Our Team.
Welcome to Blue Iron Dressage, where passion meets precision in the art of dressage. Meet our small yet mighty team, dedicated to excellence in every stride.
I definitely couldn't do what I do or have things run as smoothly as they do without Emma Spong. Emma is an amazing groom who anticipates riders' needs before they even ask. At shows, she comes prepared with extras of literally everything a show rider could ever need. On top of that, Emma is solely in charge of all of Blue Iron's social media. She is an extraordinary photographer who knows the right moment & lighting to capture a stunning picture. Finally, if that wasn't enough, she maintains our website, Facebook page, and Instagram. You can attribute all amazing posts to her.
I have known Emma since she was a young teenager participating in a local lesson program as both a barn worker & lesson student. Because of her inherent talent, innate work ethic, & ability to connect with many types of horses, Emma was also tasked w helping prepare new horses for the lesson program. Given Emma's aptitude & strong desire to learn, she was very successful on the local hunter-jumper circuit with different lesson horses. Soon after, Emma bought & trained her own horse - an AQHA x APHA pony, Miss Quick Bars, aka Peaches. Together, they continued to be successful & place well on local circuits.
Nowadays, Emma has different interests. Thus, her training goals have changed. Peaches presented mild navicular changes last year, so she is now focusing more on dressage. More specifically, dressage as a means of physical therapy to maintain Peaches' strong hindquarters. The goal is to preserve Peaches longevity as a multidisciplinary horse to continue to trail ride, jump, and show in both English & Western disciplines.
It has been a pleasure to watch Emma grow and I am blessed to part of her journey.
Opie Winston is blue iron dressage’s assistant trainer, barn manager, and official mascot. He is a 7 month old Boykin spaniel who does a variety of tasks around the barn, including watering, blanket folding, rolling polos,and cleaning cobwebs. He also makes sure all of the horses eat their snacks, and occasionally steals a bite himself.