About Amy

Amy has loved horses as long as she can remember and started taking riding lessons at age 9. She got into dressage at age 16 when she got her first horse, Black Tie Affair, an Anglo Arab. Most people her age wanted cars for their 16th birthdays, while Amy asked for a horse! She owned him for approximately 2 years before selling him and getting Double Darin “Cody”.   Amy’s parents bought Cody at a local auction as a 3 year old.  Cody was trained through Grand Prix and became the first American Paint to win the USDF All Breeds Award at Grand Prix. Amy’s trainer at the time Mary Monda Zdunic  showed Cody at the Grand Prix level while Amy was only able to show through I1. In addition to classical dressage Amy also trained Cody in High School movments.  He was able to bow, kneel, leg extensions and Spanish walk.

 During her time with Cody, Amy attended Michigan State University and received her Bachlers of Science in Microbiology and then went on to attend the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University and obtained her Doctorate of Medicine in 2000.  Amy was able to complete her degrees while continuing to train in dressage however there wasn’t much time for competition.
 
Cody ultimately had to be retired due to arthritis in his hocks so Amy purchased a horse named Patriot as a long yearling. Patriot was a Dutch Warmblood that Amy took through 2nd Level. At the time Amy purchased Patriot she was still in medical school.  By the time Patriot was ready to be started under saddle Amy started her training in Emergency Medicine at the York/Penn State Hershey Emergency Medicine Residency program.  After finishing residency training Amy and her husband Drew with their new born son returned to Michigan to start there careers in medicine.  Amy started working with Kelly Burke Hayner in 2003.  With Kelly’s help Patriot and Amy were the 2004 Midwest Dressage Association Training Level Adult Amateur champions.   

After working with Patriot for a few years and training him through 2nd level it was decided to sell him and look for her next horse.

Amy’s trainer at the time, Kelly Burke-Hayner, found Parcival for Amy while in Florida. Amy, who was seven months pregnant with her second child, flew down to Florida to try Parcival and ended up purchasing him. Parcival and Amy only showed through 1st Level do to Amy being pregnant with her third child at that time.  Parcival however was schooling Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges movements at home before Parcival became ill. Unfortunately, Parcival became severely neurologic and had to be euthanized.
 
Amy then met Dani Banner, a German dressage rider and trainer who would become one of her good friends. Dani had found D’Artagnan as a 3 year old and Amy bought him from Dani.  After only having D’Artagnan for a few months he was sold.   Meanwhile, Dani found Bellisario aka Bo in Germany and Amy bought him as a 4 year old. Bo and Amy showed through Prix St. Georges and she finished her Bronze and Silver medals on him (she had gotten her First Level scores many times over, but had gotten her Second and Third levels scores on Bo; Cody had gotten Amy her Fourth Level scores towards her Silver medal and she got her Prix St. Georges scores on Bo).
 
Amy trained with multiple people over the years.  She worked with Kelly Burke Hayner from 2003 until 2010 when she moved to central Virginia.  Currently, Amy trains with Allison Spivey and takes regular clinics with Christian Garweg.  Amy has also trained with Michael Barisone, Ali Brock, Peter Nordlander, Sandra Tull, Mari Monda Zdunic and Lauren Sprieser
 
Amy currently owns another horse found by Dani in Germany, Saltira. Saltira was purchased in fall of 2015 as a 4 year old and showed very successfully at Training and First Levels in 2016. Amy is planning on showing her at Second Level in 2017, possibly finishing the year at Third Level.
 
Her background in both the German and French schools of dressage enable Amy to use the methods that work best with each individual horse. She has experience working with a variety of breeds, not just the popular breeds for dressage. Amy enjoys improving a horse’s natural gaits and way of going while keeping her positive attitude towards training.
 
Although she has ridden upper level dressage, Amy has done it all as an adult amateur while juggling her emergency room medicine career and family. Amy and her husband, Drew, have four children: Kyle, Gabrielle, Amanda and AJ.  Amy is excited to open Dahlgren Dressage in January 2017 and looks forward to teaching and training.