Meet Our Team
Meet the staff that will help you along your riding journey!
Owner- Deborah Jahn
Owner Deborah Jahn has been an equestrian all of her life. She has restored this historic farm to function as an all encompassing facility: training, lessons, breeding and selling. Along the way she has added many architectural gems and improvements to the property to make it world class.
Deborah has been in the show ring for many years exhibiting her World Champion Saddlebreds and Hackney Ponies. She has a very strong belief in these aristocrats of the show world, and promotes them through the riding academy at Seven Oaks, and via the breeding of her champion mares.
She is always excited to share this wonderful world of Seven Oaks Farm, where learning about horses and having fun is paramount!
Head Instructor- Amara Smith
Amara Smith Rodriguez has been an equestrian for most of her life and after almost twenty years of experience, She knew that training horses was her next step and her future.
Amara started her equine career in the hunter/jumper discipline and after 10 years of experience with the "jumpers" she was introduced to dressage and pursued that discipline for 5 years. Amara loved the art if dressage and then used it's philosophy as she progressed to breaking and training colts before she moved on to experience more of what the horse industry had to offer.
​During her growth as a professional equestrian, Amara was looking for barns close to her family in St. Charles and was introduced to Seven Oaks Farm. Impressed with what she found at Seven Oaks, Amara began working there and began working with the American Saddlebred horse breed.​
Now at Seven Oaks for more than 8 years, Amara is the head trainer and instructor. She has started many of the young horses at the farm with their first halter and continued to work with them during their show careers.​
In her first year of showing for the barn, Amara and her horses caught the eye of JR Stables owner and trainer, Julio Rodriguez. Married in 2023, Amara and Julio have been training horses together at Seven Oaks and have had great success with their efforts at the regional and national levels. They look forward to many successful show seasons to come!​
In addition to training and showing horses, Amara has built a growing lesson program for all ages and all levels of riders to share her love of horses. Amara feels that no life can be truly without experiencing what horses have to offer!
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Continuing to progress in her career, Amara has been recognized to have great potential in the Saddlebred world by many different trainers, supporting what Amara feels to be her true calling: A trainer working with American Saddlebreds and sharing them with riders, both new and experienced, in her community!