Farms in Viroqua, Wisconsin, though she continues to train and show on the East Coast. Her goal is to consistently compete at the Grand Prix level, to train and instruct a small group of clients, to promote the hunter/jumper sport by holding and managing local horse shows, and to continue breeding, training and promoting high quality horses of sport.