Staff

Liza Hillman

Owner, EEBW, HCP, Instructor, Trainer

Liza has nearly thirty years of experiences with horses across many disciplines. In her first few years of riding she competed in both English and Western, and was lucky enough to have her own horse by age 10. Flame was beautiful chestnut Arabian gelding, who was her partner for many years and ribbons in Western Pleasure, Hunters, Dressage, Gymkhana, and of course racing bareback on the trails when unsupervised.

In her teens she also competed with other horses in jumpers and Dressage, and her last focus before moving into  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 shifted to more positive reinforcement training as well as a strong focus in Classical Dressage. This led her to an internship where she lived in Northern Queensland(Australia) for 3.5 months. Here there was focus on rehabilitory training using classical in hand and undersaddle techniques, and she also learned how to trim hooves, and was first introduced to body work.

Since then, Liza's focus has switched to the body of the horse more than anything. While her passion was in training, she found that the body and mind were so connected, and the body was being neglected at the detriment of the horse. This led her to Equinology where she certified as a body worker in 2025, with plans to complete more certifications and have every tool available so that she can change the horse world for the better. 

 As an owner and Instructor...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, always emphasizing a FUN, safe, and highly educational environment. She hopes to continue it in a smaller field alongside her bodywork focus.