EQUINE ORTHOPEDIC VETERINARIAN, RESEARCHER, AND AUTHOR

Sue Dyson qualified as a veterinarian from the University of Cambridge in 1980. After an internship at the University of Pennsylvania and a year in private equine practice in Pennsylvania, Sue returned to Great Britain to the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket. Sue ran a clinical referral service for lameness and poor performance, attracting clients from all over the United Kingdom, Ireland and continental Europe for 37 years. During this period Sue was also awarded a PhD and Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. From 2019 she has worked as an independent consultant, combining her horsemanship skills with her veterinary experience, with the aim of maximising performance potential.

Sue’s key interests are improving the diagnosis of lameness and poor performance and maximising the opportunity for horses to fulfil their athletic potential at whatever level, taking a holistic approach to the horse, rider and tack combination, and improving approaches to diagnosis and management.

She has been involved not only in providing clinical services, but also clinically relevant research and education. Sue is co-editor, with Mike Ross, of Diagnosis and Management of Lameness in the Horse and co-author of Clinical Radiology of the Horse and Equine Scintigraphy. With Sue Palmer she wrote Harmonious Horsemanship: Use of the Ridden Horse Ethogram to Optimise Potential, Partnership and Performance. She has published more than 430 papers in peer reviewed journals concerning lameness and diagnostic imaging and has lectured worldwide to veterinarians, paraprofessionals, coaches, riders and judges.

Sue is a former President of the British Equine Veterinary Association and is currently scientific advisor to the Saddle Research Trust and Moorcroft Rehabilitation Centre. Sue is also a rider, and has produced horses from novice to top national level in both eventing and show jumping. Sue holds the Instructors and Stable Managers Certificates of the British Horse Society (BHSI).

Sue has been awarded many international accolades for her work including induction into the University of Kentucky Equine Research Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions to research in equine veterinary science, Honorary Membership of the British Equine Veterinary Association and Societa Italiana Veterinari Per Equini, Italy, the American Association of Equine Practitioners Frank J. Milne Award and the Tierklinik Hochmoor Prize, Germany, for outstanding, creative and lasting work in equine veterinary medicine.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR CONSULTANT AND EDUCATOR

Jody is an accomplished equestrian, having won medals in dressage at the North American “junior olympics” and the US Dressage Federation Bronze, Silver & Gold. She has coached numerous students to championships in dressage and eventing, and has supported many of them in building training careers of their own.

She was introduced to clicker training as a child by her mother, who also trains service dogs, and was an early adopter of “clicker training for people,” becoming certified in TAGteach, or Teaching with Acoustical Guidance, in 2007. Over the years she has assisted many nonprofit service dog organizations and owner-trained teams. She also helped pioneer groundbreaking animal assisted therapy programs for military veterans and at-risk kids.

Jody graduated from The University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. More recently, She has been given the opportunity to work outside the domestic animal field with a wide variety of species. The year she spent working with a feral zebra hybrid named Ziggy was documented in Equitopia’s award-winning short film, Don’t Shoot the Zebra Pony.

In 2021, Jody teamed up with business partner and life long friend, Megan Phillips to co-found the nonprofit Train with Trust Project, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to making animal behavior science information accessible for everyone.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR CONSULTANT AND EDUCATOR

Megan trained rhinos and lions at the Denver Zoo, as well as bottlenose dolphins at SeaWorld, before becoming a companion animal behavior consultant and educator.

As co-founder of The Train with Trust® Project, she brings a unique perspective and set of skills to the task of providing accessible behavior education for everyone.

When Megan began her career in the early 1990’s, positive reinforcement training was not yet the norm in exotic animal management. After pioneering the training of skittish African antelope, she went on to train many animal species including black rhinos, polar bears, and spotted hyenas.

The remarkable training and behavior work that is achieved within the zoo community inspired Megan to bring these very successful, evidence-based techniques and philosophies to the world of domestic animals and the people who care for them.

Megan graduated magna cum laude from Metropolitan State University of Denver, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology. She is certified by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and is an active member of the Animal Behavior Management Alliance as well as the Operations Advisor for a small cat shelter in Colorado.

In 2021, Megan teamed up with business partner and life long friend, Jody Ambrose to co-found the nonprofit Train with Trust Project, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to making animal behavior science information accessible for everyone.