Donna Crookston

Born: May 18, 1948
Hometown: Saltsburg, Pennsylvania

Donna Crookston was nine years old when she got her first pony. She rode bareback until she talked her parents into buying a saddle when she was 13. As a kid, she showed Western before switching to hunters, jumpers, eventing and dressage. She started foxhunting in 1972, and it’s been a passion ever since. Donna hunts with the Rolling Rock Hunt in Ligonier, PA. She’s been out with a number of packs in the U.S., as well as Ireland, England and Australia.

Donna started driving in June 2002 after she retired. She bought her first driving horse, Romeo, because he could ride and drive. She knew nothing about how to get started in driving so she contacted Lisa Singer. Donna visited Singer in August 2002 for her first lesson – and has been working with her ever since.

She showed Romeo at preliminary and advanced CDEs and did some pleasure shows. Romeo developed stifle issues and she began to look for another horse. She saw a video of Cowboy and was so pleased that she bought him at a sale in December 2004. Donna and Cowboy went to two training events and worked at preliminary for the rest of 2005. Cowboy has competed at advanced since 2006.

2007 was an exciting year. Cowboy was USEF Reserve Single Horse National Champion, USEF Single Horse CDE Champion and AMHA Single Horse CDE Champion, and Donna and Cowboy were the FEI North American Single Horse Challenge Champions.

In 2008, Donna and Cowboy went onto represent the U.S. at the FEI World Singles Championships in Jarantow, Poland.