Becoming an expert in equestrian training demands years of dedication to the horse world. Bend’s Morgan Anderson has contributed countless hours and thousands of miles of international travel to train riders and horses in order achieve her professional title.

As assistant trainer, the 32-year-old Anderson is representing the equestrian training program Capstone of Bend’s Horse Butte Equestrian Center during this week’s Rose City Opener hunter/jumper horse show in Central Oregon. While normally training horses and riders behind the scenes during competitions, Anderson has taken on the riding duties since Capstone head trainer Lindsey Garner found out she was pregnant.

Anderson has already claimed champion titles in the low hunter 2’9” and pre-green working hunter 3’0 classes at this week’s show, which is taking place at Juniper View Farm north of Bend.

“It was a good moment for me and it was pretty cool to compete,” Anderson said Thursday.

Anderson’s background in equestrian started in her native Vancouver, British Columbia, where she began riding at age 10. After a tireless nine years of riding and grooming horses and assisting other trainers, she finally established herself as a professional trainer.

While in Canada, Anderson took a job in 2003 as Garner’s assistant at Coast Point Farms in Langley, British Columbia. The two rode and trained horses for clients up and down the West Coast for eight years.

“In the past, I have done more of the showing of our horses and Morgan has done a lot of the training at home with the horses,” Garner said.

Anderson’s eight years of dedicated training gained her a position in Texas at PJP Farm, near Houston, with one of the United States’ most accomplished hunter/jumper riders and trainers, Peter Pletcher. Pletcher asked Anderson to try out for a training position after he had purchased a horse that had been trained by Anderson and Garner.

“I flew out there and he watched me ride for a couple days,” Anderson recalled, “then he hired me and that was the end. I moved to Houston.”

During the three years Anderson trained with Pletcher, she traveled throughout the country attending numerous internationally recognized competitions — the most notable being the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival in West Palm Beach, Fla., where Anderson trained during the 12 weeks of the show. The Winter Festival is billed as the world’s largest and longest-running equestrian competition and draws prominent competitors from all over the world.

“(The West Palm Beach show) was amazing.” Anderson reflected. “There were unbelievable horses and riders. I learned a lot just being around those top riders.”

During a brief vacation to Bend to visit Garner in 2011, Anderson met the man who would become her husband. A few months later, Anderson moved to Bend and took a job alongside Garner as assistant trainer for Capstone.

“Our business was getting really busy,” Garner said, “and it was getting to be too much for one trainer to take on.” So the hiring of Anderson to join Capstone, Garner added, “was kind of perfect.”

2013 Rose City Opener

What: U.S. Equestrian Federation A-rated hunter/jumper show presented by Allied Shows of Bend

Who: 150 riders from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California

Where: Juniper View Farm, 65875 Cline Falls Road, Bend

When: Five-day event continues today and runs through Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. each day

Admission: Free for spectators

More information: alliedhorseshows.com