ABOUT CHARNI

In 2003, Charni Lewis joined the list of respected trainers and instructors at Flintridge Riding Club in La Canada, California teaching Horsemanship, Dressage, Western Dressage, Western Riding, and Trail.  

Charni has studied Dressage since 1995. At Flintridge she continues to hone her Dressage skills riding with Gerhard Politz and in local Dressage clinics.  Recently, Charni and her clients have been competing in Western Dressage shows with great success. 

Prior to her tenure at Flintridge, Charni served on staff at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona as their English Equitation instructor as well as serving as guest lecturer for a variety of classes including Equine Physiology and Equine Management. In addition to her duties as riding instructor, Charni also assisted the professors and veterinarians at The Equine Research Center at Cal Poly Pomona in their equine physiology research. She has co-authored several papers which have been published in scientific journals and presented at various international conferences.

Charni’s diverse equestrian career began with American Saddlebred horses in 1977. Riding and showing as a juvenile progressed to breaking, training and teaching, while also handling horses at Thoroughbred racehorse auctions in California and Kentucky. These two pursuits ran in parallel for over twenty years, complimented by a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business Management as well as a variety of work experience; thoroughbred breeding farms, an equine veterinary assistant, studying Western riding, training and trail, and leading educational pack trips in the High Sierra. 

In addition to traditional riding and equine management ventures, Charni has choreographed, produced, and performed in exhibitions in the United States and abroad. Highlights include a performance at the closing ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, during which she rode trick horses after training them to rear on command and walk on their hind legs. Charni has taught clinics in horsemanship throughout the United States and internationally, including a 2009 clinic in mainland China. She has also appeared in various television specials and has been a participant in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade since 1999.

Charni is the author of two books: The Storey Guide to Basic Horsemanship and Grooming and Braiding: The Horsemanship Guide, both published by Storey Publishing.

CV available upon request.

AFFILIATIONS

United States Equestrian Federation

California Dressage Society

United States Dressage Federation