Bio
Sarah Sloan
Sarah Sloan (formerly Mellings) has held her EC Competition Coach certification, since 2005, with a focus on the Hunter/Jumper and Dressage disciplines.
Sarah grew up riding hunters and jumpers in Kamloops BC under the mentorship of Didi Jack, EC Level 2 H/J coach.
From the age of 13 until graduation she worked for Aspengrove Equestrian Academy; supervising employees, feed and care of approximately 40 horses, teaching horse care and stable management classes and training rides of school horses.
Upon graduating high school with a career prep in Agriculture/Equine Studies, Sarah was offered a working student position at Dreamcrest farms in Port Perry, Ontario training with Ian Roberts and Kelly Plitz, both Canadian Olympic team riders and EC high-performance coaches. Her time spent riding, training and competing 3-day event horses and grooming for Canadian Equestrian team riders at International level events in eastern Canada and the U.S.A was exactly the "university education" she had hoped for.
After travelling to Kentucky with the Young Riders team, Sarah stayed in the US and took on a paid riding position with David Hopper at his top sales barn, Longreen Farms, in New York. Riding under David Hopper's guidance and getting to regularly ride with many of the top US and Olympic level jumper riders that frequented the barn was priceless.
When Sarah first moved to Vancouver Island, she continued training and showing 3 day Eventing and Dressage horses. During this time she also obtained her certification in Equine Dentistry in Glens Ferry, Idaho.
In 2004 Sarah started working for Foxstone Stables under the mentorship of Norah Ross, EC high performance coach (H/J). Sarah obtained her Equine Canada Competition Coach Certification and her NCCP level 2 certification (National Coaching Certificate Program). For 5 years Sarah rode, showed, coached and oversaw the care of approximately 25-30 competitive Hunters and Show Jumpers at Foxstone.
In 2008 Sarah took the position of Sr. Equestrian Faculty member and Equestrian Coach at Queen Margaret’s School where she taught for nearly a decade. Coaching on average 70-90 riders per week in the Hunt-Seat Equitation and Dressage disciplines in a high-pressure environment. During this time the QMS Equestrian team dominated at Hunter/Jumper competitions throughout Canada and the United States, winning many Championships.
In addition to coaching and training a high volume of riders and horses, as a British Columbia Ministry of Education Certified Teacher, Sarah taught Equine Science 11, the "Train to Compete" program, VETcamp program, Equine Canada Rider Level testing program and regularly mentored assistant coaches to prepare them for their EC coaching certification.
Having coached thousands of riders in her career, Sarah has the proven ability to have her students and horses progress and achieve their riding goals.
After moving to the southern interior of BC in late 2024, Sarah has shifted from the equestrian industry into the ranching and rodeo industry.
