Get to know
Anne Warner
Anne is a dressage rider with a passion for horses and a love of helping others meet their riding goals.
Anne grew up in the Midwest, riding school horses at hunter/jumper and eventing barns. The trainers there emphasized the importance of a solid foundation in flatwork, paving the way for her eventual transition to success in dressage. A USDF bronze, silver, and gold medal holder, she was USDF/CDS Region 7 Second Level Freestyle Champion and USDF/CDS Region 7 Open Second Level Reserve Champion with Timi Sobrato’s Chris-Craft in 2022. After a challenging year in 2023 between health issues of her own and those of her horses, Anne rebounded strongly in 2024. She has rehabilitated her own Fioretto to successfully compete at Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle; debuted Timi Sobrato’s Castella at Prix St. Georges; and brought Judy Force’s Sun Dancer back to the show ring at Fourth Level. She also purchased a two-year-old filly, Supernova MW, to develop for the future. Anne enjoys both competing through the levels and creating and riding freestyles. She holds USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals and Freestyle Bars, as well as the USDF diamond achievement award.
Anne completed Part 1 of the L Program in March 2024 to better understand the judge’s evaluation of horse and gait quality, correctness of movements, and test execution, as well as the language for communicating these standards. This education has enhanced her already strong and varied skill set and provides the foundation to participate in future judging programs and seminars. She also has trained in horse and rider biomechanics, and work with biomechanics experts Mary Wanless, Anne Howard, and Joanie Bolton has expanded her skill set as a trainer and coach.
Anne’s path to her career as a dressage trainer was a winding one. Anne started with weekly lessons when she was four years old and continued those through most of her undergraduate degree. She took a two-year hiatus from riding as she finished her undergraduate degree at Oberlin College in Ohio and started her graduate studies in California (Anne holds an M.S. in Ocean Sciences from UC Santa Cruz, and a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology from USC). That ended when Anne found an opportunity to start riding dressage on what would become her very first horse, a special unicorn named Bogey. The pull of the horses was stronger than ever, and Anne rode and worked at barns through the rest of her time in graduate school. She finally acknowledged that perhaps she *could* be in the horse world professionally and has since immersed herself in the perpetual quest for knowledge and improvement.
The skills she cultivated while working on her science and technology degrees have proven to be directly translatable to her teaching, business organization, and client relations in the horse world. She is positive, patient, and encouraging in her teaching. One of her strengths is her ability to tell students how to improve something when it’s not right, not simply to tell them that it is wrong.
