Instructors

Liza Hillman

Owner, Instructor, Trainer

Liza has 25+ years of experiences with horses across many disciplines. In her first few years of riding she showed both English and Western, and it wasn't long before she had a horse of her own- Flame, a beautiful chestnut Arabian gelding, who was her partner for many years in Western Pleasure, Hunters, and Dressage, earning many ribbons together, and even played with Gymkhana and barrel racing for a few years.

In her teens she also competed with other horses in jumpers and Dressage, and her last focus with horses before full-time teaching was trick riding and stunt riding, which she trained in for almost two years. During her time running Silver Stirrup, her education has shifted to more positive reinforcement training as well as a strong focus in Classical Dressage.

 As an owner...Liza took on Silver Stirrup almost by accident. When she started working as a head instructor and director of the program that would eventually become Silver Stirrup, she only considered it a part time job. Once taking over the small program that was offered to her, Liza set forth with many ideas for what she wanted this program to become. She created a syllabus and structure unique to most riding programs that she developed from years of experience with many trainers from many fields of riding, along with goals to recreate the atmosphere that she felt shaped some of her greatest childhood memories growing up with horses. She's proud of what Silver Stirrup has become so far, always emphasizing a FUN, safe, and highly educational environment. 

Katelyn Jensen

Instructor

Katelyn has been apart of Silver Stirrup from day 1, and has been riding with Miss Liza even longer! She has worked harder than anyone you've ever met, and watched countless hours (upon hours) of lessons as a student, and started training to be a teacher at the young age of 14! She started joining in teacher training classes with other adults hired by Silver Stirrup, and soaked in every bit of information until she could teach it herself! At 16 she started teaching in camps and lessons as Miss Liza shadowed to help and offer feedback and has racked up hours of fabulous lessons, to all ages. Her maturity allows her to take everything about teaching and training very seriously, and she has an eye for safety that challenges that of most seasoned adults. 

Katelyn is the teacher that will never lost patience with a student and naturally teaches with kindess and fun in mind. She spends just about all of her time at the stables and continues her education in riding and horsemanship in order to better herself and her students. She rides, helps train, and teaches daily, and has competed in Dressage over the years as well. She recently purchased her first, own horse, a gorgeous Holstiener Warmblood gelding named Lex, who she plans to show as well! 

Unfortunately Miss Katelyn sustained a serious knee injury  in the Spring of '22(not from riding!) and is unable to teach, without an official end-date in sight... We are crossing our fingers for a full recovery as soon as possible so she can ride, teach, and be back with us!