Bethany's life with horses began as a small child with a family who trained and competed horses of their own in the San Diego area. She entered her first show as a five year old in lead line classes and later, after moving to the east coast, competed in the “short stirrup” division in the local Virginia hunter shows. By the age of twelve she had graduated from her pony to her first horse, a homebred Thoroughbred mare. Bethany took her to the hunter shows, and brought her up from the "baby green" hunter divisions to the 3'6" divisions at highly competitive shows, including the "AA" rated Upperville Horse and Pony Show. Northern Virginia is horse country, and competing in the Middleburg area was a great introduction to showing horses.

Over the years, Bethany has been lucky to learn from wonderful instructors. She rode with Laurie Haynes at the Twelfth of Never Farm in Upperville, Virginia, and at Blue Fox Farm in Chantilly, Virginia. She also spent summers boarding her horses and training at The Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia.

For a change of pace from the hunter ring, Bethany spent time riding for Wilomar Farm, under the supervision of Martha Ann Romoser. She assisted Martha Ann with the conditioning of her endurance horses, which she competed regularly in fifty and one hundred mile rides. Bethany accompanied Martha Ann, "pit crewing": cooling down her horses at the vet checks.

Bethany's experiences have taught her that in both riding and life, one is never done learning – she continues her education through attending clinics and taking lessons from teachers and trainers such as Suzan Strahan, Paul Belasik, Mark Rashid, Mary Debono, Debbie Rocha, and Sandy Burns-Gardner.