Christy Lynn Hart
Director of Equine Services at Hiwassee College
christylynnhartdressage.4t.com

Mailing Address:
151 County Road 327
Niota, Tennessee 37826
Phone:
423-420-1120
Email:
mouseandflip@yahoo.com

Birth Date: Aug. 28, 1975
Discipline: Dressage
Country: USA

It all started with a pony named Princess. Deciding to cave in to their horse-loving daughter, Christy Lynn Hart's parents bought her that first pony, which initiated Christy into the world of horse ownership by dumping on the first ride.

"Thank God my parents had the good sense to get me into riding lessons, and I started my life with horses showing hunters. I rode in 4-H and local club shows and began the first of several working student positions at a local hunter barn," Christy said.

Being a working student is how she paid for lessons. Most of those working student positions were in hunter/jumper barns. Dressage caught her attention when she saw a video of Nicole Uphoff riding Rembrandt in the 1992 Olympics. "I fell in love with what she was doing even though I didn't even know the name of the sport! One of the girls who rode at the barn said to me, 'How can you watch that boring dressage? Fast forward it to the jumpers.' At that moment I knew the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen done on horseback was called dressage. I quit my working student position at the hunter barn, and started looking for a dressage trainer in my area. I just had to learn to ride like Nicole Uphoff and have a horse like Rembrandt!"

The Road to Becoming a Dressage Rider