Our Team
Istvan Hernek
HEAD COACH (COACH STEVE)
On a horse practically from birth with his parents, who are both Olympic champions. At the age of three, he began riding by himself, and by nine years of age, he was an assistant trail guide for a resort in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan surrounded by millions of acres of the Hiawatha national forest. By the time he was 11 years of age he was fully in charge of the riding program at Dune Shores resort. The resort offered all kinds of equestrian activities including driving, stagecoach, and covered wagon rides as well as horseback riding. His sister got into show riding, training, and competing in Ohio at the level of success with some of the greatest riders in the world. His sister, needless to say, ended up getting his daughter Christiana into shell riding, which encouraged Istvan after a long hiatus from the equestrian world to get back into the business. Purchasing the show horse farm Quaker Field Equestrian for his daughter and her sister ended up bringing him back into the world of riding. He's in the process of writing a book and producing a video series of some of his amazing techniques in the sport and art of equestrian. He specializes in connecting with riders and their horses in ways that most have never achieved. He pulls from the Native American techniques of training and relating to animals in the wilderness to bring them to current-day disciplines.
Christiana Noel Overton
HEAD TRAINER
She has an almost magical skill of teaching horses and a gentle yet superior ability to bring young riders to amazing levels. As founder of "Noel's Horse Training", Christiana is a well-experienced instructor. When Istvan's sister got Christiana into riding she began at five years of age at the very farm they ended up purchasing. Before Christiana was a teenager, she was jumping up to 5 feet. She would jokingly say, "Oh that's only a 4-foot jump, I'll just do it bareback with only a halter and a lead rope on my horse." Then, with a youthful smile and a wink of the eye, she would be off and running on her bareback pony approaching the 4-foot pole and spreading her hands out as if she were an eagle, before gliding over the jump.
Brittany Braunbach
TRAINER
Brittany is a lifelong circus-arts enthusiast and founder of “Wildly Western Entertainment” who loves teaching. Her advanced aerial skills on silks, Lyra, hammocks, and chains have brought fantastic new opportunities in fitness, strength, agility, flexibility, and balance to our community at Orchard Park Equestrian. These specific skills are crucial to the progress, safety, and proficiency of our show riders! Brittany has arrived on the scene, sporting a background in teaching and psychology to add to her training techniques for our aerialists, vaulters, and trick riders. At her young age, she has been teaching Equestrian-related skills for ten years and aerial arts for five years. Needless to say a fantastic addition to our training team!
Victoria Doney
TRAINER
Trainer Victoria loves horses and kids. Two of the most difficult things on earth to accomplish. Trainer Victoria studied with Istvan to get organized into the lesson program: Meadow Orchard Park Equestrian. However, her main coach, Mindy Purdy, is one of the best equestrians in western New York and has taken Victoria to the highest levels of understanding of the creatures and the children. When the children get to the farm, sometimes they look for Trainer Victoria before they even go after the horses. A huge compliment to her relationship with the young riders!