Helping Horses and Riders Reach Their Full Potential

Amanda’s passion is working with horses and the riders who love them. Her mission is to inspire each client to reach their highest potential and achieve their personal goals while creating a fun, safe, and respectful environment where both horse and rider can thrive.

Whether you are looking to compete at a higher level, establish personal goals, develop a young horse, work through behavioral challenges, or help a horse recover and return to work, Amanda brings experience, patience, and a thoughtful approach to every partnership.

She welcomes riders and horses of all ages and experience levels.

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Over 30 Years of Experience

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Amanda has been teaching, training, and competing internationally and domestically for more than 30 years. Originally from New Zealand, her international career has taken her throughout Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan.

Along the way, Amanda has had the opportunity to work and ride for internationally recognized professionals including Edwina Tops-Alexander, Ludo Philippaerts, and Neil Jones. Many of the horses she helped develop through their foundational training in Europe went on to successful careers in international Show Jumping.

Amanda has competed in Show Jumping up to 1.30m in both Europe and the United States. In Eventing, she competed through Novice level in New Zealand and Training level in the United States. She currently holds her USDF Bronze Medal and is working toward her Silver Medal.

For the past 15 years, Amanda has continued to build her knowledge, experience, and business in the United States. In 2018, she founded AEF Training in Clovis, California.

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A Holistic Approach to Training

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Amanda believes that successful training begins with understanding the horse as an individual. Every horse has a different history, personality, physical ability, confidence level, and way of learning. Her goal is to develop a partnership built on trust, clear communication, and mutual understanding.

Groundwork has become an increasingly important part of Amanda’s training philosophy. She has continued to expand her knowledge of different groundwork techniques and approaches, learning from a variety of respected trainers and training methods, including the TRT Method and Warwick Schiller.

These tools have given Amanda additional ways to help horses develop confidence, relaxation, better communication, and a clearer understanding of what is being asked of them. Groundwork can be particularly valuable when addressing behavioral challenges, rebuilding a horse’s confidence, or creating a foundation for a horse returning to work after an injury or period of rehabilitation.

Amanda believes there is no single method that works for every horse. Instead, she draws from her experience and continued education to find the approach that best supports each individual horse and rider.

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Rehabilitation & Bringing Horses Back to Work

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Rehabilitation can be a slow and sometimes challenging journey. It requires careful observation, patience, communication with the owner and veterinarian, and a willingness to adjust the plan as the horse progresses.

Amanda specializes in developing thoughtful, individualized action plans designed to support a successful return to work. Her experience with groundwork, behavior, conditioning, and progressive training gives her additional tools to help horses rebuild confidence and strength while respecting their physical and mental needs.

Over the years, Amanda has successfully helped numerous rehabilitation horses return to competitive form, with many going on to enjoy successful careers in their new homes.

Her philosophy is simple: listen to the horse, work with the horse, and give the horse the time and tools it needs to succeed.

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More Than Training

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Amanda’s true passions within the equestrian industry include rehabilitating horses, developing young horses, horse sales, and helping riders find the right horse-and-rider partnership.

She understands that finding the right match is about more than ability or competition level. It is about finding a horse and rider who can learn, grow, and enjoy the journey together.

Whether your goal is to enter the show ring, develop a young horse, overcome a behavioral challenge, return a horse to work after rehabilitation, or simply build a better partnership with your horse, Amanda is committed to helping you create a clear path forward.

At AEF Training, every horse and rider is treated as an individual—with patience, respect, and a commitment to helping them reach their full potential.