Sunset Cliff Farms Staff

Owner:  Sherry Atherton
As a long time horse owner and competitor, Sherry saw a need for a unique facility which focused on quality care with all the amenities and  so Sunset Cliff Farms was born.  Sherry competes in the Adult Amateur Hunters and is in all ways a hands on owner who is very supportive of staff, trainers and customers as well as her daughter, Vicki. 

Head Trainer:  Jessica Smith
Head trainer, Jessica Smith, returns to Texas after spending the 2011 show season working and riding for Olympian Anne Kursinski at Market Street Farm in Frenchtown, NJ.  Her time there was spent refining her teaching and training skills so that she may better prepare her students and horses for the top levels of competition.   She comes to Sunset Cliff Farms very excited to share this valuable knowledge with her students.

Jessica has had a very well-rounded experience in her work with horses.  Her early career was spent in Michigan where she worked as an assistant to Tim Wright at Waverly Farm.  While there, she piloted many hunters and jumpers to numerous year-end awards and championships from Pre-Green to Open Jumper.  She had the pleasure to receive instruction from renowned trainers such as Polly Howard, Wendy Murdock, and Tim Grubb.

In 2007, Jessica came to Texas and took the position as Assistant Trainer and Barn Manager for Sunset Cliff Farms under head trainer, Ginny Joyner.   From teaching lessons and exercising Grand Prix horses to starting young prospects under saddle, Jessica did it all. After 2 successful years, she left to continue her equestrian education and further develop her own training program.  She studied various training techniques from reining to classical dressage with multiple professionals throughout the state.  Through her work at a local breeding farm, she was able to focus on building a program for the development of young horses before going to the east coast to work with Anne.

Riders with the desire to develop solid skills and comprehensive horsemanship have the opportunity to learn from Jessica in a relaxed and fun environment.  She likes nothing more than to see her students succeed and reach their goals, whether it is a ribbon in the beginner division or long-standing success at the Grand Prix level.

Barn Manager/Amateur Rider:  Vicki MacNaughton
Vicki is an amateur rider who has been riding since she was 9 years old.   Vicki has a passion for horses and thrives on competition.  Vicki completed her "Junior" career in November  of 2009 and is now riding as an  "Amateur Owner" rider and competes in the A/O Hunters as well as the A/O Jumpers.   During her "Junior" career,   Vicki qualified several times for the Maclay finals, the USEF Medal Finals (Harrisburg - placing 14th out of a field of 250+ riders when she was only 15 yrs old), Devon (Jr. Hunters), Harrisburg (Jr. Hunters), Washington (Jr. Hunters) as well as Zone Finals in several divisions.  She is currently juggling her university studies with competing at the top horses shows in the country.  

Professional Grooms:      Javier, Pedro, Francisco ("Pancho"), Ramiro and Adrian