Program Ambassadors
Anna Preuss
Anna is a yoga teacher and international dressage rider & trainer. Originally from Germany, Anna has trained several horses from young horse to FEI level. In 2006, she moved to Sydney where she spent some time working for Brett, before building a career in her studied profession (Psychology). After the arrival of her first child, Anna left the corporate world and turned her passion for yoga and dressage into her profession.
As an accredited EA level 1 dressage coach and certified yoga teacher, Anna works with riders and their horses holistically, focussing on a well balanced riders seat, integrating mindfulness into the horse-human partnership, whilst following the German training system geared towards competitive success.
Anna loves helping students explore their full potential by working with them on the mat and the arena alike.
"As a Dressage rider and coach, I absolutely love the Performance Rider programs - I base my own training and teaching on THIS framework, and recommend it to every single one of my students. Brett has put the many years of his experience training and competing horses from young horses to the world stage into a clear, structured and replicable system, for you to apply - no matter what age or level your horse (and you!) are at. The content fits in beautifully with my foundations in the German Training system, my horse- and person- centred approach and underlines the importance of horse-human partnership that is required to make our dance with our equine partner come to life." - Anna
Penny Castle
Penny is from NZ and lives in the sunny Hawkes Bay and is married with two children. She has been riding (off a big sheep hill country farm) since a child and ridden to 4* Eventing , ridden a lot of racehorses in earlier years before heading off overseas to further her training in the Dressage area. She returned to NZ and has been producing dressage horses, coaching and for the last decade managing the High Performance Programme for Eventing in NZ.
Penny has produced many horses to PSG and a few to Grand Prix. Highlights have been bringing two of them to Australia and basing with Brett Parbury before competing at SIEC. She has also won 3 Burkner Medals in NZ which is NZ's highest Dressage award as well as being the first person to break the 70% barrier at Grand Prixin NZ in 2015.
Penny has found that taking part in the Dressage Breakthrough Programme and moving on to continuing with the Gold Programme has been excellent.
The highlights from the programme for Penny include the use of " all learning platforms" which create better understanding and a common language between coaches and riders. Penny likes - "how the info is presented to connect with peoples different learning styles" ....read, write, seeing.... There is something for everyone to get their head around understanding "the simple (but complicated) world" of training a dressage horse.
The program has brought people together in a positive building up way - over here in NZ. We feel that we are part of you in Australia and beyond with the input from all the overseas guests as well . Can't recommend the online platform of learning highly enough!
Claire Wallace
Originally from Sydney, Claire has been living in Central Queensland for the past 25 years. After gaining a Bachelor Of Agricultural Science at Western University previously known as Hawkesbury Agricultural College she worked in NSW for various agricultural companies including Elders IXL.
Travelling overseas was a passion as was fitness and various sports. But the city life was never going to be the chosen life. A trip to visit friends in Central Queensland started the journey through various work opportunities in Rockhampton. AS Regional Extension Officer for the DPI and the DNR , Claire’s focus was on landcare and catchment management.
The move to Rocky enabled an underlying persistent passion to come to life. Horses of course.
With a couple of ex racehorses she began showing, but then in 1997 realised that dressage was really what she wanted to do. Her riding experience at that point included mustering, campdrafting, breaking in, showing hacks, but zero dressage.
Armed with some good books and someone else’s videos of the World Cup, Olympics and any training videos such as the Kyra Kyrkland series, she began the journey with an ex racehorse ‘Lexington”. Claire then bought a 2yr warmblood called Liasion in 1998.
Later that year together with her partner Ross they settled in Milman on a 160acre farm that was set up for stockhorses. Some modifications later, Lexington Farm Dressage began breeding training warmbloods for dressage, eventing or showing.
Lexington was trained to advanced level and sold to NSW. Liaison was a great start to Claire’s dressage career. His performances and impressive list of championship wins kept him on the Queensland State Dressage squad for 7 years from about medium level to Grand Prix. He competed at the Qld State Championships and the Australian Dressage Championships placing 3rd in the GP CDN. The young colt Lincoln Lord Astor was bought in 2005. Not quite as polite in character as was Liaison he was promptly gelded but he kept his attitude factor. He also won many championships from Novice to Grand Prix, placing 6th in the GPCDN at the Sydney CDI. He had a fabulous piaffe, and piaffe pirouettes were his thing!
Claire really enjoys breaking in and training young horses so there is always a line of young ones coming through. Variety is certainly the spice of life at Lexington Farm! The oldest now is Why Waltz Furst Dance by Furstenball, an 8yr mare training PstG and Inter1. She shows good talent for piaffe and passage… but you never know with horses. Claire is hoping she will compete Grand Prix in the future.
In 2019 the drought was wicked on the Central Coast of Queensland. Claire applied for a drought relief scholarship to the Parbery Program, Dressage Fundamentals now known as Dressage Breakthrough. This program kept the drive and passion alive in very trying times. Claire believes strongly in the program and the need for a training system in Australia. She actively encourages others to jump on board and has been involved with it ever since.
