This will be Ashley Thompson’s second year of coaching for New Mexico State University Equestrian team. During the ’06-’07 regular season competition, Thompson lead her team to a record of 4-5, which ranked them 5th in the nation going into the national championships. At the national championships, she led the Aggies to a 3rd place finish.
Before joining the NMSU Equestrian Team coaching staff, Thompson was a trainer and instructor for her own company, Thompson Performance Horses, in Bryan, TX. It was a privately owned business dedicated to training all-around horses of all ages as well as giving weekly lessons and instructing at competitions. Prior to that, Thompson worked as an assistant trainer and instructor for Nathan Piper Reining Horses in Madisonville, TX, where she was responsible for all aspects of training both equine and human customers.
During her collegiate career, Thompson was a member of a Texas A&M University Equestrian Team from 2002 to 2004. Thompson led the Aggies to back-to-back IHSA National Championship titles for the Western team in 2003 & 2004.
Prior to Thompson’s collegiate career, she competed successfully on the east coast at AQHA competitions. She excelled in Showmanship, Horsemanship, Western Pleasure, Trail, Western Riding, Hunter Under Saddle, and Hunt Seat Equitation. During this time she earned numerous All-Around awards. She was an AQHYA Youth World Show qualifier in Hunt Seat Equitation and Western Horsemanship in 1998 and qualified in 1999 in Showmanship and Hunt Seat Equitation. She also earned a top 20 finish at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress in Horsemanship and Hunt Seat Equitation.
Thompson is originally from Hummelstown, PA and graduated from Lower Dauphin High School. She first attended Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA. In 2002, she met her husband John and transferred to Texas A&M University. She and John moved to Las Cruces, NM in 2006 where they currently reside.
