Heidi VanVliet

Certified Instructor, Trainer, Owner

Heidi started riding horses when she was a young girl, her uncle in Germany had taught her how to ride horses the European way.  The love for horses has been in her blood all of her life.  When she graduated from high school she got involved with harness racing.  She raced in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and some fairs in Pennslyvania.  As she got older her heart and love for the horses grew stronger - so she got out of racing and took along some of her beloved horses with her and retired them from the racing life. 

After getting her paralegal degree, she found love in teaching children and noticed the special bond that horses and children have.  Her prized animals has made so many children (and adults) happy and has helped so many children find love, compassion and confidence in themselves.  Heidi prides herself in showing how animals can change a persons life. She found that the Girl Scouts of the Nations Capital was in great need of someone doing the horse badges and worked very hard in creating a program for the girl scouts to come out and earn their badges in one day.  She became an advanced certified instructor through the British Horse Society in 1996.   

She had her own boarding, lesson and summer camp facility in Maryland for 13 years before moving to Pennsylvania.  In 2005, Heidi and her family bought this beautiful 28 acre farm and moved from Maryland. It took about 2 years to turn the cow and goat farm into a horse facility. Misty Meadows was named after a beautiful spring rain in the early morning hours. 

Today, Heidi is busy with getting her new horse facility up and running. She concentrates in helping Girl Scouts of the Nations Capital and  the Girls Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania earn their horse badges. And still enjoys her passion of teaching basic horsemanship skills and always stressing safety in her lessons to children and adults.