Instructor Bios

Hello! My name is Chelayne Andrews and I am the Head Instructor and Owner of Springhill. I am a Mother, and a wife of an amazingly supportive husband. I own Springhill Stables LLC which is a lesson, show and training barn in Springfield MO. We focus on getting young people on horses, especially Arabians! 

I was on my first horse at 2 and was hooked! My parents were gracious enough to get me involved in riding lessons at 5 on Saddlebreds and then onto Arabians. I owned my first Arabian at 11. When I was 13, a friend of mine and I walked to the gorgeous barn down the street from our middle school and asked for a job. It happened to be ChriShan Park. Poor Shan didn't know what he was getting into. I lived at the barn 6 days a week! 

At 16 years old, I was fortunate enough that my parents helped me show the beautiful Infinity CSP and I went National Champion English Pleasure and Reserve National Champion Pleasure Driving. I gained a ton of experience, work ethic and love for the Arabian horse for the 10 years I worked for Shan. I am eternally grateful for all that I learned. 

I went on to train horses in Australia, then to jumping, cow work, trail rides in the mountains, dressage, drill, etc with horses. Learning that horses aren't a career (or so I thought), I went to school! I graduated from college with a Marketing degree and decided I better do something professional. So I was a Financial Advisor, Event Planner, and even successfully ran a Company. But it just didn't fit. I knew the 8-5 wasn't the life for me! (More like 24 hours a day with a horse barn 🤣)My love of horses was calling! I went on to be a Riding Instructor for the City of Springfield for 5 years and my program at Springhill Stables LLC blossomed out of need. People needed boarding and lessons where their horses were. It organically grew to me not having enough hours in the day to run both programs, so Springhill Stables LLC was my official Full Time. I love what I do and I'm so lucky to be able to do it. 

From there, I have also become a Master Instructor with CHA. I teach clinics all over the country certifying lesson instructors. It's based on safety and progression, which is how we run our lessons as well!

If you're still with me, I'm sorry for the time you just lost. 😂 But hopefully you know me a bit better! I'm planning to help wake the Arabian world. Get it to it's fullest potential!!! Bring kids into it and keep them there! Very excited about the future. It's going to take all of us working together, but we can bring the Arabian breed bigger and better than ever! 

I've ridden many different breeds, there's NOTHING like the Arabian horse.

Hola everyone! My name is Mary Redmond. I’m a true Midwesterner, born and raised in Springfield, Missouri! Growing up, I was the stereotypical horse girl. I read every horse breed book and horse encyclopedia I could get my hands on. The first time I remember being on a horse, I think I was about 4, and honestly, I was terrified!

Fast-forward a few years, my dad moved to Oklahoma, and there me and my sisters started taking western pleasure riding lessons on the weekends. Then, somehow, I landed at the Valley Water Mill Equestrian Center taking lessons with Chelayne. What a blessing. She helped me overcome my fear of horses, helped me get my first horse, Merlin, (who is amazing!) and really turned me into the person I am today, whether it comes to horses or not. I wanted to spend all my time at the barn just to be around the horses and pester her with questions.

I was born with attitude and a love for animals, but it still surprised my family when at 3 years old, I confidently announced that one day I was going to buy cows to start a ranch, and then I was going to start a horse ranch. So far, I have stayed true to following through with that goal, or at least somewhat! On my 18th birthday I officially filed the paperwork for my own LLC, which was a small dairy herd-share program in Dexter, Michigan. It was definitely more work than I thought it would be, often working 70 hours a week and forcing me to drop out of college. But I was working with animals and I was more than happy to be outdoors! During those years in Michigan, I also taught lessons on my own horse and did some training with a few horses when I could.  I even trained one of my cows to let me ride her!

Basically, I love training animals. And what could be better than sharing that love with others? I love watching horses and people learn. Nothing can replace that moment when you see it “click” in their eyes! I’ve worked with horses from just about every discipline and many different breeds, and I’m always excited to try new things. I’ve taught children as young as three, as well as adults. I love to ask questions, and I encourage you all to do the same (no guarantees I’ll have the answers though). Other than horses, I enjoy singing and writing songs on my guitar, making earrings and writing poetry! 

So, cheers to all the lesson horses that got me to where I am and all the people patient enough to teach me how to ride! They all hold a very special place in my heart, and I have only ever wanted to do the same for the people who love horses like me!Hola everyone! My name is Mary Redmond. I’m a true Midwesterner, born and raised in Springfield, Missouri! Growing up, I was the stereotypical horse girl. I read every horse breed book and horse encyclopedia I could get my hands on. The first time I remember being on a horse, I think I was about 4, and honestly, I was terrified!
Fast-forward a few years, my dad moved to Oklahoma, and there me and my sisters started taking western pleasure riding lessons on the weekends. Then, somehow, I landed at the Valley Water Mill Equestrian Center taking lessons with Chelayne. What a blessing. She helped me overcome my fear of horses, helped me get my first horse, Merlin, (who is amazing!) and really turned me into the person I am today, whether it comes to horses or not. I wanted to spend all my time at the barn just to be around the horses and pester her with questions.
I was born with attitude and a love for animals, but it still surprised my family when at 3 years old, I confidently announced that one day I was going to buy cows to start a ranch, and then I was going to start a horse ranch. So far, I have stayed true to following through with that goal, or at least somewhat! On my 18th birthday I officially filed the paperwork for my own LLC, which was a small dairy herd-share program in Dexter, Michigan. It was definitely more work than I thought it would be, often working 70 hours a week and forcing me to drop out of college. But I was working with animals and I was more than happy to be outdoors! During those years in Michigan, I also taught lessons on my own horse and did some training with a few horses when I could.  I even trained one of my cows to let me ride her!
Basically, I love training animals. And what could be better than sharing that love with others? I love watching horses and people learn. Nothing can replace that moment when you see it “click” in their eyes! I’ve worked with horses from just about every discipline and many different breeds, and I’m always excited to try new things. I’ve taught children as young as three, as well as adults. I love to ask questions, and I encourage you all to do the same (no guarantees I’ll have the answers though). Other than horses, I enjoy singing and writing songs on my guitar, making earrings and writing poetry!
So, cheers to all the lesson horses that got me to where I am and all the people patient enough to teach me how to ride! They all hold a very special place in my heart, and I have only ever wanted to do the same for the people who love horses like me!Hi, Krislyn Barker, Horse Trainer, Lesson Instructor and Adventure Enthusiast here! I was born in Arizona and raised here in Southwest Missouri. My passion for horses began as child on a Ranch in Arizona. At a young age I was able to be around and ride horse what seemed like everyday! 

Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to experience several different disciplines of riding. The ones I feel the most confident in are Saddle Seat, Rodeo Events, Jumping, Drill Team. Chelayne Andrews of Springhill Stables, Shan and Chris Wilson of ChriShan Park Arabians and Bobby Avilia of Avila Performance Horses are just some of the amazing owners and trainers I’ve had the opportunity to work for, learn from, and grow with. 

I truly believe every breed of horse is unique and amazing, but throughout all my experiences with them, my heart has always and will continue to be with Arabians. I am so excited to be apart of Springhill Stables and their great facilities. My goal is to provide a fun, healthy and structured learning environment for my students to reach their goals, both within the equestrian world and in everyday life! 

My name is Sydney Deckard. I took my first horse lesson when I was in the 5th grade and have been riding for at about 8 years. I started out taking lessons at Valley Watermill then I ended up at Springhill stables. After a few years of taking lessons, I began slowing at local shows with the Springhill Stables Show Team. After that, I went on to show Arabians Rated. We purchased my first horse named Aries and showed him in Purebred County Pleasure and Arabian Native Costume. I have shown at Arabian Youth Nationals twice and National Show Horse Finals once, coming out with 2 Top Tens in the Nation. I have shown many different horses locally and rated. I have also spent a lot of my time at horse shows watching, working and learning. I volunteered when I could at Springhill Stables to help with chores and to get more experience around horses. I started working at Springhill Stables the Summer of 2020 as a beginner lesson instructor. I currently am a beginner lesson instructor and staff member. I'm excited to see what the next year brings!