Dressage Trainers

Browse through our listings of dressage trainers and coacjes, offering lessons and help to riders and horses to improve there dressage scores and the rideability of there horses. Stable Express is a database of riders for eventing with rider profiles of British eventers from all around the country, watch videos of British Eventers in action from promising young event riders through to the worlds bet who have won medals and championshipships for Great Britain

Courtney King-Dye

Courtney Dye, 33 is and International Dresage trainer and competitor based out of New York in the summer and Florida in the Winter. In 2000, she was named to the USET Olympic Long List and in 2004 she was named to the USEF High Performance Developing Riders List. Courtney is a United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Gold Medalist and a USDF Certified Instructor through Fourth Level. Courtney is a 2004 graduate of Columbia University in New York and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature.

A native of Michigan, Courtney has been riding since she was nine years old. At age 15, she became a working student for two-time Olympian Lendon Gray at Sunnyfield Farm. She competed in the 1998 North American Young Riders Championships and by 1999, with a string of horses to show for clients, Courtney became a force to be reckoned with in the competition ring. Renowned dressage announcer Brian O’Connor dubbed her as “the Tiger Woods of dressage” in recognition of her extraordinary number of wins.

Courtney’s dressage education includes six years as Assistant Trainer to Lendon Gray, six months with Conrad Schumacher in Germany, and multiple clinics with various trainers including Henk van Bergen and U.S Olympians Michael Poulin, and Debbie McDonald. In 2007 Courtney spent one month in California training with U.S Olympian Steffen Peters and two months in Germany training with U.S Dressage Team Coach Klaus Balkenhol. Courtney has a strong belief in continuing her Dressage education and taking training opportunities whenever they are available.

Courtney’s show record includes a long history of championships and honors, including many USDF Regional Championships and Reserve Championships from Training Level through Grand Prix, USDF Horse of the Year Awards and Year-End Championships from the New England Dressage Association (NEDA). Courtney is known for her ability to show horses at nearly every level of dressage at the same show and come away with the lion’s share of blue ribbons.

In 2007 at "Dressage at Devon" Pennsylvania, Courtney entered 11 classes on five horses ranging from 4th level to Grand Prix, finishing first 5 times, second 4 times and third 2 times, and also earned the FEI High Score of the show with a 71.25%. In one banner year, Courtney qualified seven horses for the USDF Regional Championships from Training level to Grand Prix and was Champion and/or Reserve at every level except Second, which was not entered.

In April 2007 Courtney and Idocus represented the USA for the first time at the World Cup in Las Vegas finishing in 6th place competing against 30 of the best riders in the world. Later in August they competed in the USEF National Grand Prix Championships, Gladstone, NJ finishing in second place.

In April 2008, Courtney and Idocus qualified and competed in the World Cup in The Netherlands. In August 2008, Courtney represented the USA at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong on Harmony's Mythilus.

Courtney’s elegance in the saddle has also made her a primary candidate as a Demonstration Rider for such prestigious clinicians as Anky van Grunsven, Henk van Bergen, and Hubertus Schmidt, as well as for Pony Clubs and Adult Amateur groups. In 1998, Courtney was regularly featured in Practical Horsemen magazine as the Demonstration Rider for "how to" articles with Lendon Gray. In 1999, Courtney was the Demonstration Rider for “Developing the International Horse and Rider” at the National Symposium with Conrad Schumacher; the resulting video series is still widely distributed. Courtney has also performed as an Exhibition Rider for notable events including Lendon Gray’s Annual Youth Dressage Festival in Saugerties, New York, the Ox Ridge CDI in Darien, Connecticut, and the 2006 USEF National Grand Prix Freestyle Championships/U.S. League Finals in Wellington, Florida.

On March 3 2010 the horse Courtney was riding tripped and fell. Courtney was not wearing a helmet and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. She spent 4 weeks in a Coma and 3 months doing inpatient rehabilitation re-learning to walk and talk. Courtney continues to do outpatient therapy with the ultimate goal of riding competitively again.

George Williams

George Williams started riding dressage seriously in 1973. As a 17 year old he traveled to Germany to study with Egon Von Neindorff. It was there at the Reitinstitute von Neindorff that he earned his German Bronze Rider Medal. After winning two national AHSA and USDF Championships in 1981, Williams followed his mentor, Karl Mikolka, to ride the famed Lipizzan stallions of Tempel Farms in Illinois. After a 20 year association with the dancing white horses, Williams decided to follow his dream to compete internationally.

In 2001, he began his partnership with the charismatic and popular black, lop eared Westfalen mare, Rocher, owned by Chuck and Joann Smith of Gypsy Woods Farm in Richwood, Ohio. Working with US Olympic Team Coach, Klaus Balkenhol, in 2003, the pair's highlights included fifth place in the World Cup in Sweden, USDF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle Horse of the Year as well as being named Dressage Horse of the Year by The Chronicle of the Horse. They achieved a BCM ranking of 16th in the world. After an injury forced them to withdraw from the 2004 Olympic Selection trials, Rocher returned to competition in 2005. Proving herself once again, together they earned the title of the 2005 USET/Collecting Gaits National Grand Prix Champion as well as a team bronze at the CHIO Aachen. However, the crowning moment of the year was winning the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle at Dressage at Devon for an unprecedented third time.

Williams is a sought after instructor and trainer. He has coached four NAYRC Individual Medal winners and numerous NAYRC Team Medal winners. He has earned the USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals. Recently Williams was co winner of the USEF William Steinkraus Equestrian of Honor Award for his success in 2005. A strong believer in giving back to the dressage community, Williams is currently active as the Vice-President of United States Dressage Federation (USDF), Co-Vice Chair of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Dressage Committee, a member of the USEF Board of Directors, and is the Chair of the USEF High Performance Committee. He was a contributing author to the USDF's booklet on arena footing, Underfoot, and his accomplishments and training techniques have been featured in many publications.

Christine Stückelberger

Christine Stuckelberger & Transanit - Los Angeles Olympics dressage Classical Dressage Trainers
When one thinks of Classical Equitation it is easy for the mind to conjour images of current day practicioners such as the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. It is truly a thrill to see the skill, elegance and precision of their movements, but it seems very far from what most people would seek to achieve, or even consider that they might. In fact, it appears an archaic form of horsemanship. It is entertaining and spectacular to watch, and we may admire the way in which the horses have been trained to respond and perform, but it seems to have little relevance to what most people wish to do with their horses today. Certainly, if you aspire to become a successful cross-country rider you would be unlikely to begin your training by studying the classical movements!

You would be more successful if you did!

For thousands of years the horse was the pinnacle of transport. As well as being a mode of transportation for the wealthy, the horse's most demanding role was in warfare. Cavalry mounts had to be fit, supple, obedient and instantly responsive to the lightest of commands from the rider. If they were not, there might be no second chance. Not unsurprisingly, knowledge of how to train the horse for its role developed quickly and was refined over the years. Some of the specialist trainers wrote down their techniques and these were passed on for others to develop further. These specialists are referred to as the classical masters. They were interested in three things:

Training the horse to carry a rider.

Training the horse to be obedient to the rider's commands.

Improving the horse's athletic ability so that it could more easily perform its role.

Surely these are things we all seek in our riding. So where has all this knowledge gone? Why are we no longer using it today? To some extent, of course, we are using the knowledge built up over the years - but in a very diluted form. What has happened is that we have cut corners. We are impatient and want to ride out on our horses, to take them cross-country or over jumps.

The horsey press is full of training articles which always begin by stressing the importance of good schoolwork and flatwork - but it is not as exciting as the jumping or cross country. At the highest levels of horsemanship, the need for athletic and obedience training is not skipped and many of the classical techniques are aspired to and their usefulness understood. But most people do not achieve (nor seek to achieve) the highest levels. Nor do they have access to the trainers who could allow them to develop their horses and their own skills.

It is the intention of this website to allow you access to classical training and its benefits. We will simplify and explain the techniques and schooling practices used and allow you to see the benefits they would bring to both you and your horse.

We do not intend to provide you with a history of Classical Riding, nor a review of the writings of the Classical Masters. There are many excellent books on these subjects. We will be more than happy to discuss these things with you if that is where your interest lies, but our main purpose with the website is to provide practical training and support to help you with your riding on a day-to-day basis.

Daniel Sherriff - British Dressage Trainer - A rider with an impressive competition record, Daniel Sherriff has expereince at the highest level and is also a popular dressage coach help other rider improve there dressage scores. Below you can watch a video of Daniel Sherriff at the 2014 LeMieux National Dressage Championships.

Anabel Balkenhol

Selected to represent Germany at the 2011 CDIO Aachen, Team Dressage Bronze medal at the World Equestrian Games 2010, Selected to represent Germany at the World Equestrian Games 2010, 3rd Lingen Grand Prix 2010, 4th Lingen Grand Prix Special 2010, 2nd Music Grand Prix Special 2010 Nominated for team Aachen

Anabel "Belli" Balkenhol (* April 8 1972 in Rosendahl ) is a German dressage rider .

After school and graduated from high school in 1993 and 1995, Balkenhol special education . In 1999 she graduated as an administrative assistant at the German Equestrian Federation . Subsequently, she lived from 2000 to 2002 in the USA . From 2002 she worked in her father's training stable, the dressage trainer Klaus Balkenhol . In 2007 she went freelance.

Anabel Balkenhol rode back in the 1990s to Grand Prix level, she played her first Grand Prix at the age of 22 years. Their sporting breakthrough they had until the late 2000s. By his own admission, they made too much pressure for a long time:

" Before, I wanted to ride more than 70 percent, today I am pleased with an error-free ride. "

With her horse Dablino she made in July 2010, due to their success at the tournaments in Lingen and Fritz in the previous month, the leap from number 133 to number 16 in the world rankings. At the German Championships in Munster, they won with Dablino the Grand Prix de Dressage and was in the Grand Prix Spécial German vice-champion .

Because of the success achieved this year it was for the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington nominated. Here, in her first Championships, she won as a team with Isabell Werth , Matthias Alexander Rath and Christoph Koschel the bronze medal.

From 2008 Anabel Balkenhol was part of the German dressage B2 squad. By early 2010 she was inducted into the German B-team dressage. Since 2011 she is part of the A-squad (championship squad) of the German Dressage rider.

In their first participation in the German Dressage Derby in 2011 she was second, Rubin Royal was the best horse in the test with rotation of horses.

In June 2011 she was with Dablino 13th the world rankings. Anabel Balkenhol is trained by Klaus Balkenhol.

Alex Chterba

Alex Chterba (Sherba) of Russia is a recognized Elite International Equestrian Trainer. A member of the Soviet Jumping Team, Alex later in his career became Soviet Dressage Team Coach at the Olympic Training Center in Moscow. During that time he trained Dixon and Nina Menkova who competed for the U.S.S.R. in the Olympics and World Championships.

His classical education began in the USSR Calvary where he became a Riding Master. Alex studied further under USSR National and Olympic team coach Anastasiev, and became equally proficient in the disciplines of show jumping and dressage.

Recognized by elite trainers and riders including Bertalan de Nemethy, Kyra Kirklund, and Carol Lavell, Alex Chterba is truly an International Trainer of the highest caliber.

Alex is especially well known for his ability to work horses in high collection and he has helped several USET riders.

A true Master teacher/trainer, Alex Chterba enjoys leading the dedicated student from the basics to the place where high levels of accomplishment are attainable!

Recognized International Trainer

Training Championship Riders since 1970

Coach of the Soviet Olympic National Dressage Team

Best Trainer of the USSR in 1989 and 1990

Certified by Equestrian Federation of the USSR in 1990 as "The Coach of Highest Qualifications"

Coach of the Famous Soviet Sportsman Nina Menkova

His students include the following Olympic riders:

• Sydney - Elena Sidneva (dressage)
• Seoul - Nina Menkova (dressage) and Anatoly Timchenko (show jumping)