As with many serious equestriennes, Diane’s love of horses began early and never wavered. She showed in a variety of disciplines as a young girl and continued to ride throughout college and her career as a human resources executive, which required her to relocate frequently.

Eventually, Diane accepted a job that gave her geographic stability and allowed her to pursue horsemanship goals. She went on to become the state’s All Around Champion two years in a row as well as the high point Hunter Under Saddle rider in the United States the following year.

In 1997, Diane married Dan McNulty and they purchased what would become Windancer Farms. The barn officially opened in 2000 with five stalls, two pastures, and an outdoor arena and has since grown to thirteen stalls, a 72’x160’ indoor arena and four pastures. At about the same time the barn was undergoing renovation, Diane developed an interest in dressage and began riding with Laurie Moore, a local dressage rider.

Diane began teaching dressage to her own students a couple of years later. Her students’ dressage awards include multiple Division High Point Champions, High Percentage Champions, and a winning Pony Club Dressage Rally team.  Her involvement in the Michigan dressage community included serving for two years on the board of the All Dressage Association, a West Michigan membership organization of the United States Dressage Federation.

Diane’s skill and knowledge has provided numerous riders with developing an excellent foundation for over fences work. Her meticulous attention to detail has helped riders gain confidence for safe and controlled jumping experiences. Diane has been successful in preparing students for Pony Club ratings as well as showing successfully at local hunter/jumper shows.

Diane’s own riding accomplishments include Reserve Champion Novice Horse as well as qualifying horses for USDF Regional Championships. Diane has also ridden with Reese Koffler-Stanfield and Trish Helmer. Currently, Diane is training her young Friesians for competitive dressage and will show her gelding in Second Level in 2010. She rides with FEI Grand Prix rider, trainer, and exhibitor Brad Cutshall.

Diane currently serves as the U.S. Pony Club Great Lakes Region Secretary; Dan is the DC of Macatawa Pony Club.  Together they are firmly committed to the principles and practices of United States Pony Clubs (www.uspc.org), a program for youth that teaches riding, mounted sports, and the care of horses and ponies, thereby developing responsibility, moral judgment, leadership and self-confidence. Through pony club activities held at Windancer Farms, Dan and Diane help prepare clubbers for rallies and coordinate other educational opportunities.

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