Meet our staff of experienced managers and instructors.
Eddie and Kate Maple
Katie Brown Maxwell
Katie Brown Maxwell has recently moved to the Bluffton area from upstate, SC where she ran Sovan Hill, a successful hunter/jumper facility. She has 30 years of riding, showing, and horse management experience.
As a junior, Katie competed in the AHSA Medal, ASPCA Maclay, the hunter divisions, and the jumper divisions. As a professional, Katie trains and shows jumpers and hunters. She specializes in starting hunters and has qualified for Indoors in in the Working Hunter division, finishing Big Eq horses, and training jumpers from training divisions through Grand Prix. Katie has taken students from the beginning of their riding career through the Pony Finals (in USEF Pony Medal, Green Pony Hunters, Regular Pony Hunters and National Pony Jumper Championships), NAL jumper finals, equitation regionals and finals, WIHS, and the North American Young Riders' Championships.
From Fall 2004 to Spring 2010, Katie was the head coach of the Clemson Equestrian Team. Intercollegiate equestrian competition is judged on equitation. In the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons, the Clemson Equestrian Team had the high point open rider and represented their region in the prestigious Cachionne Cup at the IHSA nationals as well as competing in various other divisions. The Clemson Equestrian Team was National Champion in Open Over Fences for 2008. The classical approach is evident in Katie's training and coaching; however, she combines contemporary ideas with classic techniques to keep up with today's demands in competition.
Katie is ARIA certified and is an elected member of the USHJA Zone 4 Jumper Committee.
Debbie Hoyt- Banfield
Debbie Hoyt- Banfield has been teaching and training in Bluffton since September 2009. She has over 40 years of riding, teaching, and training experience. She is an elected member of the New England equitation commitee. As a professional, she has coached many students to compete in finals at the national, regional, state, and local levels. While her focus was in equitation, Debbie also coached in the hunter and jumper rings to give her students a well rounded riding experience. While in New England, Debbie coached the Brandies Equestrian Team.
Coming up through the ranks as a junior, Debbie rode many wonderful hunters and jumpers, as well as earned her A rating with the Norfolk Hunt Pony Club. After becoming a professional, she operated a sucessful show barn in Massachusetts for many years. Debbie also has much experience foxhunting and eventing. Her focus on the traditional equitation and her love for the sport are a perfect combination for riders of all levels.