Oronacah Farm Equestrian is an equine facility based in Rupert, VT operated by Katherine, Victoria, and Emily Sherras.

 

Katherine successfully competed hunters and jumpers with George Morris, Neal Shapiro and Judy Richter. She was invited and accepted an invitation to train with Bert de Nemethy at the USET facilities prior to winning the individual gold and team silver medal at the National Sports Festival. Katherine suspended her riding career to run another business and raise a family of four children with her husband. More recently Katherine and her daughters, began a small horse sales business that has since grown into Oronacah Farm Equestrian.

 

Victoria has a wide knowledge base through her involvement in pony club, receiving both her C3 and HB ratings. She graduated from Delaware Valley University with a bachelor’s degree in Equine Studies specializing in Equine Training and Instruction. Victoria is also certified by the British Horse Society up to stage 3, and has her BHS Preliminary Teaching Certification. She has also continued her involvement in pony club as joint DC for the local branch. She has experience in many areas of the industry and has competed in Eventing and Hunter/Jumpers, as well as some Dressage.

 

Emily was also an avid pony club member growing up, receiving her C3 rating at a young age. She attended the University of South Carolina Aiken for her first two years of college, giving herself the opportunity to ride and compete while in school. While in Aiken she worked primarily with young off the track thoroughbreds transitioning them into new careers. She has since transferred to DePaul University in Chicago but helps out with the business during summer break as an invaluable part of the team.

 

Over the last several years Oronacah Farm Equestrian has focused on establishing, expanding, and fine-tuning the training, lessons, and sales program as well as facilities. The team has successfully transitioned several off the track thoroughbreds into new careers, as well as starting horses of all ages under saddle, working with difficult horses in need of retraining, and offering a specially selected group of horses for sale. The emphasis is on developing horses that are not only solid athletes under saddle, but also enjoyable to work with on the ground.

 

Katherine, Victoria, and Emily interact with sales and training horses in all aspects of daily life from feeding, grooming, tacking up, handling for vet and farrier appointments, in addition to riding and training. This gives them a well-rounded understanding of each horses personality and temperament, as well as education and athletic ability, valuable information that can then be passed on to potential buyers and owners. Pride is taken in matching horses with the correct rider, living situation, and intended job and keeping owners well informed on their horses’ progress throughout training.

Inspiration for Katherine, Victoria, and Emily comes from years of training with a variety of world renown instructors including Victor Hugo Vidal, George Morris, Neil Shapiro, Judy Richter, Lendon Gray, and numerous natural horsemanship trainers through clinics both in the USA and abroad. They will never put a halt to their ongoing personal education, always focusing on techniques that are fair to the horse.

 

The Oronacah Farm facility allows the use of round pen work when starting a horse under saddle, as well as introducing horses to trail-riding on miles of wooded trails and work in open fields. The growing cross-country course features a ditch, drop, and water allowing horses to become comfortable with elements that frequently cause problems when competing.