DP EVENTING

Dylan Philipps has trained two horses for me. She trained for me from February 2018 until late 2020. I have been so impressed with this young woman. Not only did she do a wonderful job of training the horses I sent her but the horses were always immaculately groomed, in great condition and I was kept well informed of everything that was going on. One thing that I really appreciated was that Dylan really respected my costs and if the horse could get the same benefit for a lower cost competition, that is what Dylan did. Dylan, though a junior, (actually not quite 14 years when she started) took responsibility for the care and training of the horses. I had a much better experience with Dylan than an adult with a great reputation.

Most of the training Dylan did with me was training a rescue pony that I owned. When I sent Dylan the, then coming 4 year old, pony she had been backed but still as far as handling, she could be described as a touch feral. Two and a half years later, she had competed at training level eventing and was ready for a home with another teenager, where she is thriving. The pony came to me as a long yearling basically not having been touched from a situation of extreme neglect. She was quite underweight and still was with her mother who was terribly underweight. She and her mother stayed at my farm for two years where they were well fed and received vet and farrier care but little to no training. The fall of her three year old year I sent her to be trained basic handling and to be backed. She was with this trainer for three months and still was lacking many necessary skills when I sent her onto Dylan, a thirteen year old, for basic under saddle training. Dylan was careful and systematic in her training. She was able to know how far to push the pony without out facing her. The pony moved forward in her training and was ready to confidently move up to training level event just over two years after she was backed for the first time. I have been thrilled.

The other training job that Dylan did for me was to prepare a more schooled horse to sell. I had switched sports and my event horse was wasted just trail riding. He had competed at training level in a handful of events when I bought him. I only competed beginner novice and actually had not competed at all for over a year when I sent him to Dylan. Within two months of when I sent him to her, she had him ready to go right out at training again. She gave him quiet confident rides that allowed him to move right back up to the highest level he had competed at in the past. After being with Dylan, he was ready to be a mount for a lower level rider who was new to the sport.

I am very impressed with Dylan’s ability to train horses but I am even more impressed with her

professionalism. She is a knowledgeable horsewoman who cares about the animals in her care. She has great communication skills and was a pleasure to work with. I would recommend her as a trainer to anyone looking for starting a horse to moving a horse up to a new level or just preparing a horse to train. I think she deserves acknowledgement for her skills and maturity and I think she will become a top professional in the sport of eventing.

Maud Eno