We are more than a training facility – we’re a community! And we’re passionate about helping people build relationships with their horses through progressive training to FEI.
Get to know Peace of Mind
We are more than a training facility – we’re a community! And we’re passionate about helping people build relationships with their horses through progressive training to FEI.
Get to know Peace of Mind
Welcome!
At Peace of Mind Dressage, we believe our horses always have something to teach us about ourselves.
Our life journey is deeply impacted and mirrored in our relationship to our horses, especially as we engage in the journey of dressage training.
Our philosophy at Peace of Mind Dressage is to cultivate community through support and empowerment of our students in their education and bond with their horses. We love to see them growing more confident in their own skills.
By following each rider’s goals, our mission is to design a program to help them reach a better level of understanding and training with their horse, which ultimately improves their relationship with their horse and their understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses.
How do we define success? We know we’re making a difference when we’re enjoying and succeeding in training horses up the levels in dressage, and creating a supportive, calm, family-like community to train and learn with. In the barn, success is about anticipating the horses’ needs, and providing them with an environment that appreciates their natural rhythms and instincts so that they can be relaxed. Our horse management and care are observant, proactive, and adaptive.
Our Farm is Family
Peace Of Mind Dressage is located at Peace Of Mind Farm. Jaclyn and Luke moved to the farm in 2019 to simplify their lives and be closer to nature.
Utilizing the farm to bring health, peace, and happiness to the horses who live here, is Jaclyn’s life’s work and passion. The farm is also home to Luke and Jaclyn’s children, Hume and Ina Maeve, their two dogs, Harrison and Risley, their four cats, Cricket, Bocce, Lion, and Rugby, and their sixteen chickens. Peace Of Mind Dressage has always been a community sanctuary for our staff and students. Now our home and community are one.
Loudoun County, Virginia, is horse country. Though located only one hour from Washington, D.C. it is a perfect mix of rural landscapes, natural forests and creeks, and vibrant smaller city centers. Morven Park, Northern Virginia’s premier equestrian competition venue is less than 20 minutes away. The Marion duPont Equine Medical Center and Virginia Equine Imaging are only two of the many top local veterinary resources. The area is deeply rooted in farming and we source local products for our horses and family.
The Leesburg Farmers Market and yearly Waterford Fair are excellent places to dip into this culture and score homemade treasures and handpicked foods. Our neighborhood offers amazing views, rolling hills, 1700’s historical buildings and farms. On Clover Hill, we can explore these sites on horseback via our gravel road. The property is home to finches, swallows, owls, hawks, crows, tree frogs, and turtles. It’s common to see wild turkeys, pileated woodpeckers, and foxes while spending time here.
About Jaclyn Sicoli
From my background in science to my love for yoga, I’m proud to have made Peace of Mind a holistic farm for you and your horse to grow together!
I grew up on Long Island’s East End. My first job working for Christine Barrett Distefano at Amaryllis Farm, at age 10 years old, not only introduced me to riding and very long days at the barn, but solidified a strong moral and ethical responsibility toward horse care. At the time, Christine’s business centered around the rescued horses that we cared for, trained and competed, many of which were found at the race track and local livestock auctions. Amaryllis Farm and Equine Rescue and Home for Aged Horses became a 501c3 non-profit in 2005, 24 years after Christine began rescuing horses and is also the inspiration for the children’s story, The Lost and Found Pony. The rescue’s philosophy: “The horses come first”.
In college I explored my love for science graduating from Northeastern University with a BS in Biochemistry. Very cool internships at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Oncogene Research Sciences, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and in Northeastern’s Biology Lab under Professor William Detrich, gave me thrilling experiences to learn in the world’s best environments. I cloned a gene, learned how to apply electrodes to a patient’s head, cultivated and studied Mast Cells grown from cord blood, and assisted in human trials of the effects of sleep deprivation on performance.
But the science labs were a sterile place too far from my true passion. In my final year at Northeastern, I simultaneously engaged in classroom studies and completed training certificates in Natural Horsemanship and barefoot trimming at local barns while also riding belgium imports at a facility north of Boston. Next I made my forever jump from the hunter equitation training of my youth, into dressage with an apprenticeship at Beth Sproule-Hansens’ Bellvale Dressage in Warwick, NY. In addition to a Grand Prix level training program, Beth stood her own stallion, DiVinci, and raised warmbloods. I purchased my first horse, Della, as a baby from Beth and trained her to Third Level before selling her to a student.
My next stop was a fortunate one for my training career. Heather Mason’s Flying Change Farm, 10 minutes from the USET headquarters, was and is the best place to learn dressage training. Heather is an “S” judge and a prolific producer of Grand Prix horses with a large student body of horses and riders at every level. At Heather’s I was the crash test dummy for many baby horses, competed up to 15 different horses per year, and earned my USDF Bronze and Silver Medals while beginning my own training business in “my spare time” and founding Peace Of Mind Dressage LLC in 2007. As many long hours as I worked, I was repaid with daily lessons and hours and hours in the saddle for the 4 years spent there. I was 29 years old when I left Heather’s for Maryland and graduated from the USDF “L” with distinction the same year, after apprentice judging with Marilyn Payne, Barbara Ebner, Kem Barbosa, and Heather Mason. While operating in Maryland I was invited to attend Scott and Susanne Hassler and Harmony Sporthorses, Young Dressage Horse Trainers Symposium and served as Education Chair for the Potomac Valley Dressage Association.
Since 2009, I have trained horses to the FEI level from the start. My students and working students have earned their USDF Bronze and Silver Medals as well as top 3 placings at Regional Championships. I competed at Dressage at Devon on horses which I started under saddle and have earned the scores to advance into the USDF “r” judge program.
Learning is my lifeblood. I have participated in clinics or hosted events for these internationally renowned equestrians: Nicholas Fyffe, Stacey Hastings, Cindi Wylie, Catherine Haddad Staller, Christoph Hess, Scott Hassler, Vitor Silva, Bo Jena, Betsy Steiner, Michael Bragdell, Tim Bourke, Linda Parelli, Tik Maynard, Bent Jensen, and Stephen Bradley. I have practiced yogic training for over 20 years and appreciate that the movement, breathing, and focus achieved through yoga is highly transferable and useful for training horses.
Our Services
Here, horses and riders gain a solid understanding of classical dressage principles.
This clear system of training and communication facilitates trust, builds confidence, and allows riders to train their own horses through the FEI levels. Our care and training systems work holistically and synergistically to provide horses with healthy and natural routines.
Peace of Mind Dressage proudly offers:
Full Service Boarding
Full and Partial Training Packages
Lessons On Site
Trailer-in Lessons
Virtual Lessons
Judging within a 50 mile radius
On Site and Off Site Clinics
Comprehensive Consignment and Sale Options
National and International Equine Partner Sourcing
