Dressage is getting the horse to use his body in the most efficient way.
​- Liz Hotchkiss

Liz Hotchkiss
Owner & Instructor

Liz started riding at age 7 when her father would take her on trail rides in Long Island. This was the beginning of a long love affair with horses. At age 21 Liz became a certified riding instructor. She began to compete in dressage in the 1960s. In 1966 she and her husband opened their own lesson and training facility in Long Island, where Liz taught mostly combined training and jumping. Deciding she needed more knowledge in order to properly teach dressage, Liz attended the Dressage Institute in Saratoga. With her accumulation of knowledge she was able to keep the facility going for several years after the death of her husband. In 1989 Liz moved to Columbia, Missouri and opened Stony Hill Farm, leaving her former facility in the care of her daughter. It was after the death of her second husband in the 1990s that Liz began a serious study of dressage. In 2001 she bought her current horse, Oliver. They trained in Wellington, Florida every winter for 6 years. This study culminated in their competing in and winning at the Prix St. Georges level of dressage, the first of the international levels of dressage, as well as becoming a USDF Silver Medalist. Since this career high Liz has taken a step back from competing. In 2013 she and Oliver competed once more, earning the Century Award, Liz at age 79 and Oliver at age 21.  Liz still rides, trains, and teaches at Stony Hill Farm, planning to keep on doing so until she can't anymore. 
I’ve probably learned more since I was 50 than before I was 50, and that’s one of the things that’s amazing about riding. You don’t stop learning in this business at all. It goes on forever.
​- Liz Hotchkiss