MCCONNELL DRESSAGE

TRAINING

INTERNATIONAL DRESSAGE RIDER

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With an outstanding background as a professional International dressage rider and trainer with over 40 years of teaching experience, Liz Hopps McConnell brings both her passion and her expertise to the arena, helping you believe and achieve.

​Liz has been training exclusively at Inside Dressage Farm since the winter of 2017, dedicating her time to importing and training horses from Europe and teaching national and International students alike.  Her daughter Megan had huge success riding sales horse, Eros, to a silver medal at the Dressage4Kids competition in Saugerties.

OVER 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

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Liz has herself competed and won at numerous CDI competitions throughout Canada, the US and Europe.  She represented Canada at the World Equestrian Games in Rome in 1998.  She rode her own horse, Elymas, who she purchased as a 3 year old and trained by herself to Grand Prix.

Liz’s training philosophy is classical, methodical and unconfrontational.  It is based on a clear and concise understanding of the aids and their application.  She developes a strong foundation of dressage basics before moving the horse and rider up through the levels of training.  

Liz has had the opportunity to train with top dressage trainers through her career including Uwe Sauer, Kyra Kyrklund and Steffen Peters to name a few.

COACHING HIGHLIGHTS

In 2016 Liz coached her client in Switzerland at the FEI Pony/FEI Junior level.  They trained daily, and competed at most of the top competition in Europe including at the Balkan Games in Greece where her student achieved the incredible results of 3 Gold Medals and 1 Silver Medal at the FEI Junior level.

 

In 2018 Liz coached Bajan rider, Roberta Foster, to qualify for and compete at the CAC Games in Colombia.  Roberta and Chic Chic had amazing success and qualified to compete for Barbados at the Pan Am Games in Peru in 2019!

Coached Mackenzie Manning – competing for Barbados on her own Ruveyda – to Top 10 at the CAC Games in 2022. 

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

★★★★★

"We bought our daughter's first pony from Elizabeth. Her honesty and kindness are truly rare in the horse world. She genuinely cares about the well-being of the animal. I would gladly buy another horse from her anytime and wholeheartedly recommend Elizabeth to anyone looking for a horse. We are so grateful to have met her in our equestrian journey."

— Julie Perron | Québec, Canada

★★★★★

"I am so delighted with the PRE my trainer, Jennifer Roth, sourced through Liz McConnell. He ticks every single box and more, and has been a delight from day one. It can be intimidating to buy a horse sight unseen, but the test rider Liz hired absolutely nailed her assessment of the horse. The import process was smooth and easy, and Liz managed the process in a very transparent manner. She found me the horse of a lifetime, and I highly recommend her!"

Kathy Rizonni

Photo Credit: Diana Hadsall

★★★★★

"Liz sourced Imperador DR for us and her knowledge and expertise helped us have absolute confidence in the import process. Arriving in March of this year (2025), he had already earned his amateur co-owner the Grand Prix scores for her Gold Medal and been Reserve National Champion in the Grand Prix Freestyle!"

Barbara Lightner

★★★★★

"After several years out of the saddle, Liz found my perfect equine partner and has made the journey truly rewarding. Her positive, confidence-building training methods have helped me grow as a rider, and I love that she always puts the horse first in everything we do. My horses and I could not be happier!"

— Elizabeth Daniel

★★★★★

"After three years of top notch training and competing on the prestigious Wellington Florida Dressage circuit with elite coach Elizabeth McConnell, former Junior Dressage Champion, Mackenzie Manning, is now back in Barbados with her stunning mare Ruveyda and working towards the 2022 CAC Games in Panama and beyond."

— Barbados Equestrian Association

★★★★★

"She finds great horses and helps make some amazing partnerships!"

— Jennifer Roth

CONTACT INFO

(302) 685-0237

MCCONNELL DRESSAGE

Competitor, World Equestrian Games

LOCATION

Wellington, Florida

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