HE COACHES Kelly McFeeley, Club Sports Representative
The Appalachian Equestrian team is extremely lucky to be instructed by three fantastic coaches and ride at their respective barns. Get to know the coaches behind each discipline team who do so much to help ensure everyone succeeds in every way possible! Crosby Reed is the coach for the Appalachian State IHSA Western team. She has been a riding instructor for almost ten years, having began in 2010, and has been coaching Appalachian for five years. Growing up on her family farm, Reed has spent her entire life riding. Both her grandparents and parents were invested in the equine community, and due to her mother working as a therapeutic riding instructor, a passion for horses grew within her daughter. Initially beginning her career of competing through Saddlebred showing, Reed later moved on to showing in hunters & jumpers, as well as western pleasure. In college she played on her school’s polo team and then eventually began combined driving which remains her favorite discipline. Reed owns Mimosa Hills Farms in
Morganton, NC where she runs the facility with her partner they and live with their son. Dana Dewey is the coach for the Appalachian State IDA Dressage team. She has been a riding instructor for over forty years and has coached the IDA team for ten. In her life, Dewey lives by the mantra, “God gave us horses to make us better people.” She puts this into practice through her teachings as the owner of Foothills Equestrian Center in Taylorsville, NC. Dewey first began riding at six years old, and at nine got her first horse. Since then she has always owned horses. Aside from the gift of horses in her life, the biggest influence in her career has been Sally Swift, the founder of Centered Riding. Throughout her life, Dewey has participated in a variety of equestrian disciplines such as thoroughbred racing, barrel racing, western horsemanship & pleasure, and show hunters. Dressage will always be special to her because it combines many concepts of other equestrian areas with horse welfare prioritized.
Sarah Klasset is the coach for the Appalachian State IHSA Hunt Seat team. Klasset has been a riding instructor since 2001 and has coached the Appalachian ISHA team since 2008. Horses have always been a part of her life, having grown up riding with her mother since the age of five. Klasset got her first pony at six before she began riding at Foothills Equestrian Center. Her main background was in hunt seat growing up, but Klasset also dabbled in cross country and jumpers. Nowadays, she mainly does dressage with her own horse. When she was younger, Klasset didn’t think she would become a riding instructor but after competing in IHSA for UNCG in college, she began teaching and never stopped. Recently Klasset opened her own riding facility, Walnut Creek Farms, which she runs with her husband and they live with their two daughters. These ladies are amazing for everything they do for all their riders. The Equestrian team is so fortunate to work with such talent and look forward to many more years together!
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