Alexandra Abella

Alejandra's first university studies were in fine arts, through which she experienced painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic arts, drawing, and fashion and merchandising design. The first hint that teaching might be in her future came in 1990, while she was still in college, when she joined her university's Peer Mentoring Program. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Studio Arts and years later, while working full-time, began teaching horseback riding as a hobby, but soon became a certified instructor and stable manager, winning Instructor of the Year. of the American Association of Riding Instructors in 2004.

While pursuing her hobby on evenings and weekends, her entrepreneurial life began with a decade in international development at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC, where she was hired to inventory the Bank's art collection. He also assisted in the purchase of Latin American and Caribbean art for the collection, as well as assisting in the production of exhibits and events for the Bank's Cultural Center. From there, it expanded into organizing international events and conferences, and producing videos and writing scripts for social documentaries. The creative and flexible environment of the office taught Alejandra to multitask and wear many hats, essential skills for an entrepreneur. Alejandra combined her time in international development with teaching and studying equine science part-time at night, earning a CC in Equine Science, Summa Cum Laude. In 2002, he left the Bank to pursue his dreams of working with animals and went back to school to pursue graduate studies in animal science with an emphasis on ethology, communication and animal welfare. A second career in the equestrian industry followed.

He started a consulting company for equestrian clients on teaching, lesson scheduling, and horse purchases, and ended up joining forces with an equestrian design company to grow his company from two to over thirty employees in just a few years. As a small business in a niche market, the experience allowed Alejandra to utilize and expand her varied skills in equestrian facility development, marketing, branding, research, feasibility studies, program design, operations, business management and staff, and customer services. Staff and customer training sessions reminded him of a love of teaching, and his knowledge of programming enabled proper reverse engineering of facility planning with less labor and overhead. In addition to her work with horses and other animals, Alejandra still enjoys art and writing, and has published numerous articles on horses, their handling and care. She is the Education Coordinator for the Maryland Equestrian Industry Board Advisory Council, serves on the board of the Maryland EquestrAsian Sports Association, and is a member of the Maryland Horse Council. He is also an active member of the United States Dressage Federation and the United States Equestrian Federation, and was a member of the United States Eventing Association and the United States Hunter Jumpers Association. Alejandra is fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese, and has a working knowledge of Italian. He has traveled extensively and/or lived in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.