About Nicole
In Nicole’s own words, “I was basically born on a horse.” She’s been riding for 21 years, but also has experience in other disciplines. The daughter of a competitive driver, her first show was actually a pleasure driving show when she was 6 years old.
She was an avid member of Pony Club/Eventing for 4 years where she competed in two-phase jumping/dressage shows.
However, her first love is dressage where she has trained and competed successfully for 11 years.
Adding to her experience as a rider and trainer, Nicole graduated in 2006 from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a bachelor's degree in Business Communications.
Training
Nicole has had the opportunity to train with some of the best trainers and coaches, such as:
Sandra Hotz, successful competitor, coach, trainer, and USEF “S” judge who herself has trained with many of the famous European coaches and trainers.
David Saunders, international competitor, consultant, and driving coach; former head coachman to The Duke of Edinburgh, Royal Mews, Windsor Castle, England.
Manuel Trigo, Spanish trainer and teacher of the French equitation of lightness, Equitation Francaise de legerate.
Steffen Peters, 3-time Dressage Olympian and 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup.
Conrad Schumacher, international judge, trainer, coach, and clinician. (In 2004, Nicole was 1 of 8 riders selected from Region 5 (Rocky Mountain Region) to participate in the Advanced Young Rider Clinic. For this she traveled to Arizona for a 3-day clinic with Schumacher.)
Buck Brannaman, horse trainer and a leading practitioner in the field of natural horsemanship, using an understanding of how horses think and communicate to train the horse to accept humans and work confidently and responsively with them.
Awards
1998-2009 - Rocky Mountain Dressage Society (RMDS) rosettes every year
2004 - USDF All Breeds Award
2005 - USDF Bronze Medal Rider Award
2006 - RMDS Holsteiner Horse of the Year
2007 – showing was pre-empted with planning her wedding
2008 - USDF Silver Medal Rider Award
2009 - Average Intermediare 1 with LeFire was 65%
2009 - RMDS 5th place, Intermediare 1, open division for region 5, year-end award. The team ended with a 65% average.
2011 - numerous accomplishments and year-end awards, from Training Level through Third Level
Judging
Nicole has completed all lectures and classes for the "L" judging program. She is awaiting the next scheduled testing opportunity.
Travel
In 2009, Nicole traveled to Florida and Kentucky to take a close-up look at potential equine buys.
