OUR COACHES
WYNNE HETHERINGTON
Wynne Hetherington graduated from UMN in 2021 with a BS in Animal Science, emphasis in equine studies and minors in Spanish and business management. She has experience competing in IHSA and has been riding horses since she could walk. As a young girl, Wynne took general English riding and jumping lessons, and spent some time competing in hunters until she was about 12 years old, and then began her journey in dressage. With over ten years of professional experience, Wynne has also achieved her USDF bronze medal and dressage remains the backbone of her skillset and current riding and training programs. Additionally, she has continued to dabble in hunters/jumpers throughout the years and spent a few years assisting with a large hunter/jumper lesson program.
Wynne is currently leasing and managing “Equitation Station,” a boarding facility located in Hastings, MN, which is where she hosts her own training and lesson program and will also host lessons for the team. Her own program primarily consists of riders that train in the disciplines of dressage and hunter/jumper, though she has spent some time learning about other disciplines like working equitation, natural horsemanship and western horsemanship and prides herself in teaching foundations to riders of all skill levels, ages and disciplines. Wynne is very excited to be working with Minnesota Equestrian and looks forward to helping the team members meet their objectives for the group to create a community that is supportive and welcoming, and geared towards enjoying horses, making connections and learning along the way.
VERONICA PAINTER
Veronica Painter is excited to join the Minnesota Equestrian this season as the Head Coach. Veronica grew up in the hunter jumper world and competed on both the hunt seat and western IHSA teams and served on the club and team's executive board during her college years. Post college, she ran away with the circus where she spent over a decade trick riding in circus tents, dinner theatres, and amusement parks, jousting at renaissance festivals, and training horses in specialty performance arts.
During her time on the road, she earned her master's degree specializing in animal behavior and performance arts and started her own business, Horsemanship Unlocked, where she discovered her love of coaching. After traveling coast to coast teaching equestrian arts and horsemanship in camps and clinics, she is now settled just outside of the twin cities, empowering students to reach outside of their comfort zones and training client horses with ethics and empathy. Relationships with horses and with teammates are ongoing, whether you are inside the show ring or grabbing your horse from the pasture. She is excited to foster those relationships by bringing her expertise, experience, and out of the box perspective to the team with the hope to inspire young riders to take educated risks and have fun while doing it.