Laura Eller - Owner of Sienna Stables
Laura is a USHJA certified trainer (United States Hunter Jumper Association) which is the nationally recognized affiliate of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) for the Hunter and Jumper disciplines and national governing body for equestrian sport in the country. Laura is a PATH certified instructor for therapeutic riding (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International). PATH changes and enriches lives by promoting excellence in equine assisted activities and therapies.
"A good horsewoman is a good horseman whether performing English, Western, or Dressage. There is a broad and common ground between the different types of riding. Having ridden English, Western, and Dressage over the years my experiences have contributed to my overall teaching technique."
Therapeutic riding uses horses for the purpose of enhancing cognitive, physical, emotional and social well being of people with disabilities. Laura is a PATH certified registered instructor.
"Understanding the horse is the essence of harmonious horsemanship."
Sienna Stables is a proud sponsor of English, Western, and Dressage horse shows at their facility. Laura also manages show teams that compete in shows with GHHJA (Great Houston Hunter Jumper Association), THJA (Texas Hunter Jumper Association) and HDS (Houston Dressage Society).
Abby Jackson - Show Team Director & Trainer
Abby Jackson teaches English and dressage lessons, trains horses, and is Sienna Stables Show Team Director and Trainer.
Abby has seventeen years of riding experience and over ten years competing in the hunter circuit starting at lower levels all the way to National Derbys. She is a member of GHHJA, THJA and USHJA.
She has had her horse George for the past seven-years and has worked with him to become competitive at the upper levels in the Hunters.
While she loves competing, her favorite part of the job is working with the horses and students to figure out how to make each team work together to the best of their ability.
Abby is currently studying for her bachelor's degree in business management.
**Congratulations to Abby in her 1st Place Finish at the 2019 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.
Valerie Yoap - Western Trainer
Originally from Coleman, Wisconsin, Valerie brings her two quarter horses (Arlo and Winona) with her.
Valerie has experience working as a wrangler on Colorado Dude Ranches where she helped care for over 200 horses, as well as provided guests with lessons. She has experience with colt starting and fixing problem horses, and has studied natural horsemanship with Carson James, Clinton Anderson, and Buck Brannaman.
As an added bonus, Valerie is certified in Equine Massage Therapy.
CHRISTY FURMAN - Trainer
Originally from Sugar Land, TX Christy brings her 2 horses, Nala (a 6 year old Palomino), and Dolce (a 7 year old Rocky Mountain Horse) to the stables.
Christy started riding at 4 years of age. She has a wide range of equestrian experience from exercise rider during high school and volunteering with therapeutic riding programs to starting young horses under saddle.
She graduated from Texas State in Business Finance and rode on Texas State Equestrian Team and received High-point rider at the Tulane University Show.
While she attended college she worked for a private facility and rode Hanoverians and Thoroughbreds and primarily focused on Dressage and Jumping. One of the horses that Christy started as a young horse is now in North Carolina showing in upper level dressage.
In June of 2016, Christy worked in Costa Rica at an English Riding School as a beach tour guide. She would lead groups of people from all over the world on rides.
Christy is currently enrolled in Noelle Floyd’s Equestrian Master Class
Hannah Biggs - Trainer
Hannah grew up on a horse farm in Indiana, and she now brings her horse, Karma (an Oldenburg) with her to Sienna Stables. Hannah's diverse equestrian background includes working at an internationally acclaimed Belgian warmblood breeding barn, varied equine veterinary medicine internships, training and showing hunter/jumpers, riding on her college equestrian teams, and teaching English riding lessons. She holds a B.A. in English from Otterbein University (Ohio), a M.A. in English from Rice University in Houston, and is slowly and steadily writing her dissertation on farm fiction and animal studies for completion of a Ph.D. She is USEF SafeSport certified; holds a graduate certificate in Teaching and Learning from Rice University; is currently studying for her USHJA Trainer’s Certification license; and is a member of USEF, USHJA, GHHJA, THJA, IHSA Alumni Association, and USPC.