aboutBFE
Meet Your Coach
Anna Connor is a professional equestrian integrating experience with different horse types, disciplines, and professional environments into her program. Starting out as a horse-crazy kid, she volunteered time every weekend and all summer at her local stables earning a coveted ride at the end of each day. She learned the importance of engaging with each horse in an individual way, paying attention to the details, and building foundational skills. As her passion and dedication grew, Anna explored new disciplines from western to saddle seat, hunters, jumpers, and Thoroughbred racing, always with her heart set on eventing.
Her time in the barn, in the saddle, on the road, and ringside has offered opportunities to learn from many respected professionals. After graduation from Ohio State, she pursued Thoroughbred racing at Pin Oak Stud in Lexington, Kentucky starting yearlings for race training and learning the ins and outs of the industry. Her love of Thoroughbreds expanded into retraining OTTBs of her own and as a facility manager for New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program. Switching gears to eventing, she rose through the ranks from working student to head groom, including as groom and rider for USA Eventing Team members Buck Davidson and Will Coleman. These experiences have helped her methodically produce horses from Starter through Preliminary level Eventing and 2nd Level Dressage, and establish a successful competition record with self-made horses.
Anna's approach centers around mastery of skills to facilitate understanding between horse and rider. She emphasizes that proper horsemanship is paramount to reaching any level of success, and she strives to create partnerships that honor the horses' nature while bringing about their best abilities.