Third Charm Training Center is dedicated to creating a safe, positive environment, promoting harmony between horse and rider in order to achieve the highest potential of both. We are proud to offer the services of Jennifer Sullivan-Holder, ARICP certified to teach
Eventing, Dressage and Show Jumping, BWFA Certified Farrier, and Dwayne Holder, BWFA and GPF certified Farrier .
Jennifer Sullivan-Holder has been riding for 27 years and competing, teaching and training for
twenty. She has an extensive dressage background, eighteen years experience in Combined Training, and
nine years experience in Show Jumping through the Preliminary level. She works with many diverse horses, including a Saddlebred X winning in Show Jumping, an Appaloosa winning in Dressage and Combined Training, a StandardbredX competing succesfully at Training level in eventing, and numerous others along with her own horses she breeds and trains at Third Charm.
Jennifer started her education as a working student for noted dressage trainer and Olympic medalist Michael Poulin. She has been a devoted advocate of dressage throughout her career, working with trainers including Dawnella Sheehan, Rosita Proulx and Karl Mikolka. She rides regularly with Denny Emerson in Southern Pines, NC. Other instructors in jumping and eventing include Gerth Christiansen, Ross Smith, Randy Ward,and Amy Coffin. In 1999 she applied for recognition by the American Riding Instructor Certification Program, and achieved certification to teach Advanced level Dressage and Intermediate level Show Jumping with near-perfect scores. She
was the organizer of the USEA Horse Trials at the Ark, in Monroe, NC, for
its first two years. In addition to her riding experience Jennifer graduated cum laude (dean's list seven out of eight semesters) with a B.A. in Classics and a minor in Creative Fiction from Colby College, one of New England's top liberal arts
colleges. She also has extensive experience in accounting and business management.
At the present time Jennifer is completing a second B.A., in Psychology, at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, with a 4.0 GPA.
Jennifer showed her Thoroughbred stallion, Lose That, in Eventing, Show Jumping, and Second Level Dressage; he is currently semi-retired to 'lessons and local shows', providing an excellent opportunity for students to learn from a master. Jennifer is currently showing a new horse, a
Hanoverian mare named Bolivia, as well as showing clients’ horses in various disciplines. She is a member of the ARIA, USDF, AHSA, USEA, and NCDCTA. She teaches and trains horses at several facilities in the Charlotte area as well as her own farm in Midland.
Jennifer and her students regularly compete throughout North and South Carolina. Under her tutelage her clients have achieved such diverse honors as PHJA Horse of the Year and Children's Hunter Year-End-Champion (proving that good basics are universal across the disciplines), several USEA Certificates of Achievement, and a 4th place ranking in the Region II Jr. Training division. The best part of these successes is that ALL of the horses have been trained by their riders under her supervision, not bought ready-made!
Dwayne Holder has been riding for thirty years, competing extensively in Western Disciplines such as Western Pleasure, barrel racing, pole bending, team penning, and bullriding. He has won numerous year-end titles in timed events.
Dwayne has been shoeing horses for twenty-two years and is a certified Journeyman II farrier with the BWFA. He is also certified with the Guild of Professional Farriers and is the current President of S.H.O.E., the GPF's local chapter. He has been captain of the S.H.O.E. Farrier Team for two years, a member of the team for four, and has been awarded Farrier of the Year and the Hammer Award for his achievements and contributions.
