Meet Téa Di Lillo
The Story Behind It All:
Born into an urban/city lifestyle it did not take long for Téa to fall in love with horses. After begging her parents to take her riding they eventually caved and let her take lessons at a local barn. Within the first year of lessons her family bought her a horse who forever changed her life.
This horse, named Desperado, was purchased from an auction as a "kid safe" animal to ride. Shortly after bringing him to the barn it was learned that he was actually 6 years younger than what he was sold as and knew absolutely nothing. This is where Téa's training journey truly began.
After being thrown off countless times but being too stubborn and heartbroken to give up, her family eventually sought out professional help. Téa met some extraordinary horse trainers who helped guide and mentor her to become a better horsewoman not only for Desperado, but every horse she has swung a leg over.
After experiencing the gift of high quality work and knowledge those trainers gave her at a such a young age, Téa knew that she too wanted to share that gift with others.
Now many years and horses later, Téa gets to live her childhood dream by working with horses and helping their humans understand how to communicate with them as effectively as possible. She feels truly humbled and honored any time someone entrusts her with their horse.
Education and Experience
- Calgary Stampede Showrider from 2015 - 2021. Coached by Jamee DeWit. Within the Showriders program Téa has rode her horses in many parades, rodeos, and venues all over Alberta, Saskatchewan and in the USA. One of the biggest honors she has had is riding with the Canadian flag during the national anthem at the world famous Calgary Stampede Rodeo. The skills gained from the CS Showriders program has added so much value to Téa's horsemanship and life skills.
- Josh Nichol Mentorship student from 2014 - 2018. Téa is Josh's youngest mentorship student to date. With Josh, Téa has worked cattle, started colts, trained on her horses and developed her horsemanship. Josh has had a huge impact on Téa's style of riding and training today. Téa still continues to mentor under and learn from Josh.
- Diploma of Equine Sciences. Received from Olds College. Graduated spring of 2020. Téa's focuses in the program were colt starting/training and coaching.
- Assistant to trainer Jill Barron 2019-2020. With Jill, Téa has helped train client horses, co-teach summer camp lessons, and Jill introduced Téa to the world of Working Equitation. Jill has had a huge influence on her style, riding and training today. Téa still continues to learn from Jill.
- Professionally training horses for clients and teaching lessons since 2016