From a very young age, Yvonne Rodman-Sopata wanted to be in the horse business. She has always been a horse enthusiast and a true horse lover who could appreciate all disciplines and breeds. Today in the horse world, so many instructors and trainers simply declare their professional status with no formal education whatsoever.  A graduate of William Woods University, Yvonne is one of few Ohio instructors/trainers to hold a 4-year Bachelor of Science Degree in Equestrian Science with a concentration in Saddle Seat Riding. Throughout her college years, Yvonne worked for such notable horse trainers as Jim and Jenny Taylor, Bob Battaglia, Brian Stewart, and Michelle McVey. Yvonne has experience caring for and working around World Class Morgans and Saddlebreds. During her career, she has proven her ability as a show horse groom, show rider, trainer, instructor, manager, and kids/adult horse camp director. She has experience teaching every level of rider, from beginner to advanced. Thanks to her education and work experience, she is a talented and qualified professional riding instructor and a talented horsewoman.     "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got."

Yvonne is a member of several important industry organizations, such as the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), the American Morgan Horse Assoc. (AMHA), the United Professional Horsemen's Assoc. (UPHA), the Ohio Morgan Horse Assoc. (OMHA), and the Central Ohio Saddle Club Assoc. (COSCA). To keep up with the industry, she holds subscriptions to publications such as The Morgan Connection, The Morgan Horse, Saddle & Bridle, Equestrian and The Horsemen's Corral, a local publication. Feel free to visit these organizations online.

[Above] Yvonne with her husband Dave Sopata. He prefers computers over horses and is a successful network security consultant with a firm in Cleveland.	[Above] Yvonne with her friends Tom Parsons and Lindsay Tipton Oudit from WWU during their Ohio reunion at RS in October 2009. We had so much fun!