Instructor Biographies

Naomi Parry

Naomi Parry is the Founder and former Executive Director of Maryland Therapeutic Riding, Inc. She began her riding career in 1978 at West Chester State College in PA, participating in the riding program offered by the college and as a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team. Majoring in Biology with the hopes of pursuing a degree in veterinary medicine, she changed course after attending and graduating from the British Horse Society approved instructor course at the Potomac Horse Center in 1981. Upon graduation, Naomi embarked on her career of teaching and training horses and competing in national level Dressage competitions. She has competed successfully through Fourth Level dressage, having had the opportunity to train and show several talented young horses in the lower levels. Her mentors include Scott Hassler of Hassler Dressage, Marjorie Davis, USEF “r” judge and the late John Winnet, member of the U.S. Olympic Dressage Team in the 1980’s. Naomi’s primary focus in teaching is on improving the rider’s position, building confidence, balance and relaxation which in turn creates a more confident, balanced and relaxed horse. She is one of 30 NARHA Master Instructors in the U.S. as well as an Associate Site Visitor for PATH.

Jo McCallum

MTR's British Horse Society (BHS) expert, Joanne McCallum, was born and raised in England and is trained through the BHS. With over 17 years of experience including; teaching, competition, stud work, racing, backing and training, boarding, and riding school portions of the industry. She has successfully competed at local level British dressage and show jumping competitions with her own horses and horses that have been in training with her.

At the age of 16, Jo took up residence at an agriculture college in the South East of England. It was there that she studied horses and completed her training and certifications through the British Horse Society. She graduated in 2000 with her BHSAI and National Diploma in Horse studies.

Jo worked at one on the four elite agricultural colleges in the UK, providing training and instruction for students of varying abilities towards their British Horse Society exams. Many of these students obtained their BHS Stage 3 and Preliminary teaching certifications.

Jo moved to the USA in 2004, is married and has a young daughter and son. She continues to thoroughly enjoy every aspect of the horse world and hopes to resume her venture within the competition circuit and some day complete her BHS Stage 4 exam. She is currently working on becoming a PATH certified instructor.

Kelly Rodgers

MTR's Program Director, Kelly Rodgers, began her love affair with horses at the age of five. By seven years old she started competing in hunter/jumper shows throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. From 2002-2006 Kelly attended Centenary College, one of the east coast’s premier equestrian schools. While attending Centenary, Kelly competed successfully on the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team as well as the Hunter/Jumper team. She has been very fortunate in her riding career, training with some of the best in the horse world. Kelly has ridden in numerous clinics with Olympic Coach George Morris, as well as three time Olympian Michael Page. Kelly has been teaching for over 6 years with an emphasis on Hunters, Hunter seat equitation, and Jumpers. She enjoys teaching and is very excited to be a part of the instructor team at Maryland School of Horsemanship. Kelly loves to take her students to horse shows and see all their hard work pay off! She is a PATH Advanced Instructor and is in the process of completing her British Horse Society certification.