MEET THE TRAINER

At a very young age, Amanda Smith found her love for horses. At the age of five, when her parents realized the spring rocking horse was just not enough, they purchased Amanda her first pony for Christmas. From then on, there were many horses to follow. At the age of nine, Amanda started lessons and competing in saddle seat with her saddlebred mare, Addie. Although Amanda enjoyed competing, the summer job at sales barns fueled her desire to  train horses, specifically problem horses. At the age of 12, Amanda had the opportunity to get another horse and chose a two year old quarter horse that she named Dapper Dan. She started Dapper from the ground up and they went on to compete in everything from hunter jumper, to team penning. Dapper is now almost 29 and occasionally teaches very young riders the ropes of riding. Amanda received her first paid training job at the age of 13. A paint stud colt that needed a good foundation. It would be the start to what makes her the trainer she is today. Amanda’s adulthood have been spent training at numerous barns up and down the east coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Amanda has had the opportunity to work with numerous breeds including, warmbloods, quarter horses, rocky mountains, Arabs, fjords, gypsys, thoroughbreds, minis, mustangs, and friesians, just to name a few. In 2021, Amanda became a TIP trainer for the Mustang Heritage Foundation. This resulted in gentling numerous wild mustangs and placing them in adoptive homes. Her experience with a large variety of breeds, and her drive to continue learning has impacted and shaped her into the trainer she is today. After working for a few breeding farms and boarding facilities,  the need for her very own training facility was certain. Amanda established Haven Ark Training in 2018. Her new facility is continuously  growing, so that it may  have everything she needs to give the best opportunity to each horse and rider. Amanda has a positive and extremely patient approach with every horse she meets. She doesn’t believe in forcing a horse to obtain a certain behavior or movement, but allowing the horse to understand what is asked of them. She believes a relaxed horse will retain what he is learning much greater than a horse that is reacting out of fear and/or submission.Amanda primarily trains alone but will occasionally employ the help of her 5yr old mustang mare Nina.