2010 Inductee Class with Director of Riding Mina Payne Williams (far left) and Head of School Sally Mixsell (far right).

Stoneleigh-Burnham School and the Riding Program are pleased to announce the inductees for the 2010 Equestrian Wall of Fame:

• Suzanne Bell Fraser '72
• Jerilyn Jacobs '85
• Amy Stegall '86
• Vicky Castegren '94
• Samantha Pleasant '02

The inductee class of 2010 has displayed excellence in various professions in the equine field. Stoneleigh-Burnham School is fortunate to have so many distinguished alumnae serving the equine community. We look forward to establishing this annual event to celebrate the vast impact Stoneleigh-Burnham alumnae have had on the equine world!

The induction ceremony, reception and dinner took place on Saturday, February 20 at 4:30 p.m.

To learn more about the Wall of Fame, please click here.
 

Suzanne (Suzy) Bell Fraser chose Stoneleigh-Burnham School in part because of her passion for horses, and interest since age five. Suzy’s second passion, writing, was encouraged while at Stoneleigh-Burnham and she credits her English teacher, Mrs. Sylvia Loughnan, with being a strong influence on her life and career.

Suzy is a full-time writer at Dartmouth College and author of two nonfiction horse books, The Dressage Competitor’s Handbook (an amazon.com “best seller” with a five star rating) and Financing Your Equestrian Activities. In addition, she owns and operates a dressage farm in Fairlee, Vermont.

Suzy received her British Horse Society Assistant Instructor certificate from the Talland School of Equitation in England and has won numerous year-end awards from the USEF, the United States Dressage federation, the American Trakehner Association, New England Dressage Association and regional clubs. A SDDF bronze medalist, Suzy is currently working toward her silver medal. Other career highlights include auto racing and co-founding an electronics company.

Visit the Equissentials website here.
 

Jerilyn Jacobs first horse was a plastic rocking horse on a spring frame. According to her parents she would spend hours on that horse, riding along with thecowboys on the TV. After many years of begging she was given her first riding lesson on a real horse when she was eight. At that first lesson she was asked whether she wanted to ride English or western and she replied "western ". It turned out they didn't have a western saddle small enough for her and Jerilyn's hunt seat riding career began.

She rode at many different barns as her family relocated frequently. When she was thirteen she became a horse owner and her family moved to the Greenfield Massachusetts area. Jerilyn began taking lessons in Stoneleigh-Burnham's community lesson program and the following fall she started her freshman year at SBS as a member of the class of 1985.

Somewhere along the way she got the idea that she wanted to be a veterinarian. Jerilyn started saying that she wanted to be a veterinarian at a very young age and as she progressed in school found that she really liked math and sciences and was thrilled when she could finally take the equine studies class at SBS. Jerilyn could never get enough of horses and riding and had many great riding opportunities while at SBS. The highlight of her senior year was riding SBS's Current Scandal (Scamp) in the Junior Jumpers at the Eastern States Exposition. In their first class they drew number one in the order of go and entered the darkened coliseum under a spot light to begin the course and that was a thrill she says she will never forget.

From Stoneleigh-Burnham she went on to become a Biology major at Smith College. While at Smith Jerilyn rode on the intercollegiate riding team for four years and was team captain during her junior and senior years. After graduation in 1989 she continued to be involved with intercollegiate showing by coaching the Amherst College team and competing in the Alumni division for Smith. In 1990 Jerilyn won the Alumni over fences class at the national finals.

The next fall Jerilyn started veterinary school at Tufts University School of Veterinary medicine. She entered vet school with a very strong interest and background in horses and assumed that she would be practicing equine medicine, but as she went through school Jerilyn found that she really enjoyed working with cats and dogs as well. Jerilyn was hired as an associate at Vermont-New Hampshire Veterinary Clinic in southern Vermont. This practice has been caring for horses at SBS for many years and had met the veterinarians/owners while she was a student at Stoneleigh.

Jerilyn became a partner in the business in 2000. Her interest continues to be in equine and small animal medicine. She also has continued to be an avid rider. In 2006 Jerilyn got her chance to be a western rider. She now have a Quarter Horse that she competes in stock horse shows and ranch horse versatility events and enjoy doing a little bit of everything with this horse. They trail ride a lot , has shown him in a Dressage show and they like to jump too. Jerilyn is looking forward to many more years of practicing veterinary medicine and enjoying her horses.
 

Amy Stegall graduated from Stoneleigh Burnham School in 1986. She obtained a Bachelors degree from Pine Manor College in Boston in 1990 with a major in American History and a minor in Political Science. She currently resides in Connecticut with her husband, horses, dogs & cats.

In the years since graduation she has been extremely active at the grassroots level both as an individual and in conjunction with a number of organizations. Her many positions have included President of the Connecticut Agricultural Education Foundation, Chair of the Connecticut Farm Bureau Equine Committee, President of the Connecticut Horse Council, and Advocate of Connecticut Canine Search and Rescue.

She has aggressively pursued numerous pieces of legislation on both the state and federal level, and was directly involved with the passage of the following laws:

• Mandating that horses & livestock be included in the state disaster plan
•  
• Naming 6 trails within the state which are permanently preserved for equestrian use
• Including animals in court protective & restraining orders to help protect them from domestic violence
• Establishing a state Equine Advisory Council to assist the Department of Environmental Protection in expanding and maintaining equestrian trail
• Protections and benefits for search and rescue K9s where previously there had been none. At this time a penalty for assaulting a police K9 was also added to CT state law

In addition to legislative issues, Stegall has been at the forefront of protecting farms and horse owners from negative town zoning regulations and ordinances, and worked with various state and federal agencies to ensure equestrian concerns are included in proposed policy changes. She is currently working with a few towns across the state of Connecticut to create agriculturally friendly zoning regulations and plans of conservation & development.

Stegall considers herself a “citizen activist” and will continue to be vocal on important issues.
 

Vicky Castegren started riding at age nine at Camp Farwell in Vermont. In 1991 she came to Stoneleigh-Burnham school as a sophomore and played soccer, lacrosse and joined the riding program. She began by taking weekly lessons and showing in equitation classes and leased her first horse from the school and says, “I don’t remember who the horse was, but I remember getting bucked off a lot!”

In her junior and senior years at Stoneleigh-Burnham Vicky continued to play soccer and ride and was given the opportunity to lease Excel and try her hand at eventing. She competed up to training level with Excel at places like the University of New Hampshire, Stoneleigh-Burnham School and King Oak. She then would show in jumper classes during the winter and would take clinics with Michael Matz and Davis O’Connor while riding Excel.

Vicky says that she learned many skills while in the riding program such as body clipping, trimming, wrapping legs, braiding, basic wound care, lunging and basic horse care.

During the summers of 1992 and 1993 Vicky rode in Sweden at Flammabygets Stuteri and in the summer of 1994 she competed in show jumping competition in Bermuda.
While at Lynchburg College Vicky bought her first horse and started competing on the “A” circuit.

After graduating from Averett University in 1999 with a BS in Business Management in 2000 Vicky opened Winterhaven Stables LLC in Gordonsville, Virginia. Then in 2005 she represented the US Equestrian Federation at four competitions in France; Port Mort, Bois Le Roi, Royan and Dinnard.

In 2009 she closed Winterhaven Stables LLC and purchased a new farm, Hyperion Stud LLC Sporthorse Breeding & Sales.

Also of note, in 2005 Vicky bought and reopened a restaurant in Gordonsville, VA called the Toliver House Restaurant and in 2007 she bought a car racing team named Aftershock Motorsports Inc. The racing team took 2nd in overall point standings at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia in 2007 and was Champions in the Modified Div at Langley Speedway in 2008. In 2009 her racing team was 3rd on points at Langley Speedway.
 

Samantha Pleasant has been a part of the Stoneleigh-Burnham School Riding Department since 1995 when she started in the Community Riding Program at the School. She spent three summers as a Bonnie Castle Riding Camper before starting her freshman year at SBS. She graduated in 2002 and was offered a job to start teaching at Bonnie Castle Riding Camp and it was on this very campus that she found her love of instruction.

For five summers Samantha spent six weeks teaching campers at Bonnie Castle until she graduated college and started at Stoneleigh-Burnham as a member of the Admissions Office and also taking over the camp as the Director in 2007. After joining the Riding Department part time, Samantha took over as co-coach of the Interscholastic Team and has held that position since the fall of 2006.

Her students have been named the IEA National Beginner Individual Champion, and the IEA National Beginner Team Champion. In the fall of 2008 she joined the Equestrian Center as a full time Riding Instructor and started working with riders of all levels. In the fall of 2009 she coached 5 students to the Massachusetts’ Horseman’s Council Finals, a Stoneleigh-Burnham School record for qualifiers, and had a rider finish 17th in the Mini Medal. “Sam”, as her students call her, played a role in the beginning of such traditions like the Winter Workout Activity, “Sam Says” at Gymkhanas, “Rule Number One” at IEA Shows and superlatives for the winter athletic awards. She also brought the Equestrian Center into the social media scene with YouTube channels, Twitter, and a blog called “Traveling with the Team”.