Lindy Bowerbank

The seventh in a family of eight children, Lindy Bowerbank, 20, is from Thousand Oaks, California, where she has lived her entire life. Riding horses is called a rich person’s sport, but the Bowerbank family has always managed to include horses in their lives on a limited budget.

Lindy has always loved horses, riding since she first sat on a pony. Determined to become a horse trainer like her oldest sister, Larisa, Lindy started to work on that goal at age 12 by joining a local Pony Club where she began to learn about dressage. A year later, she became Larisa’s working student and eventually her assistant, home-schooling at night through high school in order to work full-time every day with the horses. Her riding abilities improved dramatically by riding many horses at different levels of training each day under the guidance of her trainer, Larisa Mantor, and clinician Albrecht Heidemann.

By age 14 Lindy was riding Fourth Level, and she was doing well in the FEI junior tests at 15. She won a local championship at Prix St. Georges level and had the FEI high point overall at age 17. Soon after, she competed at Intermediare I and earned both USDF bronze and silver medals.

Lindy’s successes have not come without setbacks. She has had her fair share of disappointments when several horses went lame before important shows. In addition, because all of the horses she’s ridden have been lent to her, she’s experienced the heartbreak of having some horses sold before she could go to the championships. But her experiences riding and training horses have taught her a lot about being patient and precise, as well as persevering during difficult times.

Excited to be chosen for Robert Dover’s “Search for America’s Next Equestrian Star: Dressage,” Lindy took her life’s savings of almost $10,000 and flew her sister’s horse and herself to Florida hoping that this opportunity could be her big break for her career in dressage.

Soon after the filming of the show, Lindy began working with Eva Gonda and Will Simpson as the dressage trainer for El Campeon Farms in Hidden Valley, CA, where she currently resides. She continues to look for a sponsor and that special horse that will help take her to the top.

Despite her passion for the horse world and dedication to the sport of dressage, Lindy has a well-rounded life and enjoys music, hiking, camping, boating, traveling, going to the beach, and hanging out with family and friends. Her ultimate goal will remain to become a world class competitor and trainer.