Our Team
Regina Esterman, Ph.D
Owner / Manager
After earning an A.S. degree in Horse Science from The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in 2000, and a B.S. degree in Equine Science from Colorado State University, Regina came to Gainesville, Florida to pursue graduate work in Animal Sciences at the University of Florida. She completed a M.S. degree in Reproductive Physiology in 2006 and a Ph.D. degree in the Animal Molecular and Cellular Biology Program in 2010.
Regina began showing horses in 4-H and Pony Club in Ohio, taking entries to the Ohio State Fair twice. At Colorado State she was a member of the polo team and interned at Royal Vista Equine reproductive center. Upon coming to Florida, Regina embarked on her first farm venture, operating Shady Grove Farm, a small boarding and training facility.
Eclipse Sporthorses LLC was created to encompass the existing boarding and training services, offer greater leasing opportunities, and better promote the expanding sporthorse breeding program. Opened in 2011, Haile Equestrian has allowed Regina and Eclipse Sporthorses LLC to expand and serve a greater number of Gainesville clients. The farms grew again in 2017, with the opening of a third location in nearby Archer. Today, Regina and her husband, Mauricio, operate three farms in the Gainesville area that are home to around 100 horses.
Kylie Robertson
Riding Instructor
Kylie comes from a family of horsemen, raised around horses and barrel races. She started in leadline divisions and has always found horses fascinating. She has a bachelors degree from University of Florida in Animal Sciences with an Equine emphasis.
Kylie has experience riding and teaching in both english and western disciplines and loves helping riders of all ages and skills. She began working with hunter/jumpers in her senior year of high school. She currently competes in speed series, including barrel racing and pole bending in her free time. She spearheaded Haile Equestrian’s first group lessons dedicated to western speed events and it is a hit with the students!
Grace Krzyminski
Riding Instructor
Grace Krzyminski is a dedicated riding instructor with over five years of teaching experience. Growing up in Illinois, she developed her passion restarting young horses off the track and training working ranch and rodeo horses. In high school, she was involved in 4H leadership and competition, and loved helping younger riders achieve their goals.
Grace has a Bachelors in Marking from Ave Maria University. She was team captain of the Hunt Seat IHSA Team and then coached the team after graduation in 2023, with many wins and high point awards as a student athlete for AMU. She coached many of her own students to wins at the World Equestrian Center, Wellington International and Southeast Medal Finals. She enjoys teaching beginners to advanced riders, instilling correct fundamentals, and creating challenging goals while keeping lessons fun! She works one on one with each rider to find their strengths and weaknesses and make sure they get the most out of their time in the saddle.
Grace moved to the area with her husband Johnny and her horse Sage, who she has owned for 8 years and is now retired.
Brooke Keller
Riding Instructor
Brooke grew up in West Palm Beach and started riding when she was 5. She began in english equitation, then moved to into hunter jumpers for many years. As a teen, she moved into dressage and show jumping. Brooke has competed at many shows, including wins at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington.
Brooke is passionate about training riders and horses. She has held teaching positions from beginner Girl Scouts at Camp Wildwood and a lesson program in Ocala, to more advanced hunters and jumper riders in Wellington. Her favorite students are those who have a love of horses and passion to learn. She also excels working with students looking to gain confidence and overcome fears. Her positive outlook and high energy make every lesson fun and engaging.
Stephanie Wallace
Riding Instructor
Stephanie Wallace grew up in Kentucky and started riding horses early in life. She began competing in the hunter and jumper arenas when she was 11 years old, brought a young horse up in the hunter ring, and progressed through the 1.15m jumpers. She enjoyed competing in many different states and venues, grateful for the experiences at each. She also broke and trained two wild mustangs with her father and dabbled in barrel racing for a short while. Through her Undergraduate schooling at the University of Kentucky, she taught beginner, intermediate, and advanced lessons at the competition barn she had grown up in. She fell in love with teaching and sharing her love of horses and has a particular passion for jumping and competing. Stephanie just completed her first year at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine as she pursues a career as a Veterinarian, but she looks forward to pouring into her students while in Gainesville!
Madison Sawyer
Riding Instructor
Madison began riding at the young age of four, beginning in western pleasure and participating in local 4-H shows. She then joined the United States Pony Club where she continued for almost a decade, including competing in their national championships in Lexington, Virginia. She has over 9 years of eventing, western pleasure, dressage and hunter/jumper experience. She has extensive teaching experience, specializing in beginners and novice riders. In addition to her riding and teaching experience, she has trained multiple green horses and advanced them into training level eventing. Madison is a great, well-rounded instructor for beginner to advanced riders.
Marissa Brandhuber
Riding Instructor
Marissa’s love of horses began as early as she can remember. She has been an equestrian for over 20 years and began her riding career with Full Partners Farm at the age of 5, where she was on the show circuit regularly. With Full Partners Farm, she took her first pony all the way to the State show in Tallahassee. She later joined 4-H where she had two mounts qualify for the Area-B State qualifier. She grew up competing in various disciplines from Western pleasure to Hunter/Jumper, Dressage and even Rodeo Games. Marissa has ridden with a diverse selection of instructors which has given her the foundation she uses to assist her in sharing her knowledge and love of horses with others.
Throughout her experiences Marissa has learned that riding is ultimately about the bond between horse & Rider. As Winston Churchill once said “No hour of life is lost, that is spent in the saddle”.
Feenix Hartell
Riding Instructor
Feenix began riding at the age of 5, showing competitively at 8 and now has over 15 years of experience with horses. She comes from a family of horsemen and grew up on a farm training, riding, showing, and instructing lessons. Feenix has experience with both western and english disciplines. In addition to being on the Illinois State University’s Equestrian team, she also spent time as the western coach.
Her teaching style emphasizes the importance of horsemanship and building a strong foundation. Feenix specializes in western and english pleasure, as well as pattern classes.
Emily Medina-Finsen
Riding Instructor
Emily is currently enrolled at Santa Fe College studying journalism to become a teacher. She is originally from upstate New York and began riding when she was 5 years old. Her speciality is in English riding, specifically hunter-jumper and dressage. Throughout her schooling, she trained and showed through her IEA (Interscholastic Equestrian Association) team. She also competed separately from IEA in shows ranging from pleasure classes, hunter/jumpers, equitation, cross country, and dressage. She loves hunter paces, and they are one of her favorite things to do! Horses mean the world to her and her goal as an instructor is to find new and fun ways for riders to learn effectively, whether that is with fun games or through demonstrations. She looks forward to seeing each student grow and become a strong, confident and successful riders. When she's not at the barn or studying, she also works as an ABA therapist working with children of all ages with Autism.
Katie Pontone
Riding Instructor
Katie has experience of over 15 years competing and developing horses on the A circuit. She has earned titles at all of the USEF National finals as well as trained clients to qualify in both the hunters and jumpers. Her training style focuses on the fundamentals of good flatwork and building rider strength to develop a solid position and body control that stays out of the horse’s way allowing for optimal performance in and out of the show ring.
