Standing at nearly 17 hands tall, Danash’s Northern Tempest is a beautiful animal inside and out. From her striking patterned coat to her sparkling personality she is certainly one to be noticed. “Dani” as she is known to her friends and fans, is a 2013 Leopard Appaloosa Friesian cross mare, registered with Friesian Heritage Horse & Sporthorse International, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA). She is 5-Panel Negative, as confirmed by UC Davis. Dani is owned by Palm Beach Sport Horses of West Palm Beach, Florida and is trained by Ashley Glica of ATG Equestrian in Loxahatchee, Florida.
Dani was born in Michigan and bred by Jessica Bowman of North Horse Farm in Cheboygan. She was purchased as a filly by Jessica Collins and relocated to Southern Florida where she was slowly and properly started under the close eye of Brandy Rivas at Equines and Equestrians in Delray Beach. Dani’s slow, proper start as well as foundation training in dressage has helped her to become a healthy competitor. In 2017 she was purchased by Palm Beach Sport Horses, and made her home at ATG Equestrian. Under the keen eye of Ashley Glica, Dani has quickly become an exceptional sport horse, winning Circuit Champion in Rusty Stirrup at ESP in 2019-2020 as well as several notable ribbons in Hunter Derby, USHJA, and Green Hunter Classes at the 2020 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, Florida.
While Dani is not the typical Hunter horse, she is a shining example of her lineage's versatility and a divergence from the typical sporthorses seen in Wellington. She has been recognized through a multitude of media outlets and has an active, engaged, and quickly growing following on social media. She was the October 2020 cover model (along with Laura Reece of Palm Beach Sporthorses) for Wellington The Magazine, profiled in Chronicle of the Horse in early 2020, has starred in numerous fun and fashion photo shoots, and was chosen to appear in an editorial for famed children’s photographer Olesja Mueller for publication in La Belle Kidz magazine. Much of her popularity has come from social media where she has her own Instagram account, @danithewonderhorse.
Her favorite treats include peppermints, carrots, and molasses cookies, and she always enjoys swimming in her home farm’s pod. She’s not easily impressed by cars, motorcycles, golf carts, or any other spook worthy stimuli, and has been a great horse for kids and beginners as well as a top competitor in the WEF hunter derbies.
Laura and Ashley plan to continue to show Dani in the hunter divisions, and are regularly amazed by her talent and willingness despite her relatively young age.