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All proceeds go directly to the St. Andrews Equestrian Program. Each gift is tax deductible!
- Giving to the St. Andrews Equestrian team can help ensure that the team can comfortably attend National and Local Competitions while providing horses with crucial care.
- St. Andrews hosts over 65 horses in our stables, which to put that into perspective, would be almost 7% of the schools enrollment! Our dedicated equestrian staff give their lives to these horses each and every day but only so much can be achieved without additional support from friends, family, and community.
- Despite being a small private college, St. Andrews has overcome the odds by winning numerous National Championships and consistent top 5 placements. We credit this achievement to our tightknit family values and dedication to one another. Join the family and make a difference today!
Equestrian Staff Bios
Dr. Laura Kellam attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Music and Biology. Then Dr. Kellam continued her education at Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Va., obtaining her DVM degree. She took an Equine Surgery and Medicine Internship at the University of Guelph, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She completed her residency of Equine Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri, in Columbia, Missouri. Dr. Kellam has been a member of the St. Andrews equestrian staff since August 2004. She is the Veterinarian-in-Residence and Assistant Professor in Equine Studies. Dr. Kellam is responsible for the veterinary care and maintenance of the 140+ herd at the St. Andrews Equestrian Center. She is also the professor of the equine science-related classes and pre-veterinary studies program. Dr. Kellam’s riding interests resides in three-day eventing with some hunter/jumper experience as well. Dr. Kellam is a musician who plays piano and sings as a mezzo-soprano. She loves cold weather and enjoys skiing and snowboarding and dog sledding. However in the southern climate, Dr. Kellam has picked up sea-kayaking to keep her happy in the warmer weather.
Carla is a University of Georgia Alumna, graduating in 1981 with a B.S. degree in Animal Science. Carla joined the equestrian staff in 2006 as the head Western Coach and teaches dressage instruction as well. Carla is responsible for coaching the IHSA Western Team, and teaching horse judging classes. Carla has won three World Championships at AQHA Youth Worlds, and was All Around Youth at American Quarter Horse Congress. Carla has also won a bronze medal in dressage. She has been an AQHA judge for 34 years, and spent 31 years as a NRHA and NSBA judge. She has judged in eight foreign countries. Carla has also worked at other universities prior to coming to St. Andrews. She spent six years at Colorado State University, five years at the University of Georgia, and almost five at Martin Community College.
In 2008 Carla was honored as AQHA Horseman of the Year and in Oct. 2010 she served as a FEI steward for reining at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. In 2012 she was awarded IHSA Sportsmanship Coach of the Year and in 2016 and 2017 Carla’s IHSA Western team were National Champions. In 2019, Carla was awarded the IHSA Lifetime Achievement Award. A multi-faceted horsewomen she also has earned her United States Dressage Federation Bronze and Silver medals.
“Making the horse’s welfare foremost is the job of the FEI steward and by working at the World Games justified to me this work as a steward is exactly that!”
Nancy Demus joined the St. Andrews staff in March, 2015 as the Equine Program Operations Manager. A graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Animal Science, she has been a full time horse professional for over 35 years. Nancy moved from Raleigh, NC where she served as the special events coordinator, an instructor and coach, as well as managing the day to day business activities of a large hunter seat barn. She has trained under nationally recognized trainers in both hunter seat and dressage and has numerous successes for both herself and her students in horse shows from local, regional, and national competitions. While in Raleigh, Nancy founded the NCSU Equestrian Club and IHSA hunter seat team and led one of the county’s largest 4-H clubs.
At St. Andrews, Nancy is the voice on the other end of the phone when you call our Equestrian Center. She works closely with the Director on the organization of the program, record keeping, scheduling and keeping track of all staff and students. She also works as the IHSA Zone 4 Region 3, Points Secretary by keeping track of all of the points for every team and rider that competes throughout the competition year.
Kelsi grew up in Colorado Springs competing in the 3’6 equitation, hunters, and jumpers on several mounts, and attended St. Andrews from 2005-2009, continuing to show her own horse while moving up in the jumpers, as well as showing school owned horses. During her time at school, she competed intercollegiately in IHSA (including St. Andrews’ first western show!) and ANRC.
After graduating with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Equine Studies, Kelsi rode professionally in Pennsylvania and Maryland, then came home to St. Andrews from 2012-2017 as show team coach. For the last 5 years, she ran a training and show program in Southern Maryland, dedicated to bringing out the best in each horse and rider.
Kelsi loves teaching the how’s and why’s of form and function, riding forward, and allowing the horse to do their job; likewise, she loves teaching horses to understand and enjoy the task at hand. She is constantly on the hunt for new paths to better horsemanship, as well as more effective ways to impart knowledge and feel. Kelsi aspires to stay in tune with each horse and rider to overcome daily challenges and maximize short- and long-term progress.
Cailey Culp joins the equestrian staff as an instructor and as Assistant IHSA Western Coach. Cailey graduated from St. Andrews in 2017 with a degree in Equine Business Management. Cailey returns to St. Andrews having worked as a groom and barn manager for Peter DeFreitas who is a Reining Trainer in Wilmington, NC. After graduation she also spent some time working at Heart Ranch in Myrtle Beach, SC turning her part time college job into a full time opportunity as a barn manager and instructor.
Lindsey Trockenbrot returns as the Dressage Instructor, IDA Head Coach, and Assistant Professor in the Equine Studies Department. In 2013 she received her B.A. degree from St. Andrews followed a few years later by her M.B.A. As an undergraduate student at SAU, Lindsey competed on the IDA Team and qualified for and competed in IDA Nationals three years. In her senior year she rode to a third place finish at First Level at the IDA National Championship in Massachusetts. Additionally she rode for the IHSA Western Team.
After graduation, Lindsey worked as the Assistant Western Coach at St. Andrews. During her time as Carla Wennberg’s Assistant Coach, the St. Andrews western team won the IHSA National Championship twice. Lindsey has also worked as an assistant dressage trainer at Encore Sporthorse, as a groom for international show jumper and Olympian Kent Farrington, as the VIP coordinator for Split Rock Jumping Tour, and as a rider and conditioning trainer for the horses at Midway University in Kentucky.
Professor Abbey grew up in Western NY state and graduated from Houghton College in 1996. It was at college that Melissa got to take horsemanship and riding classes for the first time. She fondly recalls her time at the college farm and especially staying after lessons to groom and bond with the lesson horses.
Melissa moved to CA and worked at Mission Springs Outdoor Education from 1996-2005. She served as Assistant Director of Outdoor Education, writing curriculum and training new teachers. In 2006 she began graduate school at Western Seminary San Jose, graduating with a Masters in Marital and Family Therapy. She got involved with horses again during this time when she attended a workshop entitled “An Introduction to Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy” being held at DreamPower Horsemanship in Gilroy CA.
For over seven years Melissa volunteered at DreamPower, earning her Therapeutic Riding Instructor and Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning credentials through PATH International, and completing the requirements to become a licensed therapist in CA.
In 2021, Melissa earned her board certification in equine interactions for education through CBEIP. Professor Abbey enjoys wearing multiple hats and working on a wide variety of tasks. Her passion and expertise in fostering relationships between humans and horses is evident in her work at St. Andrews. She recently joined the PATH International Mental Health and Learning Subcommittee, where she is helping shape the field of Therapeutic Horsemanship.
Katherine graduated as a transfer student from St. Andrews University in 2022 with a bachelors in Equine Business Management and a minor in Therapeutic Horsemanship.
She has competed in multiple English disciplines with her horse Dakota including dressage, eventing, and hunter/jumpers, with her focus on dressage.
During her undergraduate studies Katherine rode on the 2021-2022 IDA team and qualified for and rode at IDA nationals finishing as reserve champion in her division.
When not at the barn she enjoys hiking in the mountains with her husband and spending time with her dog.
Emily grew up riding and showing hunters, jumpers, and equitation horses in Cartersville, GA. She attended Emory & Henry college, graduating from the Intermont Equestrian program with a B.A. in 2016.
Emily competed for the IHSA open division and ANRC National teams while at Emory & Henry, helping the National team to Reserve Champion at ANRC 2016. After graduation, she lived in Lexington, KY working for riders Emily Williams and Victoria Colvin. Emily continued with the Colvins for the winter circuit in Wellington, FL., riding and prepping top show hunters.
After spending some time on the show circuit, Emily took a position at a growing hunter/jumper farm in Tennessee. She created a lesson and training program ranging from full show training of young horses to beginner and first time lessons. Here she developed a love for the process of horse and rider development and using correct equitation and good horsemanship to create the best in the horse.
Emilee was raised in Oviedo, FL where she grew up riding and showing. After two years at Virginia Intermont College, Emilee transferred to St. Andrews. Emilee graduated from St. Andrews in 2015 with a B.A degree. She will complete her MBA in the Fall of 2020.
As an undergraduate student, Emilee competed successfully on the IHSA Hunter Seat Team. In 2014 she represented the team at IHSA Nationals in Harrisburg, PA. After graduation, Emilee worked as a Barn Manager and Trainer at a farm in Vanceboro, NC. Then moved to Wilmington, NC to serve as an IHSA coach for UNC-Wilmington as well an IEA coach for Old Homestead Farm.
As the Assistant Hunter Seat Coach, Emilee has helped coach several students on to IHSA Regionals, Zones, and Nationals alongside Coach Duda! In addition to serving as the Assistant Hunter Seat coach and event Manager, Emilee has also spent the past 5 summers serving as the Riding Director at YMCA – Camp Seafarer for girls.
Originally from South Lyon, MI, Hannah Waroway spent her collegiate career attending Midway University in Kentucky while competing on the school’s IHSA hunt seat team and earning a degree in both equine management and equine rehabilitation with a business minor. While in Kentucky Hannah worked for SpyCoast farm under David O’Brien, the Kentucky Horse Park, and Stevie McCarron at Cloud Nine farm among other farms. Following graduation, Hannah moved to New Jersey to work with former five-time Olympian Anne Kursinski where she worked as the barn manager and traveled to shows. Now, at St. Andrews Hannah works as one of the barn managers!
