Training Team

Christopher Hickey

Christopher Hickey joined the Hilltop team in January 2007. During the 2007 season he continued to build on a long and successful competitive career, earning the U.S. Intermediaire I Championship and the Pan American Games Dressage team and individual gold medals with Brenna Kucinski’s Regent, a horse Chris selected as a three year old and has trained through his entire competitive career. With Hilltop Farm’s Cabana Boy, Chris has captured National titles at the FEI 5 & 6 year old levels, and earned a trip to the World Breeders Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany. During the 2007-2008 winter season Chris has successfully moved Regent up to the Grand Prix level with scores of 70% in his first two outings at Grand Prix and formed successful partnerships with Bugatti Hilltop, who he is showing at the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I levels, and Greengate Farm’s Donarweiss GGF, who just made his debut at Prix St. Georges. His students have been successful as well, with Rita Brown being the fourth of Chris’ students to earn her USDF Gold medal and several successful outings for students competing through the Grand Prix level. Two of his students qualified for the U.S. Intermediaire I Championships in ’06.

Chris’ road to Hilltop has been equally impressive one. A native of Westhampton Massachusetts, Chris rode in the 1988 and 1989 North American Young Rider Championships on the Region 8 Dressage Team. He qualified for the 1994 Olympic Festival and the selection trials for the 1995 Pan American Games. Chris has shown several horses successfully at the FEI levels, both in the United States and in Germany, often earning scores in excess of 70%. He has ridden three different horses to places on the USEF Dressage Horse training list.

Chris is a well rounded horseman who has competed in several disciplines, and many of the horses he has competed at the upper levels of dressage started with him as three or four year olds. Chris has studied with some of the best in the field, including American Olympians Lendon Gray, Robert Dover and Sue Blinks, and FEI S judge Lilo Fore. He has also ridden in Germany with both Conrad Schumacher and Ulla Salzgeber. Chris passes what he’s learned along to his students, who have been highly successful as well. His students have won many USDF Regional Championship titles from training level through the FEI levels. In addition to teaching at home, Chris is on the Faculty for the USDF Certified Instructor program and regularly gives clinics to long term students in Kansas City, MO, Lexington, KY, Edgemoor, SC, and Amherst, MA. He spends the winter competition season in Wellington, Florida, and is in residence at Hilltop for the rest of the year.

Michael Bragdell

Michael is originally from Gothenburg, Sweden. While in Sweden, Michael worked several years at a riding school, serving as an instructor and member of the show jumping team. He continued his riding education in England where he trained and showed young horses for Gustavii Stud, one of the top worldwide breeders in show jumping. In 1995, Michael joined the Hilltop Team, where he now holds the position of trainer and professional handler. Michael graduated from the University of Delaware in 2000 with a degree in business. Over the years he has presented numerous stallions and over 500 mares and foals at different breed registry inspections. Michael has handled hundreds of horses at breed shows around the country and frequently presents in the championship classes, including handling “Cabana Boy” to his Reserve Grand Championship at Dressage at Devon as a two-year-old. In 2003 he received the SSHA Master Handler Award at the Region 3 finals. In 2005, the major task of young horse backing at Hilltop Farm was placed in Michael’s competent hands.

Michael has a special gift with starting and developing young horses. Michael’s youngsters are known for being forward, light and confident. Michael believes in keeping the work interesting for the young horse to ensure they stay fresh and happy throughout their career. If visiting Hilltop Farm you may catch Michael riding his young horses over fences, doing hill work, working on their dressage training or going for a hack, variety is key in his training. Four of the youngsters that Michael has started at Hilltop have gone on to recent wins in the USEF/Markel Young Horse Championships. “BW-Callista” (Contucci – A Jungle Prince) was the 2006 USEF FEI Four-Year Old National Champion and “Cabana Boy” (Contucci – Bordeaux) was the 2007 USEF FEI Five Year Old National Champion. The third of these talented youngsters, "Rochefort", 2002 Hanoverian Gelding bred by Hilltop Farms now owned by Beth Springer, returned to Michael for
showing this summer. The pair qualified for the National Championships with an overall 8.08 and finished 10th overall in the 5 yr. old division. In 2008, Michael captured his first National Championship aboard Selten-HW in the FEI Four-Year Old division. Michael also had the pleasure of bringing Hilltop's Stallion, "Royal Prince", back out into the limelight in 2007 and had several wins at 3rd level and finished the season with the Reserve Championship at the BLM Finals.

Jocelyn Wiese

Jocelyn is originally from Keene, NH, joined the Hilltop team in August 2007. At 20 years old she has earned her USDF Bronze and Silver Medals as well as numerous year-end awards and USDF Regional Championships from Training Level through Prix St. Georges. She and Lamborghini were USDF Reserve Champion HOY/Jr. Young Rider at Prix St. Georges in 2007. With Chopin she was a member of the USEF Junior Team at the Championships of the Americas in 2002 and the USEF Junior Dressage Team Championships at Devon in 2003. In addition to this, she and Chopin represented Region 8 at the NAYRC in 2004. In 2006 she rode Lamborghini for Region 3 at the NAYRC where she was on the Bronze Medal Team. She was a member of the Region 8 team on Lamborghini in 2007 and placed seventh individually. She placed fifth at the USEF National Young Rider Championships in Gladstone, NJ in 2007. Jocelyn attended numerous USDF Advanced Young Rider clinics with Conrad Schumacher and one with Sue Blinks. She has attended training sessions with Ralf Isselhorst, Ulla Salzgeber, Steffen Peters, George Williams and Edward Gal. Jocelyn trained with and was a working student for Lendon Gray for three years and with Pamela Goodrich for five years

2008 has been an incredibly busy year for Jocelyn with five training horses qualified for the USDF Regional Finals. She won the East Coast Pony Cup at Second Level aboard Summit Sporthorses’ stallion Popeye, and is leading the USDF rankings for the Young Rider Intermediaire I aboard her own Lamborghini.