Kathy Connelly is one of the leading and and most respected Dressage trainers in the United States.  She is an International Dressage Rider, Trainer and Coach.  Kathy has represented the United States  Equestrian Team, at the World Cup in  Sweden and also was also the highest scoring rider on the Bronze Medal  GP team in the North American Championships.  Kathy and her horse, Enterprise were United States Grand Prix Champions as well as United States World Cup Champions.  Kathy trained with several horses  extensively in Germany with Herbert Rehbein.  Kathy also trained in Vienna with Ernst Bachinger, the former Director of the Spanish riding school.  There, she developed a passion for Long Lining and Work in Hand as it relates to the development of collection and training of piaffe and passage, and its connection to   riding piaffe and passage. Since that time, she has trained with many  experts throughout the world.

Kathy has trained riders and horses to numerous National and International titles, both here and abroad.  Among the riders who have trained with Kathy are Jessica Ransehousen, Betsy Steiner, Todd Flettrich, Reese Koffler Stanfield, Ryan Yap, Joy Condon,  Pati Pierucci, Liz Austin (on Harmony’s Galant), Shannon Dueck (when she won the Pan American Individual Silver Medal and the Candadian World Cup Championship and competed at the World Cup in Sweden), and George Williams (on Rocher as well as many Havensafe horses owned by Betsy Juliano, including  Don Baily who was the  2009  United States Developing Horse Reserve Champion and Horizon, who was the 2011 United States  4 year old United States Young Horse Reserve Champion.)

Kathy has also had a great deal of experience with the Young Rider programs in the United States.  As a YR  “A” Pony Clubber  she competed on the  U.S. Three Day Event team in Australia.  Over the years she has trained and coached  two YR Individual gold medalists, one in the  NAYRC Dressage Championships and the other in the  NAYRC Three day Event Champiohsips.  In 2003, Kathy  was Coach and Chef d’Equipe in Australia for the Silver Medal U.S. Young Rider Team.  She has served with  Sue Blinks, Jan Ebeling and George Williams as one of the United States Young  Rider Program Clinicians.

Kathy has served as co-Chef d’Equipe for the United States Dressage Team in Hickstead, England.  Over the years, she has served on numerous committees for  USDF and USEF.  Kathy has served for the last ten years on the USEF High Performance  Dressage Committee.  She is currently Chairperson of the Ad Hoc  Instruction Strategic Planning Committee as well as the High Performance Selectors Committee for the United States 2012 Olympic Dressage Team.

Kathy has partnered for the last twelve years with Toine Hoefs of the Netherlands to import some of the most prominent Dressage horses in the United States, ncluding a number that have competed for the United States Equestrian Team and innumerable  amateur rider horses. They have also bred and raised some of the top KWPN stallions in Holland and the world.  www.connelly-hoefs.com

Kathy  has authored numerous articles published in every Dressage Publication in the U.S.  She is co-author of the book Dressage Insights- Excerpts from Experts.  Kathy was hired by Radio WEG to be the  International Dressage commentator for the 2010 World Equestrian Games.   She has commentated internationally for the 2011 and 2012 International Master’s Class Dressage  Competition in Wellington Florida (live-streamed throughout the world).  She also, by request, provided live- stream TV Dressage Commentary for the 2011 Pan American Selections Trials.  Dressage training sessions with Kathy Training can be seen on Dressage Clinic.com.  Kathy is a popular clinician,  and  has conducted clinics and symposiums throughout the U.S.

She resides in Concord, Massachusetts and trains at Elysium Farm in Harvard from April 15th to December 1st and trains at Havensafe Farm in Wellington, Florida during the International Winter Dressage Circuit from December 2nd through April 14th.

You may reach Kathy, by email at  kathyconnellyavf@aol.com