about us

margaret beeman

Margaret Beeman is a third generation horsewoman with over 45 years of experience in the horse industry both in the United States and abroad. Margaret was raised in a family owned horse business where from the age of 5 she was helping to train young, green ponies to drive single and double, ride, and compete in gymkhana. In her 20's Margaret worked at a ranch as a trail guide and free lanced training horses and giving riding lessons. Then Margaret built her own boarding and training business, Broken Wheel Ranch LLC.
After seriously injuring her back in a horse accident Margaret began to look for safer methods of working with horses and began her path to developing her own unique approach to natural horsemanship and horse/human communication. Inspired by the work of Bill and Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, and Buck Brannaman, Margaret developed the “The Better Deal Horsemanship Training Program”  and conducted workshops throughout the United States and Canada. Margaret has published a training video and two books, The Better Deal: Practical Horsemanship Training for You and Your Horse and Training for Safety. Her work has been featured in Practical Horseman, Equus, The Whip, Trails Less Traveled, and Rural Heritage. 
​Margaret has worked with horses and people from all disciples, from trail riders to members of the U.S. Equestrian Team. Margaret coached singles combined driving competitor Scott Monroe to two National Championships, qualifying them for the U.S. Equestrian Team where they competed in the World Combined Driving Championships in 2004 and 2006. Margaret also coached the U.S. Equestrian team in the marathon phase of competition in 2002.
In 2018 Margaret renamed her business Sovereign Hilltop.  Currently Margaret leases her facility to horse owners, clubs, and trainers for small events and lessons. She continues to give clinics, workshops, lessons, evaluations, and consultations for horse owners part-time at Sovereign Hilltop and other facilities. As she eases her way into retirement Margaret enjoys gardening and working with her daughter Shanna on developing sustainable, small-scale agricultural practices at Sovereign Hilltop. 
 

Shanna barney

​Shanna manages the small animal husbandry aspect of Sovereign Hilltop. Shanna takes care of our laying hens, heritage meat chickens, and Champagne d'Argent rabbits. Her focus os on humane, grass fed,  and free range methods, and developing closed loop, sustainable food systems. 

JENNA NICOL

Jenna is our resident photographer. You can find here work here. She lives at Sovereign Hilltop along with her two Puggles, Colby and Mila and her gruella quarter horse mare, Savannah. 

SAMMY STARR

Sammy is our intern, graduating from the State University of New York at Cobleskill. She is an animal science major and came here to learn about natural horsemanship.
Sovereign Hilltop Farm
41 Barney Drive
Millerton, NY 12546
(845) 518-9376