Eastern New York

Dressage & Combined Training

Association

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Meet our Board Members!

President | Joy Black

Joy is a USDF L Graduate and showing at 4th level with her horse Bimini.  She is a USDF bronze medalist and working towards her USDF silver medal.  She is a full time PA at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady, NY and lives in the town of Duanesburg.  In addition to studying dressage, she enjoys traveling and spending time with friends.







mailto:joymblack@outlook.com



Vice President | Jeff Lindberg

In addition to pursuing a career as a dressage rider and trainer, Jeff enjoys playing gold and chess.  He is also a huge Star Wars fan!




mailto:bishops@nycap.rr.com

Treasurer | Jennifer Saunders

Jennifer is a lifelong horse enthusiast who developed her passion for dressage during her youth, notably as a member of the Limestone Pony Club. Her equestrian journey led her to Philadelphia, where she discovered dressage while share-boarding a horse. Currently, she actively rides and competes in dressage, achieving her silver medal in 2018 with her retired horse Merritt. Jennifer now resides on a small horse property in Schoharie, caring for her two horses, Merritt and Pierre, as well as a foster horse named Murphy.





Recording Secretary | Rita Moore

Rita has devoted hours and hours to ENYDCTA and has been an organizer for many of our events with her super organizational skills. She shows an interest in those she meets and is supportive.  She is like the club mom.  Rita was also ENYDCTA’s member of the year for 2022.  

Her volunteer service goes beyond ENYDCTA.  She has fostered many dogs through Homeword Bound and was very involved with a program for middle school students with the NASA STEP program introducing students to opportunities in science, math, and technology. 

Not only is Rita on the ENYDCTA board, she is also active as a board member of the Hudson-Mohawk Weavers' Guild.  She is a retired librarian from the Schenectady city school system and picked up riding after her retirement and owns and rides a Hanoverian mare named Flower and will soon be boarding at Bishop Gate Farm in Ballston Spa. ENYDCTA is fortunate to have her on our team. 





Corresponding Secretary | Open Position

If you are detail-oriented, organized, and passionate about our mission, we encourage you to apply. Your dedication will be a valuable contribution to our team. Specific duties may be flexible, centered on the unique skills and passions of the individual filling the role. The time commitment for these responsibilities would be a minimum of 1-2 hours a week.

Contact mailto:enydctaboard@gmail.com to learn more!







Volunteer Coordinator | Barb Martenis

Barb has been riding for fifty years, focusing on dressage for the past twenty years.  Her current horse, Ice, is a seventeen-year-old Andalusian she purchased as a three-year-old.

She regularly audits clinics, takes lessons with area professionals. and has a lifelong passion for learning and participate in online equestrian/dressage education.










Piaffe Flyer Editor - interim| Meredith Vanderminden

Meredith Vanderminden lives in Fort Edward, NY. Meredith and her husband Bill own Viridian Farm, a dressage facility they have been lovingly upgrading since their purchase in March of 2020. Meredith is a lower level dressage rider with a passion for learning new skills and progressing in her riding. She owns and rides Mtn View Villara, her Spotted Draft/Hanoverian dressage horse, Wilbur, her funny Haflinger who can do just about anything, and her Icelandic mare, Gullbrá, who is five gaited! Meredith is also a retired United Methodist minister and a yoga instructor. She is looking forward to working on the Piaffe Flyer and helping in anyway she can on the Board. 


Member-At Large | Ray Whelihan

Ray is an Associate Professor at SUNY Cobleskill, with primary teaching responsibilities in the equine area, including Coach of the Varsity Hunt Seat Equestrian Team.  He as over 30 years of faculty service, and supported and encouraged many students to explore and realize their potential to make equestrian involvement a fulfilling lifetime endeavor. 

With a preference for plain bay thoroughbreds, and the occasional gallant grey, Ray's philosophy centers on simplicity, correctness, and a less is more approach resulting in manifestation of favorite quotations “Ride your horses so your horses like you” M.O. Page, and “The hardest thing for a rider to do is to sit still, to sit still, and to keep sitting still.” R. Kipling. Through appreciation of the generous nature of the horse, the in-depth study of horsemanship practices intellectually realized over centuries, and incorporating advancements in equine medicine and nutrition, we ask of our horses only what should be asked, in the manner it should be asked, and enjoy our equine relationships to the fullest.


Member-At Large | Andrea McBurnie

Andrea is a USDF Silver Medalist, dressage trainer and instructor. A life-long horsewoman, she was raised on the family horse farm, participating in several club organizations across many disciplines. She found her love of teaching through the Special Olympics therapeutic riding program, where she and her mother coached and volunteered their horses. 

She began her formal dressage training at Bishop’s Gate Farm as a working student, where she is now the assistant trainer. She also offers training under her own brand ADM Dressage. Andrea believes that facilitating a supportive community is necessary to make riding a more accessible sport for all, and brings this mindset to our GMO.