MOUNTAIN MEADOW EQUESTRIAN CENTER
About
Owner, riding instructor and trainer; Louise von Clef
Louise has spent her life studying, working and improving her horsemanship skills. She began riding as a child with the support of her mother and father. By the age of 14 she purchased and supported her first horse. Louise started by riding western and competed and won at barrel racing and gymkana shows at an early age. Moving on to the English style as a junior, training with National Amateur Hunter champion Beverly Huber and Melvin Dutton. She successfully competed at the A and B hunter/jumper shows winning many awards and championships. After graduation from high school, Louise felt the need to challenge herself as a rider and focused on the highly technical sport of dressage. She moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania and trained with USET dressage rider Sidley Payne. She opened her first boarding and training stable in her 20's with a 15 stall barn then grew to own and operate Chadds Ford Equestrian Center which housed over 50 horses. She concentrated on teaching children, juniors and adult amateur riders. At peak teaching 70 riders a week and had over 100 children attending summer and winter camps. Over the years she continued training with Olympic and world level dressage, event and hunter/jumper trainers and coaches such as Gunnar Ostergaard-Dutch National Champion and coach of the USET and Canadian teams, Jane Sleeper and Bruce Davidson members of the USET eventing team, trained at George Morris's Hunterdon stable with Jeff Cook. Rode or cliniced with Jack Le Goff, Robert Dover, Reiner Klimke, George Morris, The USET Headquaters in New Jersey plus many more. Besides winning and competing with hunters and event horses she competed and won at Dressage at Devon and the Lundquist finals. Louise also found enjoyment riding field hunters since the age of 17. It was a pleasant diversion form the rigors of the show ring for both her and her horses and an excellent training ground for the horse and rider also taking students along. While in Pennsylvania she hunted with the Cochranville hunt, Cheshire hunt, Radnor hunt and Kimberton hunt She also rode and broke race horses and steeplechase horses for various owners and trainers including top USA hall of fame trainer Jonathan Shepperd, Burling Cocks, Donald DeNenno, and some private owners. Louise draws from her vast and varied experience to bring students the very best in multidisciplinary instruction. For years in Pennsylvania she taught people from all over the world including England, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, India, Japan, China, Africa, Russia and Scotland. She also ran a therapeutic horseback riding at her farm along with Cheryl Brown helping children and adults with severe spinal injuries. She felt the need to let others have the benefits of riding and being around horses that otherwise could not. Donating her horses, facility and equipment to help the community. Today her main focus is on the training and boarding operation at Mountain Meadow Equestrian Center in Maryville, Tn. For students it is important to have a knowledgeable, experienced instructor as it is to be mounted on horses that are suitable to their ability. Louise practices what she preaches with both horses and riders, bringing them along step by step with the knowledge they need to understand their horse and develop the skills riding and working with them. She builds an atmosphere of confidence in her pupils by being an accomplished equestrian in many disciplines and a trainer whose riders have gone on to successful careers and have also won many championships. Her years of insight with so many horses gives her the knowledge and experience to help each individual rider, horse or pony train to their fullest potential.