North Haven Equestrian is most appreciative and excited to introduce Sylwia Reshel as Head Trainer and Barn Manager.
Sylwia learned the principles of English riding, horse care, and training in Poland, where she was born. She soon became recognized for her skills working with young horses, and horses deemed “difficult”. In 2010 she was awarded the English Riding Instructor Certification by the Polish Ministry of Sport. In 2017 Sylwia moved to the United States and began her American equestrian career at Michelle Lauber’s Legacy Hill Farms in Castle Rock, Colorado. There she was a dressage rider and working student who also assisted in training high end, imported warmbloods. She moved to Austin, with her then husband, after only eight months working in Colorado. She was hired at White Fences Equestrian Center as a fulltime trainer and instructor. She accompanied her clients as they competed in dressage shows.

She also developed dressage clients in the San Antonio area and worked with eventing riders. She continued her professional education by attending and participating in clinics taught by some of the world’s great dressage trainers and judges (Laura Graves, Allison Brock, Jeremy Steinberg, Micha Knol, Pati Pierucci, Nahshon Cook, Kathy Rowse, Ben Albright, Michael Klimke, Lilo Fiore, Jason Canton). 

In 2021 she was employed by North Texas Equestrian Center in Wylie, Texas, as a trainer and instructor. There she met Read Gendler and ideas for North Haven Equestrian began to hatch. Sylwia knew she wanted to spend her life with horses by age 4. In Poland she grew up with parents who did not want her riding, saying it was too expensive and too dangerous. At 10 years of age Sylwia figured out how to save her lunch money and secretly take the bus to a local barn after school. There she cleaned stalls, fed, groomed, and watered horses in exchange for riding lessons. She soaked up every bit of horse care and riding knowledge that she could. She quickly gained good people skills by being friendly, helpful, solving problems and getting the job done, exactly what she is still doing today.
 

As a young adult she attended the University of Bari in Italy where she studied Linguistic Intermediation for the European Union. She worked the following eight years in the corporate world in Poland where she held high level management positions, focusing on quality of customer service in several regions and languages worldwide. Business intelligence, human resources and large-scale project management were also part of her job responsibilities. During these eight years she continued teaching riding and began learning the business of importing warmbloods from Europe to the U.S. In 2017 she immigrated to the United States where she has remained a fulltime equestrian professional, never returning to the corporate world. Sylwia is an avid reader and perpetual student. She always strives to learn ways to better help horses and riders progress and learn while enjoying their equestrian journey. She gained more insight into the minds and behaviors of horses from Natural Horsemanship trainer Michael Goheen and Liberty Trainer Patrick Sullivan. She was also very inspired by the book “The Psychology of Horse Training” (not available in English) by Krzysztof Skorupski, a famous Polish rider and veterinarian. She is passionate on the topics of horse anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, diseases and cures. She has taught children and adults with autism, para riders, blindness, PTSD/anxiety, ADHD, and low self-esteem. She has witnessed the positive effects that equestrian experience can have on these challenges and wants to learn more how to help. Sylwia comes to North Haven Equestrian with a full heart and complete dedication to creating a space where people can feel included, successful, respected, and happy. She plans to progress with her own showing experience as well as helping her students achieve their riding goals. Her mantras include “Never stop Learning,” “Play with the horse and work on yourself,” and “By taking one step at a time, and you will get to where you want to go.”