The Halter Ego® Sponsored Rider Program is a 2-way platform that enables us to invest in a select group of riders and professionals that we believe in and whose continued development & success we want to support.
We choose our riders based on the character, values and talent they demonstrate as equestrians and as role models, overall.
Each one is an extension of the Halter Ego® brand and a critical member of our marketing, growth and communications strategy.
Sarah Lockman rode for the US Team at the 2019 Pan American Games, earning an individual Gold medal and team Silver on Summit Farm’s ‘First Apple’. Sarah debuted Apple in Grand Prix at the Adequan Dressage Festival in Florida in 2020, and has her eyes set on the Olympics. Sarah trains and competes on high performance dressage horses and pioneers the imported dressage sales program at Summit Farm in Murrieta, CA. She has 3 other horses she is bringing up through the levels, Balia, Dehavilland, and Lyamora, which all show promise for the higher FEI levels. Sarah has taught many riders and horses from Training level all the way to Grand Prix. In 2016 she had over 15 pairs of horse and rider combinations qualified for CDS/USDF Championships. She also has a very talented 4 year old that she is developing, Lyamora, and is very excited for her future! Sarah also has Balia and Dehavilland who she has trained to the Developing PSG.
Follow Sarah Lockman's Journey on IG: @sldressage
Kim Kulesa trains out of Spirit Equestrian in Somis, CA. She teaches horses and riders to reach their full potential. Her students have been top in Hawaii, California and USDF year end award winners through the FEI levels. Every year since 1985, her riders have competed and won USDF year-end awards at all levels. She and her students have earned more than thirty HCTA championships from Training to Grand Prix. She has trained 8 horses to the Grand Prix and over thirty through the various FEI levels.
Follow Kim Kulesa's Journey on IG: @kimkulesadressage
Laura DeCesari is the owner and head trainer at DeCesari Equestrian in Tucson, AZ. She started riding dressage at a young age and her Junior career was very successful, placing 5th individually at the NAJYRC in 2007 and she earned Team Gold for Young Riders in 2010. Now Laura competes in the upper levels and she trains and manages between 25-28 horses daily and 22 riders. Laura is currently developing 4 talented horses, Faire Well, Farentino, Flower Power, and Rossi. Laura frequently trains with Charlotte Bredahl, Niki Clarke, and was selected to ride in clinics with Laura Graves. From young and old, training level to FEI, novice to national champion, Laura and her team have a long track record of helping a diverse set of clients achieve their dressage goals.
Follow Laura DeCesari's Journey on IG: @laura.decesari
Elyse Hart is a dressage based rider out of Los Angeles, Ca. Elyse’s first memory is riding which she started doing at age 4. She quickly was swept off her feet by all things horses. This love stuck with her until her early teen years where her love of horses was overtaken by her social life in school, and eventually drugs and alcohol. Elyse has been now sober 6 years, and started riding again about 2 years ago. It was at this time that she found her heart horse “Bob”. They had a very successful season together and over 16 months took their partnership from intro level dressage to Prix Saint George. Elyse’s greatest joy in life is getting to be with Bob and a mommy to her son Jax who together have saved and reshaped her life. In November & December of 2021 both Bob and Elyse underwent different accidents leaving them with injuries keeping them both out of work for a period of time that they are still navigating. Elyse looks forward to getting back to work with Bob and seeing what is in store for them. She feels he already made her dream of developing into an FEI pair a reality, anything with hard work and love is possible.
Follow Elyse Hart's Journey on IG: @all_hart_equestrian
Jennifer Schrader-Williams is an International Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer developing the horse from youngster to Grand Prix. She has trained and ridden several horses to the Grand Prix level and is excited about her most recent up and coming mount. Jennifer’s current competition horse is Millione, a 16 year old Danish warmblood gelding bred by Jurgen Olson. Millione is currently competing at the Grand Prix level with scores to 73.6%. Millione has also successfully competed in the International arena at Grand Prix arena in 2018/2019 finishing 3rd in the Nationals Championships both years. Millione and Jennifer Williams were the recipient of the PNW High Performance Dressage training grant for 2019 and plan to train while in Florida with Debbie Mcdonald and Christophe Theallet in early 2020. It is Jennifer’s dream to one day represent the USA at the the Olympic games or at the World Equestrian Games.
Follow Jennifer William's Journey on IG: summervalepremierdressage
Megan Sykes owns and operates Classics Eventing in Midland, Texas and started riding and competing at the young age of six. Megan’s passion is for the sport of Eventing. She travels around the country competing with her horses in addition to running her own lesson program and business. Megan's mission as a trainer is to teach students about riding skills and horsemanship needed in the sport, as well as facilitating and guiding each student through the levels of eventing. In 2020 she debuted her top level horse, Mo, at the Advanced level. Early in 2020, Megan made the U25 List. She has Multiple Top 10 finishes throughout the Preliminary/CCI2* level and won the 2019 Twin Rivers Intermediate event and the 2019 Rebecca Farm CCI2*-L event.
Follow Megan Sykes Journey on IG: @classics_eventing_
Tillie Jones is a 21-year-old USDF silver medalist, based in Lincoln, NE. In May of 2022, she opened her own dressage training facility, Serenity Rose Equestrian Center LLC. Tillie has been a part of the US Emerging athletes program since 2018 with two different horses. She has gone to several NAYC and Festival of Champion competitions. She secured one gold, one silver and five bronze medals during her time as a JR and YR at NAYC. In 2022, she was a working student for Olivia LaGoy-Weltz during the Florida season. After coming home from a successful Florida season, she decided to open a boarding/training facility and start teaching dressage lessons. Olivia became a wonderful mentor to Tillie which inspired her to take the next step in her career. This has been a huge learning curve to learn what it takes to train and manage a barn while attending Nebraska Wesleyan University to finish her senior year. As Tillie finishes her bachelor’s degree in psychology, she trains daily and takes lessons online with Olivia LaGoy-Weltz. In Tillie’s first year training, she was able to help pair one of her Jr/Yr students with a new dressage partner and qualify them for the US Dressage Finals in two divisions. Tillie will also be attending with her mare in the I-1 open division. She enjoys the next step of her journey as she learns different roles within the sport. Her next aspiration is qualifying for Festival of Champions in the U-25 division and learn how to develop her new youngster up the training scale. She appreciates Halter Ego’s support in her journey while she develops from a Jr/Yr into a professional.
Follow Tillie Jones’s Journey on IG: @tilliejdressage FB: @Tillie Jones
Molly Maloney is a USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medalist. Molly has always had a love for the training process and strives to find harmony and balance while moving up the training scale. Never having the opportunity to ride a made horse, her success in the show ring has been based on training horse herself. Molly has a passion for young horses and loves working with them to progress them up the levels. The past two seasons she has had the opportunity to compete in multiple CDIs at small tour and medium tour. She has also been nationally ranked in the top ten on multiple horses at Third level, PSG, Int 1, and Int 2. Molly runs her own facility in Clinton Corners NY.
Follow Molly Maloney's Journey on IG: @mmdressage_
