Jane Nordstrom Training
.Jane Nordstrom Training
Confidence Shows
Meet the Staff of Jane Nordstrom Training
Jane Nordstrom
Jane Nordstrom, the owner and operator of Jane Nordstrom Training, has more than 30 years as a rider, instructor and barn manager in Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Chicago area.
Training Philosphy
Jane believes in teaching people how to use their bodies correctly to make their horses go correctly combining solid basics with innovative training techniques.
About Jane
Jane began riding at the age of six and started showing shortly thereafter. Switching to hunters at the age of 10, she rode out of Coach House Stables in the Chicago, IL suburb of Glenview.
After a successful career in the juniors, which included three trips to the Big Eq finals, Jane got her BA from Drew University in Madison, NJ. While at Drew, she was one of the first members of Drew’s IHSA team, competing for Drew for two years. After college, much to her parent’s short-lived relief, Jane gave up horses, moving first to New York City to pursue a career in social work and then to Durham, NC, where she started riding and competing again.
Profesional Training Career
In 1979, Jane moved to West Chester, PA as trainer and manager of Royalwood Farm. She started her own training business shortly thereafter, working both independently and with her partner, Jeff Wilson, to produce some of the top ponies and children’s hunters in Pennsylvnia, Zone II and nationally.
Jane relocated to the Chicago area in 1984 and began Sunstone Farm where she continued to develop top horses and riders, competing in both Zones V & VI and producing champions on the state and Zone levels.
During this period, Jane and her clients won numerous championships at AA shows all over the Midwest and East Coast. She has shown at and qualified riders for Devon, Harrisburg, Washington and New York. Her clients have placed in the year end national standings on several occasions.
Jane retired from training in 1989 after a serious injury and pursued a successful career in association management. She moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1992 and has ived in Northern Virginia since 1998.
Never having shaken horses from her blood, Jane returned to riding in 2003. Responding to numerous requests for help from friends, Jane once again began training professionally in 2006. She currently offers horse boarding, horseback riding lessons and coaching services out of Fox Chase Farm in Middleburg, Virginia.
Jane’s clients regularly win championships at area shows including Fox Chase Farm, Summerplace Farm and Sandstone Farm, as well as at “AA” shows including Culpepper and the Middleburg Classic.
She is also working on a book which is a guide for novice adults and nervous parents who want to understand what is involved in getting into the horse world..
In addition to training and coaching, Jane regularly judges hunter and jumper shows throughout Northern Virginia, including Summerplace Farm, Picturesque Farm, Sandstone Farm and Fox Chase Farm.
Jane is a member of the U.S. Esquestrian Federation, the United States Hunter Jumper Association and the Virginia Horse Shows Association.
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Kristen Auerbach
Kristen Auerbach joined Jane Nordstrom Training in October 2011 as a trainer/rider. Kristen has 15 years of experience teaching and training riders and horses.
Beginning at the age of nine, Kristen began showing in hunters and equitation throughout her home state of Ohio. Later, she joined the United States Pony Club and developed a passion for eventing. Kristen spent several years competing in combined training events throughout the Midwest and Southern United States.
Following a traumatic riding accident in 1996, Kristen put her equestrian career on hold in order to attend college. While a student at the Ohio State University, she kept riding a central part of her life. In addition to attending clinics and studying with top trainers, Kristen worked as an exercise rider and trainer at Beulah Park race track in Grove City, Ohio.
As a humane officer at the Capital Area Humane Society in Hilliard, Ohio, Kristin rescued, rehabilitated, and re-homed abused and neglected horses. Kristin also spent three years as the equestrian director at YMCA Willson Outdoor Center, where she was responsible for the care and training of fifty horses and for teaching beginner through advanced riding lessons to all ages.
Kristen graduated with a master’s degree from Ohio State in 2005 and decided to dedicate herself full-time to teaching, riding and training horses. She worked as a traveling trainer in central Ohio and spent several months in 2008 training and teaching advanced hunters and jumpers at Ledesma Equestrian Center in Orlando and Ocala, Florida. From 2010-2011, Kristen was head trainer at Hunter's Dream Equestrian Center in Ostrander, Ohio before relocating to Northern Virginia in October 2011.
Photo courtesy of Michelle D. Harris
Jane Nordstrom competing at Devon.
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Kristen Auerbach
