EAP Regional and National Training Session

With a recent induction into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame and a career spanning six decades in equestrian sport, Linda’s experience includes riding and training through the International Grand Prix level prior to a riding career ending injury. She then turned her attention to course design, leading to working in this capacity on five continents, including designing the jumping courses at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 1992 World Cup Finals in Del Mar, CA. Linda served as Technical Delegate for the 1994 World Equestrian Games and the 1999 Pan American Games, as well as multiple World Cup Finals. She has also been a design consultant for a number of private and competition facilities throughout the U.S. 

Currently, her major activities include judging FEI competitions, along with giving riding and jumping clinics throughout the U.S. and abroad. Linda coaches riders in the U.S., Guatemala, and Mexico and is also a regular contributor to EquestrianCoach.com.

 As an author, her book, "101 Jumping Exercises for Horse and Rider" continues to be popular world-wide, and she is currently working on a new book, "JumpSmart:  A Horseman's Guide to Producing Confident & Happy Jumping Horses.”

 Raised on a 130-acre Quarter Horse breeding farm in Bellevue, Idaho, Cara discovered her passion for horses and horsemanship at an early age. She won her first competition at the age of seven and went on to train and work beside some of most knowledgeable professionals in the industry, including George Morris, Bert de Nemethy, Conrad Homfeld, Bernie Traurig, Jimmy Williams, and Rob Gage, who shared their mastery of the sport and the proven training techniques (American ‘forward seat’ jumping system) that have been passed down for generations.

Throughout her career as an International Grand Prix Show Jumping rider, Cara has been successfully preparing both horses and riders for top placings in up to 5 star FEI classes, Nations Cups, Hunter Derbies, Equitation/Medal Finals, Young Riders, Pony Finals, EAPs, and the SEC and NCEA Championships. She has literally taken young riders from the short stirrup ring to the highest level of the sport, providing hands on training and advice to parents/investors on the financial and strategic considerations that will arise as they progress from regional to international competitions.

In 2019, she sold her training facility in Seattle and is now sharing her expertise on the flat and over fences with young professionals and top amateurs/juniors in private training sessions and clinics both in person and online (Zoom). She also advises owners on the selection, development, campaigning, repurposing, and disposition of investment horses.

Jeff Cook has successfully trained hunters and jumpers since 1979. Throughout his career, he has coached, ridden and trained horses for all divisions, from low hunters to grand prix jumpers.

Jeff was fortunate to work for legendary trainer and former United States Equestrian Team Show Jumping coach, George Morris. Jeff was assistant trainer to Mr. Morris from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1998 to 2003. Over the years, Jeff’s horses and riders have won classes and championships at major horse shows throughout the United States, including Plam Beach, Devon, Lake Placid and South Hampton, as well as Spruce Meadows and international competitions in Italy and Mexico.

Jeff has also written numerous articles, including a 28-month series for Practical Horseman magazine. He is a highly regarded clinician, teaching throughout the United States as well as training at horse shows.

Chris began her love of all things horses in Southern New Jersey at the age of 7 when her Mom relented after much begging, and let her take her first lesson on Blue Grass.

She showed for several years in the hunters and equitation throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania and was a working student for Harry DeLeyer. She was awarded a scholarship to attend Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ. While there she interned with Hunterdon Farm and George Morris as well as Michael Godfrey, an Advanced Level Eventer.

After graduating from Centenary Chris worked for Barry Lane in Northern Florida where she rode and trained young horses and ponies. Chris moved on to working with such riders, owners and trainers as Anne Kursinski, Leslie Burr-Howard, Jane Forbes Clark, Molly Ashe, Nicole Simpson, and Frank Chapot. After moving to Columbus, Ohio, Chris was hired by Otterbein University as Assistant Riding Director while also serving as an IHSA Regional President.

For the last 25 plus years Chris has been co-owner and manager of Sugar Run Farm LLC. With Jennifer Nadalin where they have trained several National, Zone and Regional Champion horses and riders from beginner to Grand Prix level. Chris is a Certified Schooling supervisor and working toward her USEF and FEI stewards license. She and Jennifer live at Sugar Run Farm in Plain City Ohio and are proud parents to Caroline Nadalin.

Joe Fargis first represented the U.S. in 1970 in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he rode Bonte II on the winning Nations' Cup team. He is best known for his double Gold Medal performance at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games riding Touch of Class. He became only the second American show jumper to win an Olympic individual Gold Medal, while leading the U.S. to the team Gold as well. He rode Touch of Class to an Olympic record that year by jumping 90 out of 91 obstacles clear. Four years later, Fargis added a third Olympic medal to his collection when he rode Mill Pearl and helped the U.S. win team Silver at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and finished seventh individually. Over the years, he has ridden on more than 30 Nations' Cup teams and was part of winning teams at Aachen, Washington, New York, Calgary, Rome and Cannes.

Fargis won the USA-East World Cup League twice and finished fourth in the 1989 World Cup Final in Tampa. He was the Leading International Rider at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden in 1987. He was also a member of the Gold Medal team at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, and the fourth place team at the 1990 World Championships held as part of the initial World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

Fargis's string of grand prix wins is equally impressive. He won such notable events as the American Gold Cup in Devon, PA; the Hickstead Grand Prix in England; the USET Wellington Cup; the Ox Ridge Grand Prix; the Grand Prix of Tampa; and the I Love New York Grand Prix in Lake Placid. Continuing to compete well into his fifties, Fargis added more wins in the first decade of the new millennium including the I Love New York Grand Prix; the $175,000 Grand Prix of the U.S. at the Oaks Blenheim International CSI***; and the $100,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix. Already a USHJA Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Fargis was most recently honored in January by the USEF as its 2012 recipient of the Jimmy A. Williams Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding equestrian career.

Equally respected and admired by the full spectrum of the show jumping world as a rider and instructor, Fargis continues to be a favorite at every event he attends. USHJA is honored to have him serve as an Emerging Athletes Program clinician in 2013.

Jennifer S. Fessler has been a lifelong horseman, having been raised by an extraordinary horseman and teacher, Kit Sydnor. She did Pony Club as a young rider and then received a focused education in the modern American Forward Riding System from Paul Cronin, James A. Cantwell, Paul & Wendy Mathews. She learned about progressive horsemanship with Dave Seay and continues to be mentored by Tad Coffin. She has spent a lot of time with some excellent veterinarians along the way. All of these extraordinary horse people contributed to being brought up in a culture that values integrity, hard work, and doing right by the horses. A native Virginian, Jenn has been a full-time professional trainer since 2000 and is a USHJA Certified Trainer.

As a junior rider, Jenn developed green hunters, showed Junior Hunters at 3’6” in A rated shows, qualified for the AHSA (now USEF) Medal Finals and Maclay Finals. In college she had success in IHSA competition, was Open High Point Rider for Region 3 and Cacchione Cup rider at Nationals. After college she turned professional and showed green hunters and developed jumpers up to the 1.20m height. Over the years she won multiple sportsmanship and style awards, which mean more to her than any of the tricolors.

Jenn’s experiences caring for horses and being a riding teacher for all levels of student for the past 25+ years have given her a perspective on more than just giving riders a functional position— as organization, planning, poise, confidence, judgement/decision making, softness and compassion all play a big part in getting a good performance with a horse. All of these skills need to be honed on the ground back in the stable to prepare for a good ride. She has spent a long time developing an eye for the little things with both horse and rider, and is reminded every day how much we can learn from our horses. Her point of reference is always from the horse’s perspective. Years of dealing with horses that are sensitive, troubled, or are in process of being reclaimed have honed her skills of seeing the very subtle ways that they show us that they have limits, and she feels very strongly about educating people to think about things from the horse’s point of view. Real life horsemanship is making sure horses don’t dread being brought out of their stalls, and progress with a horse’s development should not be undone in such a way that it will take months to help them get confident and happy again. They are not machines, and the onus is on us as horsemen to help the next generation of riders understand that. 

Jenn is thrilled and honored to be among the educators in the Emerging Athletes Program.

Cynthia Hankins was a junior equitation star, having placed in the top ten of several equitation finals before winning the American Horse Show Association Medal Finals in 1975. Cynthia has spent much of her professional career traveling between the U.S. and France, where she rides and trains at a top breeding farm. Many of her students have gone on to become successful professionals within the hunter/jumper industry.

Cynthia holds a USEF R-rated judge's license in both Hunter and Hunter Seat Equitation, has judged numerous shows in the U.S. and France, and several equitation finals including the 2024 ASPCA Maclay Finals at the National Horse Show in Lexington, KY.

In addition to judging and training, Cynthia shares her knowledge and expertise with riders as a top clinician and in the articles she contributes to publications such as The Chronicle of the Horse and Practical Horseman.

Karen began her professional career working for George Morris at Hunterdon 1971-1974. Following that she worked at Boulder Brook and Tewksbury with such riders as Ruthann Bowers, Freddie and Daisy Wells, and Francesca Mazella.

Karen moved to California in 1981 and began her business at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. In the following years, she developed many successful riders including Mia Wood, Lauren Kay, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Kristen Posehn, 1998 AHSA Jr. Horsemen of the Year Jill Prieto and Kasey Ament.

Since coming to California and forming her own Karen Healey Stables, her riders have won over 100+ medal finals including the 1990 ASPCA Maclay National Finals and the USET Talent Search Finals in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. She has also trained numerous champion hunters and jumpers at indoors, including the 1990 AHSA Large Jr. Hunter National Champion, Magic Word, the 2005 USEF Amateur Owner Hunter 36 and over National Champion, Country Grammar, and the 1996 and 1998 AHSA Jr. Jumper National Champion Freestyling. Her jumper riders have also earned medals at the NAYRC and the Prix de States, including gold medalists Hannah Selleck, Samantha Harrison and Kilian McGrath.

In addition to her students’ success in the show ring, Karen is an instrumental force in the administration of equestrian sport. She holds a USEF R-rated judging license and has judged some of the most prestigious shows in the country, including the Devon Horse Show, the Hampton Classic, the USEF Pony Finals and the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search East Coast Finals.

Julia Hogan has been part of the horse industry since a very young age. She has ridden hunter/jumpers all her life, and her father has been a thoroughbred breeder and trainer. During her years as a junior rider she rode with Nona Garson, Carol Thompson and Frank Hernandez. Her summers were spent working at Monmouth Park Racetrack for different trainers each year as a groom and hot walker.

After high school, Julia went on to Bridgewater College, where she majored in Business Management and rode on the IHSA team under Coach Sarah Irvine. While at Bridgewater, Julia met Mary Babick and began her career at Knightsbridge as a groom, later becoming Assistant Trainer after graduation. Julia has assisted with the care and training of all the Knightsbridge horses since 2009. She has pursued any opportunity to further develop her knowledge as a rider and stable manager. Julia has also been a proud member of the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge Committee since the program’s inception.

Vinton didn’t begin his career as a youngster on a pony or even take a straight line through the ranks. He grew up in Reno, NV, and after two years of tagging along with his sister to the barn for her riding lessons, he finally succumbed and decided to give it a try at age 14. Training with Julie Winkel, Vinton came a long way in a short period of time. He competed in the big eq and at Young Riders in his final junior year and won team silver at NAJYRC in Chicago on his way to college.

By now fully committed to the sport, he had chosen a college close to George Morris’s Hunterdon so he could ride. Morris’s program was notably tough and demanding, especially when juggling university, but ultimately Vinton learned a lot about business organization, horse care and teaching.

After a couple of years, he moved on from college and Hunterdon to focus on a full-time career in riding. In Europe, he experienced his first international competitions at the Grand Prix level. Back in the states, he became a working student for Olympian Anne Kursinski where he rode all her top horses at the time, including Starman, Cannonball and Top Seed.

Vinton eventually went out on his own, set up a business in Michigan and developed his relationship with John and Beezie Madden. But after a few years of total immersion in horses, he was ready for a change in both location and career. He went to SeaWorld in California, met trainer Shawna Corrin, and together they created the reward reinforcement training system, On Target Training. The pair eventually left SeaWorld and integrated their clicker training approach to sport horses, working again with the Maddens with much success – most notably with Iron Spring Farm’s Judgement, overcoming his one-time fear of water jumps. Amazingly, Beezie Madden and Judgement won the International Derby at Spruce Meadows, despite its five different water elements.

Once again recruited by John Madden, Vinton went back to California to work for Blenheim EquiSports. Between 2001 – 2005, his experience and structured organizational skills were put to good use in a jack-of-all-trades type position for the CSI-4* horse show. Clicker training eventually led him back to the barn, and eventually back into the saddle, when he was hired full-time by Robert Ridland and EquiSports International.

In 2006, together with Ann Karrasch, Vinton began his long-term position with Coral Reef Ranch. During their 10 year run at Coral Reef Ranch, the pair developed, managed and executed the successful program, working with numerous top level horses. As private trainers, they worked exclusively with Genevieve Meyer, starting on a longe line and a pony and eventually taking her to national medal finals. Today, Vinton and Ann own and operate Equestrian Performance, a hunter/jumper training and sales business based out of Snohomish, WA.

Candice King began her career on the American Grand Prix Association circuit at the age of 19. A few short years later, Candice competed with Toronto, in the first of her 13 Nations Cup competitions. Her success has continued for nearly two decades.

Candice was the top placed U.S. rider in the 2001 FEI Show Jumping World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden and was the first U.S. rider since 1968 to win the 2001 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Royal Invitational Horse Show (CSIO-Hickstead) in England.

Some of Candice's most notable successes are placing first in the six bar competition at CSIO5* Rotterdam in 2004 and placing second in the CSIO5* at Falsterbo, Sweden, where she also took second place in the Derby over riders such as World Cup Champion Rodrigo Pessoa and Olympic Gold Medalist Ulrich Kirchhoff. Candice placed first through fourth in the Merrill Lynch Cleveland Grand Prix in 2002, something no other AGA rider has ever done. In 2006 with her mount Tarco, Candice qualified for the short list at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany.

Candice continued to have success in 2009 with Toronto, finishing in the top five in several grand prix classes and competing on the team that placed second in the Samsung Super League session in Rome, Italy.

In 2010, Candice and her partner, Skara Glen's Davos, represented the U.S. in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup events held throughout Europe and as part of an all-female U.S. team which placed first and third at CSIO Rotterdam and CHIO Aachen, respectively. 2011 found Candice and Toronto on top again at the $30,000 Cleveland Grand Prix in Chagrin Valley, OH.

Candice has served as a member of the USHJA Trainers Certification Program Committee and was one of the first to become a Certified Trainer. She has also served on the USHJA Board of Directors and Professionals Committee, as well as the USEF Jumper Committee and the High Performance Show Jumping Eligible Athletes Committee.

Candice currently owns and operates Candice King, LLC, a young jumper training program located in Ocala, FL. She is well known for her ability to bring along horses that may need more time and attention. Her knowledge in so many disciplines gives her a great selection of tools to draw from, enabling her to bring out the best in horses that may not have responded to methods that most hunter/jumper trainers rely on.

Candice believes that her success at bringing out the best in horses is due to her ability to develop their confidence. This allows the horses to be happy and able to do their job the best they can.

Tracy Percival Forman is a 30 year instructor of horsemanship. Her passion began as a young child when visiting her grandparents in Pennsylvania. It started with summertime lessons and quickly grew and continued at home in Buffalo, NY at the Buffalo Saddle and Bridle Club (now the Buffalo Equestrian Center/BTRC). Although her family was supportive, she came from a working-class home with limited funds and no horse experience. With this she had to work very hard to pursue her dreams. She spent endless hours at the Club and would ride and do anything and everything in her eagerness to learn. She also built quite a library of veterinary manuals and publications during her high school years, originally planning to go to veterinary school. In the end, she decided that animals didn’t like the company of veterinarians, so plans changed. At the end of high school, graduating as valedictorian, she chose to go to a college with an equine program in an effort to learn more skills both in the saddle and, more importantly, about the care and health of the horse.

She became a professional in 1989 and began her business, TAPS Training and Showing, while still in college. After earning an Applied Science Horse Husbandry Degree in 1990, she has continued to work as a professional to this day. She has taught tens of thousands of lessons over her career. She is now the senior trainer at North Riding in Cleveland, NY, owned by the Duggleby family, where she also developed and manages a hunter/jumper show series. She is a USEF C1 “R” Steward and has been a member of the USHJA Emerging Athletes Program Committee since 2017, after her student Kendra Duggleby won the EAP National Training Session. More than just an instructor of riding, she has always educated students on horsemanship and husbandry. “The most important thing to me is the welfare of the animal. It has always been my goal to instill that in my students, developing horsemen that consider the wellbeing of the animal above anything else.” Many of her students have gone on to work for top professionals in the business as barn managers and have had great success of their own.

Hailing from Northern New Jersey, Colleen Fitzpatrick Reed's love for horses began as a small child, when she successfully convinced her parents of her need for riding lessons at age nine. Colleen was a proud member of the Hambletonian US Pony Club from age 10 through 18, and achieved her C-2 rating during a Rally held at the USET Headquarters in Gladstone, NJ. It was the education from Pony Club that ignited Colleen's passion for horse care and stable management. Despite never owning a pony or horse of her own, Colleen became a master of trading her barn skills for horses to show throughout the local New Jersey and New York circuits.

In 1984, while attending Centenary College, where she majored in Equine Studies and Management, Colleen was given an internship at famed Beacon Hill Show Stables working as a groom for top show hunters and Equitation mounts. Before long she went from interning to fulltime member of the Beacon Hill team, eventually moving into a traveling management position that found Colleen accompanying upwards of 25 horses to events nationwide. During her time with Beacon Hill, Colleen has bared witness to many great equitation riders who currently are among the most elite athletes and trainers in equestrian sport today. Colleen's expert barn skills soon caught the attention of the great Emerson Burr and in 1991 Colleen became the manager for Fairfield County Hunt Club and groom for Leslie Burr Howard's elite jumpers- Gem Twist, Pressurized and Charisma. Colleen's time at Fairfield provided a wide range of competition care, from winning World Cups to Pony Finals silver cups. One of her fondest memories is taking 20 ponies to the East Coast and working alongside Emerson one week then going cross country for a grand prix with Leslie the next week on the West Coast.

Colleen lives outside of Cincinnati, Ohio with husband Dan, they have two adult children. She remains active in the equestrian community as a Stable Manager Clinician for the USHJA EAP and Gold Star Clinics as well as the USEF Horsemastership Session. Colleen is an active FEI Steward, a USEF Steward and a Certified Schooling Area Supervisor. Colleen's love and passion for the care of horses and their environment remains as devout today as when this former Pony Clubber began.

Nicki is one of only 11 riders to win both the ASPCA Maclay National Championship and the U.S. Medal Championship, two of the United States’ most prestigious titles for junior riders.

Nicki was given the nickname “Catch Riding Kid” as a junior for her ability to compete on horses she had never ridden and win. She became famous for retiring every best child rider trophy at all the major horse shows in the US. Shahinian-Simpson made her Grand Prix debut on the 1993 Florida circuit qualifying for the American Invitational, making history again as the youngest rider to ever compete and did it riding a horse she never competed on before.

Following a successful career as a junior rider in the East, Nicki moved to the West Coast where she continued to place well in major Grand Prix events. She has competed in the US, Mexico, Canada, and Europe with major wins and placings, culminating in nearly 35 career Grand Prix victories thus far. Some of her career highlights include: winning the U.S. Trials for the 2010 World Equestrian Games; she was a member of the U.S. Team at the 2002 FEI World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain; short-listed for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team; and has received a Leading Rider Award at Spruce Meadows in Canada.

Throughout her career, Nicki has competed in seven FEI World Cup Finals, including 1997, 1999 and 2001 in Gothenburg, Sweden, the latter of which she placed ninth and was the highest-placed U.S. rider. She also competed at the 2003 and 2005 Finals in Las Vegas as well as 2004 in Milano, Italy.

In 2020 Nicki won the $134,000 2020 CabanaCoast Grand Prix CSI3* (for the second year in a row) aboard Akuna, one of three full siblings born from embryo transfers out of her former USET team horse SRF Dragonfly. and also won the $36,600 CSI4*-W Turkish Airlines Classic at Deeridge Farms. The pair also finished 4th in the $401,000 Fidelity Investments® Grand Prix CSI5*

On June 19 at Split Rock in Lexington, KY, Nicki & Akuna Mattata won the FEI Welcome Class and were 4th in the FEI Grand Prix. On July 4 in Tryon, NC they won the 3″ Grand Prix and finished 2nd in the 3* Grand Prix on July 18.

In 2019 the pair also took top honors on the West Coast, winning the $100,000 1.50m Gold Tour Grand Prix CSI 3* at the Blenheim Spring Classic III in California, before heading back East to the Devon Horse Show where they took home their first win together in the famed Dixon Oval after clinching the $50,000 Jet Run Devon Welcome Stake CSI4*.

Nicki has two children, Sophie born in 1997 and Ty born in 2001. Both are professionally active in the business, following in her footsteps.

Nanci has had the opportunity to work, study and travel with some of the top barns in the United States and Europe. She has always valued good horsemanship and horse care, and she is grateful for the experience she has gained working with some of the best in our sport – riders, trainers, vets, blacksmiths and fellow grooms. She believes in our community and the exchange of ideas.

Since 2013, Nanci has been involved in the Emerging Athletes Program as a stable manager and is a member of the USHJA EAP Committee.

Callan Solem is one of the nation’s leading grand prix show jumping riders. Solem has represented the United States Equestrian Team, internationally, on 11 occasions and has ridden on six Nations Cup teams, including the 2015 Nations Cup win in Xalapa which secured the U.S. victory in the 2015 North American League and qualified the USA to compete in the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona. Additionally, in 2005, she competed on the Super League Team that achieved top honors in Europe.

While abroad, Solem also won the Derby qualifier in Falsterbo and took home top ribbons in Rotterdam and Lummen. Her success in Europe proved Solem’s talent and determination where it is crucial to produce results in an environment full of pressure.

Prior to relocating to Pennsylvania in 2010 to ride for Virginia and Collin McNeil, Solem had been the professional rider at Quiet Winter Farm in Colt’s Neck, NJ, for former US Olympian Carol Thompson. Over the past decade plus, she has won countless grand prix classes in the United States. Her notable accomplishments include finishing 7th on her horse VDL Wizard at the World Cup Finals in Gothenburg, Sweden, making her the top-placed US rider and qualifying her for a slot on the 2016 Olympic short list. Callan has been the recipient of the 2011 Devon Horse Show Style of Riding award and the 2017 Style of Riding Award at Live Oak International in 2017, and she was named the Leading International Rider title at the 2008 Syracuse Sport Horse Invitational/National Horse Show and Leading Lady rider at the 2015 Live Oak International.

Over her career, Callan has won more than $2.6 million in career earnings, which ranks her in the top 30 of all US riders in the sport’s history. She has a tremendous respect for the horse and believes that when a horse is treated with understanding and good management, it is able to reach its true potential.

Julie Winkel is one of the foremost trainers, judges, clinicians and educators in the country. She's held her United States Equestrian Federation R-rated judging licenses in Hunter, Hunter Breeding and Hunter/Jumping Seat Equitation since 1984 and has presided over many of the country's most prestigious horse shows, such as Devon, the Pennsylvania National, Washington International, the National, Capital Challenge, the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, the USEF Pony Finals and the USEF/Sallie B. Wheeler National Hunter Breeding Championships, just to name few.

Julie has also designed courses and judged the ASPCA Maclay Finals, the Dover/USEF Medal Finals (on multiple occasions) and the New England Equitation Championships.

Julie is one of the first United States Hunter Jumper Association Certified Trainers and has trained and shown hunters and jumpers to the top levels, nationally and internationally. She has many Grand Prix show jumping wins as well as hunter championships throughout her career and continues to compete today. She recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Professional Horseman’s Association.

She's also a committed volunteer to the sport and has served on many committees and task forces. Julie was the co-chair of the USEF Licensed Officials Committee for a decade. She's also former chair of the USEF Continuing Education Committee as well the USHJA Officials Education Committee and former member of the USHJA Board of Directors. She's currently a member of the USHJA Emerging Athletes Program Committee and USHJA Officials Committee and past member of the USHJA Trainer Certification Program Committee, the USHJA Judges Committee, the USEF and USHJA Equitation Committees, USHJA Trainer Symposium Task Force and the USHJA Zone 10 Jumper Committee. 

In addition, Julie is a sought-after clinician who travels the country teaching riding and horsemanship. She wrote the monthly column "Conformation Clinic" for Practical Horseman magazine for more than 10 years and currently contributes to USHJA In Stride, The Chronicle of the Horse, EquestrianCoach.com and many other publications.

Julie owns and operates Maplewood Stables Inc., a 200-acre training, showing, sales and breeding facility in Reno, Nevada. Maplewood stands three stallions, Cartouche Z, Good To Know and Osilvis.