Mary Claire Piller has an outstanding record in competitive dressage and is nationally recognized for her skills and work ethic. She won her USDF Gold Medal on Caterina, a lovely Hanoverian mare, owned and developed by Miramonte Equine. Along with her USDF Bronze and Sliver medals, Mary won the Adequan/USDF Intermediare-1 JR/YR championship for 2022. Additional notable success came in 2022, when she was on the winning team at the North American Youth Championship (NAYC). At the 2023 NAYC, she won triple gold medals with 70+% scores and was the overall champion. With fastidious attention to the details that can enhance a showring performance, Mary won the "best turned out" award at NAYC for both years she attended. Mary has participated in multiple USDF Regional and Final competitions, riding in classes from trainng through FEI levels on a variety of horses. She has also competed at the Festival of Champions. Mary enjoys teaching riders of all ages, from teens to vintage riders, and from beginners to those with FEI level goals. Her calm, positive demeanor reliably helps riders progress.

Originally from Knoxville, TN, Faith started riding at the age of two and grew up learning in a variety of disciplines, including hunters, jumpers, barrel racing, and eventing. This wide spread interest eventually led to the start of her dressage career at the age of 10. Faith has been a student under Emily since she started her adventure in dressage and has now been working at Miramonte Equine full time since 2021. She has earned her USDF Bronze and Silver Medals, and is currently working towards her Gold. Faith has also obtained her dressage seat medals which shows daily as she is Miramonte Equine’s equitation queen. Faith is extremely brave, yet effective and has a skill set which allows her to ride a wide variety of horses. She has a knack for training the pirouettes and teaching horses a cadenced trot. Faith has started countless young horses under saddle and is excellent at working with horses with behavioral problems and also stallions. Additionally, Faith has really shown a talent for instructing other riders. 

MacKenzie started riding at the age of 6 while she lived in Versailles, France. After a few years, she moved back to the New England area and continued her equine education in different disciplines such as dressage, hunters, jumpers, and eventing. MacKenzie’s competitive drive pointed her to showing in these disciplines and fueled a passion for horses and a desire to continue her education at a higher level. She relocated to Kentucky to attend Asbury University and graduated with a Bachelors in Equine Studies and minor in Business. Throughout her four years at Asbury, MacKenzie received extensive instruction in horsemanship, groundwork and liberty work, learned how to effectively start horses under saddle, and trained a currently active police mount. Upon her graduation in May of 2023, she started working for Miramonte Equine, bringing with her a dedicated commitment to horsemanship and gaining respect from horses both on the ground and under saddle. Since joining our team, MacKenzie has focused on her dressage knowledge, but adds her horsemanship education to each horse she trains, creating the ideal and respectful dressage mount. She is currently competing at 3rd level and working towards her USDF Bronze Medal. She is paramount to starting most of our young horses and is also gifted at working with horses that need a focus on behavioral improvement both on the ground and under saddle. 

Ireland was born and raised in Lexington, KY, starting her passion for riding horses at the age of 8. Ireland’s riding education before Miramonte Equine focused on the sport of Eventing. Before graduating from the University of Hawaii with a degree in Environmental Geography, Ireland was a working student for Miramonte Equine where she fell in love with the sport of dressage. Upon graduation, she moved to New Jersey and worked as a barn manager and assistant trainer. We are thrilled to have welcomed her back to our team in the fall of 2023 as Program Manager. Since joining us, she has started to work towards her USDF Bronze medal. She does a wonderful job of keeping our program running sharply, managing the riders and care of the horses. Ireland has a wonderful ability to teach the younger generation and has been a great asset to our program. Ireland is extremely brave on horseback and has proven to not only be indispensable as program manager but is also an incredible asset to our riding team.

Jessica is a valued member of our team who works diligently to support the administrative pieces of Miramonte Equine.

Before moving to Wichita, KS Jessica was an assistant trainer alongside Emily and her staff for four years. During that time she earned her USDF Bronze and Silver Medals. She also learned the intricacies of the administrative side of the business.

Upon her move to Wichita, Jessica stepped into a remote admin role which is so greatly valued. 

Jessica continues to pursue her education in dressage and aspires to earn her Gold medal. 

Hope is a poster child for southern charm and hospitality and she displays that caring side of her personality when looking after our equine athletes! Growing up in a small town, she developed an appreciation for the values of hard work and connection through community. Her upbringing instilled in her a strong connection to the land and an unwavering commitment to the ranching lifestyle with a focus on animal husbandry. Hope developed a passion for cattle management and a diverse skill set as a ranch hand. She thrives in the dynamic environment of ranch, and now working farm life. Before joining our team, Hope worked on a ranch in Western Colorado to further her skills under saddle and enhance her knowledge of horsemanship. This sparked a desire for her to be involved in the horse industry. Her education continues to grow here at Miramonte; in addition to the wonderful attention she gives our horses, she is learning the basics of dressage. We are thrilled to have her on our team and welcome her and her beloved cat Tilly as residents at Miramonte Equine.

Wins best horse husband award every single day. Take notes, gentlemen.

Carley, a Virginia native, spent her childhood in a military family, which moved her around to many states. During this time, she found a common passion in each location and avidly started riding by the age of 8, focusing on a structured and correct foundation of the basics. During this time she found she had a desire for athletic challenges and wound up playing lots of different sports. However, in the spring of 2020, Carley's family found themselves settling in the Knoxville TN area, and she found an invested instructor in Mary Wells. Mary spent a lot of time polishing Carley's skill and rather quickly had her advance to competition in the hunter jumper rings. That same year, in December, Carley took her first lesson with Emily in a clinic hosted at a Benchmark Farms. Benchmark Farms, owned by Jennifer Bolen, quickly recognized Carley's avid work ethic and attention to detail both on and off a horse and offered her a position at the farm in early 2021. From there, Carley competed for 4 years on Mary Well's Willowind IEA team, showed on the AHA circuit with the support of Mary Wells, and competed Jennifer Bolen's horse Devils Privateer in dressage shows. In October of 2023 Carley was promoted to start teaching lessons at Willowind Farm as well as riding select client horses. Carley graduated from high school a semester early and spent the semester and summer learning from Jennifer and Mary, teaching lessons, and riding client horses. Carley is currently a student at the University of Kentucky where she is studying Equine Management.

Just you wait, people.