Bethany Equestrian Program Announces New Coaches
BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bethany College Equestrian Program, which is housed at the Oglebay Stables in Wheeling, W.Va., has announced new head coaches for each of the program's three disciplines.
Bethany is entering its third year in partnership with Oglebay. The facilities have served as a boarding space and learning laboratory for the Bethany Equine program, in addition to the College's own pasturelands and paddocks currently in use. The Oglebay facilities allow the College to host Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competitions. Bethany will host two such events this fall, a Western Show on Oct. 11 and a Hunt Seat Show on Oct. 12.
The head coach for the Hunt Seat team will be Beth Johnson, who brings 25 years of hunt seat experience to the Bethany program. She has qualified for and competed in numerous national shows during her career, including the Capital Challenge Horse Show, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, Zone 3 Finals, and the Washington International Horse Show.
In addition to her duties at Bethany, which include coaching and being an adjunct instructor in the school's Biology department, Johnson is also an assistant trainer at the McCormick Stables in Wheeling, W.Va. Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in Communications from West Liberty in 2005, and outside of equestrian, she is the manager of Global Events Division for Scholastic Sports Marketing, LLC, also based out of Wheeling.
Amanda Mokri will be the head coach for the Dressage team. Amanda is quite familiar with the Dressage program, as she was a member of the team during her college career at Bethany, where she graduated from in 2014 with a degree in Equine Business Management. By the time of her graduation, she had risen to First Level with the program.
Amanda is ARIA Level 2 Management Certified and is currently working on her second level scores at recognized shows to work towards earning her bronze medal through the USDF. She has built up 10 years of experience working in Pennsylvania, Ohio and now West Virginia. Most recently, Amanda, who will also be an adjunct instructor in Bethany's Biology/Equestrian program, has worked at Oglebay Stables for over a year, with her responsibilities including facility maintenance and horse care.
Shannon Vaught returns to the Bethany Equestrian Program as the head coach for the Western team this fall.
Shannon previously coached with the program from 2008-11 and she had students qualify for regional competition each of those years. She brings a long, distinguished background in riding with her to the Bethany program. Among her accomplishments include being a World Qualifier at the Nevada Quarter Horse Association in 1997 in six events, including Western Horsemanship.
Also an adjunct instructor in Bethany's Biology/Equestrian program, Shannon has remained very active in horse competitions. She has been a 4-H club officer and horse judging member, is an instructor for beginner and intermediate lessons, is a showmanship clinician and is a local area horse show judge. Shannon is also certified by Spirit Horse International to provide Equine Facilitated Therapy.
Shannon graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary/Special Education and earned a Graduate Endorsement in the area of Autism in 2008 from Bethany. She has been an Autism/Specialist/Teacher for the Ohio County Schools since 2007.
The three coaches will be leading the Bethany programs in competitions against IHSA Zone 2, Region 5 programs such as West Virginia University, Allegheny College, California (Pa.) University and Saint Vincent College, among others. The opening event of the fall is a Hunt Seat show at Slippery Rock Sept. 28, while the first Western event is a double show being held at Oglebay Oct. 11. The Dressage team begins its season Oct. 25-26 at Otterbein College in Ohio.
