Professional Development Committee
Many of our Professional Instructors have been busy traveling far and wide in pursuit of education, competition and camaraderie. Seven PI’s are on the High Performance Rider roster, competing at the Advanced or Master’s Levels and setting their sights to be named to the USAWE International Team in 2026. This is a testament to the quality and dedication of riders and instructors that the PI program recognizes.
We’d like to introduce our newest recognized PI: Miguel Undabarrena from Arizona. Miguel has an impressive bio and list of accomplishments, one of them being the first US rider to compete at the World Championships in 2022 in France. Keep an eye out for his complete bio at USAWE Community PIs.
Miguel Undabarrena from Arizona
All Region 6 PI’s were in attendance as riders or auditors at the Train to Win clinic held in Woodbine, Maryland March 22-23 with WAWE World Champion Gilberto Filipe of Portugal. Gilberto also taught clinics in other regions while in the US, giving PI’s the opportunity to learn from such a master of the sport.
Congratulations to PI’s Seth Marshall and Miguel Undabarrena, who recently attended the Working Equitation Challenge at the popular Midwest Horse Fair in Wisconsin, April 11-13. Seth and Miguel competed for top honors and prize money against seven other riders. Seth was named Overall Champion with Miguel coming in 3rd.
Also in attendance representing the Professional Development Committee was Michelle Lackey of Ohio who volunteered as a scribe for the event.
The Pro Dev Committee would like to welcome Abby Martinez (R2) as the new Promotions Assistant and Dionne Newton (R4) as our new Resource Librarian. We look forward to their service and appreciate their commitment.
Our Quarterly Pro Dev Zoom meeting was held March 27th with USAWE “S” judge Rebecca Algar as our guest speaker. Rebecca shared her knowledge of the importance of lateral work in daily training and instruction. The next monthly educational meeting will take place April 24th and the next quarterly meeting is June 26th. These meetings are open only to current PI’s and candidates in the program.
Feel free to contact prodev@usawe.org if you have any questions. To learn more about the PI program please visit USAWE Professional Development Instructors
Photo of several Professional Development Instructors at Train to Win Clinic
