Brief Biography

Lindley Robinson began her interest in horses as a child, however was not able to pursue this interest seriously until in her early teens, as her family was not at all “horsey”.

    However, once starting, after basic lessons and reading everything that she could on the subject she pursued many diverse equestrian endeavors with the seriousness and dedication of any academic and professional activity.

    Initially impressed with classical dressage as she saw at the Spanish Riding School from travels all over Europe and Asia with her military family, books by Seunig, Podjasky,  and Decarpentry were regular reading, particularly after getting her first horse.

    However, actual riding was initially in large part influenced by where she lived.  Since her father was a military officer, the family lived all over the world.  And the first place it was practical to get a horse was in the heart of Saddlebred country.  Saddleseat equitation and pleasure became the first discipline mastered, along with a variety of normal riding club activities, playdays and schooling shows.

     Then came some hunter and jumping, and finally getting to more of  the pure dressage.

    Fortunate enough to meet people that had some background in dressage as the basis for all training, this formed much of her philosophy of training, giving some practical experience to the theory from the books she studied.

     A barn owner where she boarded recognized her talent and ability and interest in sharing what she knew, and started her teaching career when she was in high school.

     In between teaching many students of all ages in saddleseat, stock and hunt seat, she organized shows and a Saddle Club for the stables, which were very well received.  And at the same time continued her own training and showing, participating in Pony Club and attending clinics with experts such as noted open Hunter Jumper trainer Col. R. Robertson of the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Lindley was offered a job starting horses and showing for a small select  Arabian breeding farm* the summer after high school before beginning college.

    This was a tremendous opportunity, as she had complete responsibility for starting 15 two to five year olds, showing and training halter horses, and showing the Asil stallion and offspring on the local circuit as well as Class A shows. In addition to learning the breeding business and assisting in gentling the foals.

     The stallion dominated the English division.  And one of the most memorable moments was in an Open Western Pleasure class during a ride-off for the Final—the judge decided on the other breed, however he made a point of coming up to her and almost apologetically complimenting how well trained the mare was and how much he admired the performance, however he just rode the other breed himself, and liked them better!  A good lesson in horsepersons honesty from the start!

While academic pursuits did take up most of her time, she continued to attend horse shows, and continued an interest in photography with horses as a primary subject.

    And returned to the Phillips during subsequent summers.

After declining several training job offers while in college, Lindley decided that graduate and professional school could wait, and accepted a training position with a large breeding farm.

    Here, she refined her training, and won many Class A and regional awards, and qualified their horses for the Nationals before a “once in a lifetime” opportunity came up.  During this time, she was fortunate enough to meet Tom and Rita McNair, then long time trainers for Gleannloch Farms of Houston, who shared an interest in dressage as well as the Arabian horse.

An opportunity to pursue the field of classical dressage came up, and she was on her way to Michigan to work with Dressage Hall of Fame trainer, Chuck Grant.

    Here, she perfected the technicalities of the lower levels, and learned to ride and teach one tiempi flying changes from an acknowledged master, in addition to piaffe and passage, and all other Grand Prix movements.  Mr. Grant was known for his "exhibition group" of horses too, and had a group that performed, in addition to dressage horses that gave exhibitions at major shows, etc.  This was not of interest to Lindley, tho she did learn how to teach the movements, and did have occasion to school with the group.

     Strict classical dressage was Lindley's interest, and she pursued as much of it as she could.

     As fate intervened, one of Chucks proteges with a large training barn broke their ankle, and Lindley took over all the training and showing for this International Level training barn at his recommendation until the trainer healed, gaining incredible experience on imported Grand Prix trained horses and horses at the International Levels, and perfecting her dressage training skills, in addition to showing and coaching other riders.

     Mr. Grant's riders went on to make other contributions to the field of classical dressage, including introducing the movement of the "piaffe pirouette" in National level competition for the first time at the USDF finals.

The Arabian breed once again beckoned, and Lindley set up a barn for a new owner, assisting in the design of the barn, and then having a string of horses for several owners to show at the Class A level in the Midwest.

    Continuing her own training business, her students and horses were consistent winners, into the national levels.

    At the same time, Lindley’s training philosophy that emphasized a classical dressage and strong foundational approach enabled very successful Open showing in Hunter, Equitation and Dressage—with all breeds.

At the same time, Lindley continued her interest in breeding by advising clients on their open and breed programs.  This included warmblood importations and sporthorses.

    And continued to add knowledge through clinics from experienced professionals such as Dressage Hall of Famer Karl Mikolka and very esteemed trainers such as equitation experts George Morris and Helen Crabtree, among others.  As well as breeding, business and vet-conformation knowledge from seminars with many of the best in the business.

    Not to mention the books!  The book dealers at trade shows loved to see her coming!

A sort of natural break occurred in her full time training career—a time when many students were finishing achieving their goals, horses were finished,  and when it would be a few years before the next group fully matured.  A difficult decision, however it seemed the time to continue the academic pursuits.

Thus started the “part time” training, teaching and consulting.

This included clinics, training a horse or two for USDF Class A competition, teaching in all areas, and advising on breeding programs—Open and for various breeds.  And being in the stands to actually see the whole horse show!

   Horses and students excelled.  And the breeding programs thrived.

In 2002, Lindley decided to formalize her endeavors in marketing and promoting sales for various disciplines of riding and various breeds of horses.

And this is what this website is all about at this time!

In the future, there may be some news about Grand Prix dressage horses that will emerge!  Or top breeding show wins!  Or sale horses that achieve significant wins...however this is generally a low key, small business, so many of these you may not hear about.

   In the meantime, please check the web-fliers at http://eqagent.tripod.com for horses that are offered for sale from very reputable, serious and dedicated breeders and owners.

Lindley above all enjoys horses—especially training and breeding, and being in the horse business, and others that share this interest seriously.  So, feel free to contact her about any aspect of the horse business!

      Particularly if you are looking for a horse that is “just the right fit” for you for competition…we put the customer first.  We all want any buyer to find the horse that they can form that bond with that will last for years.

      And breeders to find “niches” that will contribute to their program’s goals.

     And we welcome trainers and other agents looking for prospects….the breeders have many horses suitable for various disciplines of riding and training at top level competition!

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*As an example of the breeding programs that Lindley was fortunate enough to work with—

Lindley’s first training job was with Phillips Arabians the summer after high school.  Here, an introduction to breeding was included with complete responsibility for starting 15 horses, showing the stallion and training and showing halter horses, halter-breaking foals, etc.

    The Phillips had an “Asil” stallion purchased directly from Alice Payne of the renowned Asil Stud.  Intensely *Raffles bred, Asil Antila was known for producing beautiful, correct mares in particular that were themselves excellent producers with excellent temperaments.  They dominated the Missouri futurities, and did well in performance.

    Previous to that, they owned an Azraff bred stallion named Kharaff that had done well in Park and EP at National level shows such as Scottsdale.  He too was a dominant sire.

    They had the foresight to see that *Bask was going to be a dominant sire, and leased a *Bask son for several years to cross on their mares and stand in that area, contributing greatly to the breeding of the area.

   So, Lindley was fortunate to learn from people that were dedicated to breeding good horses, and insightful about the market from the beginning.

After college, Lindley was offered a job with another breeding farm that wanted to do extensive showing.  Presuming that she could continue her academic and other professional interests at any time, and if she really wanted to train and show, doing so in her younger years would be prudent, Lindley accepted.  This breeding farm had a mixture of lines, and Lindley was able to get all of them to show successfully over and over, winning at halter and every performance division, including Open Hunter with a purebred Arabian stallion.

      During this time she was fortunate to meet Tom and Rita McNair, then trainers at the Egyptian Arabian breeding farm, Gleannloch Farms, who shared her interest in dressage.

      There were many other trainers that influenced her philosophy with their dressage based training methods.

       Always striving to be the best trainer possible and learn as much as possible, she never passed up--or passes up-- a chance to attend a clinic or watch a top horseperson school a horse!  One thing about horses--there is always something more to learn!