Bobbi Lehman Amado

You will find Bobbi out on the ranch every moment she has outside of her off ranch career. She will be riding as many horses as possible before work, on the weekends, and fitting in as many riding lessons as she can.

Growing up in the rural town of Brooklin, Ontario, Canada, Bobbi spent all of her free time with horses and other livestock on her family’s hobby farm. Riding was a family affair as both of Bobbi’s parents were avid riders. Foxhunting and eventing were the main sports she participated in as a youngster. As a long standing member of Durham Pony Club, a local Canadian Pony Club branch, she participated in national competitions for Rally, Quiz, and Tetrathalon and ultimately received her HA rating. As Bobbi moved through the ranks of Pony Club she also became an official tester of lower levels (up through the C2 rating (C3 in USA).

Bobbi’s main competitive focus was eventing for many years. At 16, Bobbi spent four months in England training under Olympians Jane Bartle-Wilson and Christopher Bartle at the Yorkshire Riding Center. In her late teens she switched her competitive focus to the jumper ring where she competed up to 1.40 m with various horses.

After working in various places as a riding instructor and trainer, Bobbi chose southern Arizona as home base and met Gus Amado. Together they own and operate Amado Equine Hacienda.

Bobbi’s main focus for training is now geared toward competitive dressage while maintaining a happy equine. Bobbi’s philosophy emphasizes cross training of the horse even if the competitive focus is dressage. For young horses she believes they should be schooled over fences, on the flat, and out of the arena regularly.

The eventing background still heavily influences Bobbi’s training approach both for the horse and rider. A well rounded rider manages more situations when out competing. Equitation and biomechanics of the rider improves the athletic performance of the horse. Bobbi has studied biomechanics and each training session with a rider works to improve both a rider’s equitation and use of biomechanics. Development of a solid seat is essential to become an accomplished rider, no matter which discipline one specializes in.

Bobbi also works outside of Amado Equine as Compliance Manager at UofA’s Financial Aid Office. She has a BS in Psychology (Trent University) and a M.Ed. in Special Education (University of Phoenix) and Human Relations/Educational Psychology (Northern Arizona University). (Source)