By Tafra Donberger
Portraits by Jeni Jo Brunner
What happens when a horse-crazy equestrian girl meets a never-touched-a-horse-before guy? If you’re Ashley and Evan Donadt, it might just be the beginning of a happily-ever-after that includes a solid dressage program and extremely popular social media channels featuring good-natured humor and horses.
Ashley, a lifelong equestrian, began her horse experiences with the local 4-H club, progressed to lessons with the local dressage trainer when she was 10, then her own pony when she was 11. Conversely, Evan grew up in Massachusetts, without any horse experience to speak of. The odds of them meeting were fairly low, until fate landed them both in Southern California.
Ashley had been working for Siggi Wolff at her barn outside Seattle, Washington, managing the facility while Siggi took a group of horses to California to train during the winter. “During one of those trips, Siggi called and said one of the riders needed a groom and that I should interview,” Ashley said. “It was a whirlwind of getting a flight, getting interviewed and getting the job, and two weeks later I packed up my truck, got my dog and drove from Washington to California in two days.”
She was working for David Blake at Steffen and Shannon Peters’ Arroyo Del Mar in San Diego when Evan, who had recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in chemical engineering, decided he needed a change of scenery and settled on Southern California. He met Ashley the very day he arrived in San Diego through a mutual friend that also worked at Arroyo.
Ashley went out to dinner with Evan, his brother and their friend that evening. “We were instantly best friends,” Ashley said. “He was genuine, down to earth, funny. We had an instant connection.”
Within days, Ashley was introducing Evan to horses at Arroyo Del Mar. “My first impression was I felt a little scared of them,” Evan said. “Through spending time with Ashley, I learned they’re like big, gentle giants.” The pair became such good friends, they spent time as roommates before finally acknowledging the spark between them. They began dating in 2013 and were married in 2017.
Horses First
Evan knew from the start that spending time with Ashley meant spending time at the barn. In fact, Ashley told him straightaway, “The horses come first always; you’re going to be second!” Evan wasn’t deterred, and instead found the loophole: spending all his own free time with her at the barn.
His experience with horses grew as he progressed from enthusiastic friend to supportive “horse husband.” He attended Ashley’s shows, held buckets, took photos, took videos and did whatever she needed him to do while observing the way she interacted with the horses, how they reflected the positive energy that she projected. He eventually gained hands-on experience with their own horse, Keira, helping Ashley start her from the ground up.
Evan was happy to support Ashley’s ambitions from afar while he had his own career in biotechnology working as a process engineer. Eventually he pivoted into a marketing position that reignited his creative side, and began to cultivate his knowledge and experience in social media platforms, including the fledgling short-format video platform TikTok. He started making videos for his friends and family to make them laugh. Then the COVID-19 pandemic changed the game and he was laid off from his marketing position.
Always willing to do whatever she needed in pursuit of her horse-related goals, Ashley took on a variety of side jobs over the years to support her drive to be in the horse industry. This was no different when it came time to starting her own mobile training business in 2016. While getting it off the ground, she also taught art classes at a local art studio—another passion from childhood. It led Ashley to dive deeply into not only her artistic side, but she reaffirmed her deep connection to the beauty of teaching others, which in turn strengthened her commitment to her mobile training and teaching business, eventually establishing a home base at Fairbanks Ranch Equestrian Center in 2017.
That business began to grow, so much so that in the end of 2020 she was able to relocate to Highpoint Rancho LLC in Rancho Santa Fe. When the COVID pandemic changed the face of the world, Ashley’s part-time groom stepped away to be with family during lockdown and she found herself in need of help.
Naturally, Evan stepped in. “We said it would be temporary, and he’d go back to his normal job,” Ashley explained. “But it just kept going! My clients love him, the horses love him.” It was a mutually beneficial deal: Ashley got the help she needed while Evan got to spend the lockdowns outside.
Suddenly the social media skills he had been developing had a new outlet. “I thought, I’m here all the time, why don’t I use the horses in a funny way to make my family laugh?” Evan recalled. “None of them knew anything about horses, but I wanted it to be funny and interesting to them. Horse people started following me and I realized I was on to something.”
Social Media Fame
TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2020, when much of the world was in a series of COVID-related lockdowns and everyone needed an outlet. Initially considered a children’s dancing app, millions began to use it for social commentary, comedy, memes, makeup tutorials and much more. Evan combined his quirky sense of humor with a fresh take on all things equine for a very niche audience of equestrians.
“In the beginning, I went through phases,” Evan said. “There were trends and audios, and I did an equestrian spin on all the trends. I would get inspiration from dog or cat videos. Then I realized people don’t follow you for trends, they follow for original and unique content.” Always willing to make a joke at his own expense, Evan’s videos incorporated Harry Potter references, skits about things that make horses lose their minds (like a bucket or a bag of shavings in a new place) and equine impressions.
“I’d see something simple, like how a horse rolls, and recreate that,” Evan explained. “I’d watch the kids take lessons and see what they’d laugh at and recreate that somehow. One day I saw a kid get snotted on and she just laughed and said, ‘I don’t care, it happens all the time!’ I knew I had to make a video about that.” By January 2021, his videos had garnered a million likes and his follower count hit 50,000.
That same month, Evan observed a horse spooking at a pallet of shavings, made a video recreating it, then shared the audio—and it resonated with equestrians across the world. It goes a bit like this: “Oh my, what is that doing there? I’ve never seen it before! Is it moving, is it coming at me? Is it a rabbit? Is it a monster? I don’t know, rabbits are monsters!” Another user shared a video of a dressage horse spooking using the audio, and that video went viral. Over two years later, it continues to pop up and has been used in over 3,600 posts.
As his audience grew, Evan expanded to Instagram, then YouTube and, more recently, Facebook. By May 2021 he was at 100,000 followers on TikTok, his ideas seemingly without end. Thoughts on crossties, equestrian fashion—you name it, Evan found a way to make it funny. “When I looked back at videos in 2022, I made over 500 videos,” he said. “My secret ingredient is wholesome, family-friendly content. We’ve got kids in our program, and I want everyone to enjoy it.”
He never shied from promoting Donadt Dressage and included Ashley in the videos, including a series of equestrian pick-up lines that garnered thousands of views. Glimpses of Ashley surface, but she’s happy to let Evan run the social media show. For her part, Ashley loves that Evan had found a way to share his humor and personality with so many others, even if it was a bit intimidating in the beginning. “It was out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I was always conscious of how it would be received and tried to filter him. He’d show me videos and I’d say, ‘Oh no, you can’t post it,’ but he’d do it anyway and those were the best-performing videos! We found out early it was better if I stayed out of the way.”
Over three years later, Evan’s TikTok sits at over 314,000 followers and over 13 million likes; his Instagram (where he began posting when they introduced the “reels” feature) is catching up with over 178,000 followers. His popularity with equestrians garnered a partnership with ClipMyHorse.TV for Evan to attend the FEI World Cup Finals in Omaha, Nebraska, where he completed content-related challenges to earn “Evan’s World Cup.”
“My favorite part of the World Cup was getting to use my fun, goofy, wholesome brand in a new environment,” Evan said. “It was a good test to see if I could do something like that away from home and was really fun for me!”
Comedy may not have been Evan’s first career plan, but it was a part of him early. “I always loved making my brothers and family laugh,” he said. “Doing these videos, I can do it on my own time and be as goofy as I want and I love it!” His platforms have turned him into a celebrity in his own right, with equestrians of all ages recognizing him at events.
Piper and Her Fans
After so many entertaining and whimsical posts, there is one equine who has stolen the hearts of Evan’s followers: Piper the pony. The small bay pony first joined Ashley’s barn when a client purchased her in 2020. “She’d been living the good life, out in a pasture, not working,” Ashley recalled. “We turned her into a serious dressage pony. She and my student were great together, and she learned so much!” The student quickly outgrew Piper’s size, but the cute bay pony had wiggled her way into both Evan and Ashley’s hearts, so they made the purchase to keep her at their barn in June 2022.
“We had to keep her around,” Ashley said. “She and Evan have such a great connection. He’s living his childhood phase of horses, now that he has his own pony.” Evan developed a personality for Piper, using an “Elmo-like” voice for voiceovers that he wasn’t quite sure about in the beginning, but it became an important part of a sassy, opinionated but always endearing personality.
The first few videos that included Piper were scenarios of kicking Evan out of her stall; once Piper officially belonged to Ashley and Evan, he began making videos of their daily chats walking to and from turnout. Piper became so popular he created her own Instagram account, @pipertalks, that allows all her fans to see Piper-only content.
“I have followers, but Piper has fans,” Evan said. “I make her sassy in the videos, but she really is a sweet pony. She really brightens your day, is kind of cuddly. She’s a special one!”
Ashley and Evan’s horse Keira has also been featured in Evan’s videos from the very beginning. Keira was foaled out of Ashley’s mare Keela, a Thoroughbred she’d acquired as a teenager. The mare, who had remained in Washington with Ashley’s mother, Julie, had sustained a suspensory injury and while she was in recovery, they took the suggestion to breed her. Keira was born, spent almost four years with Julie, then Ashley brought her to San Diego.
Julie had a camera on Keira from day one to document her growth, so when Evan turned his phone to her, she was a natural. “We joke that Keira’s calling in life is to be a celebrity,” Ashley laughed. “She’ll put on her sweetest face for the camera. She seems to really participate with him, like Piper does. They all have so much character and personality!” Keira has been featured in Evan’s weird horse brags, mare self-defense and a Keira Now series where Evan takes directions from his followers on what to do with her, live.
Life and Liberty
From temporary gig to full-time employee, Evan has never had any qualms about working for his wife, though they were both cautious at first. “I was really protective of our relationship at first because I’ve seen other couples and the stress and strain it can bring on, and he has, too,” Ashley said. “But we get along so well. He’s been a huge part of getting my business to where it is now on so many levels.” Ashley has continued to offer lessons as well as dressage training, and her barn has expanded to 13 horses.
One of those horses is Liberty, a 2009 Oldenburg mare she and Evan own, originally acquired by Ashley’s clients Sloan and Joseph Purcell. Ashley hopes to compete with Liberty at the Grand Prix level within the upcoming months. “I’m very fortunate and grateful to have Liberty. She’s given me so much confidence as a rider and trainer,” Ashley said. “I’m excited for the future with her!”
Since 2019, Ashley has also been fortunate to train with Guenter Seidel, whom she first met while working as a groom. “I’m very grateful to him because he’s believed in me,” she continued. “He is always someone nearby I could reach out to if I had questions, and he’s been a big part of my training with Liberty and my growth as a rider.”
Ashley is a USDF Bronze and Silver medalist with Distinction; she aspires to ride on the international stage, specifically a United States team, so she’s focused on continuing her education and experience at the higher levels. “Ashley is so dedicated,” Evan said. “I’ve known from the start that she’s dedicated to the sport of dressage. She always wanted to start her own program and to see her do it is super impressive.”
For all those who love Ashley and Evan, it’s easy to identify the connection, trust and support between the couple, though perhaps there’s no one with more insight than Ashley’s mother, Julie. “It’s so important he supports her,” Julie said. “He always has, even before he got into the horses. And it’s natural for him; he truly loves his job right now.”
Even though the content creation has become its own sort of animal, Evan’s heart truly lies in helping Ashley achieve her dreams—in his dual role as husband and head groom. “Her life dream is to get to the top of the sport,” he said. “I want to be the one there by her side, grooming the horse, helping her get ready!”
For more information, visit donadtdressage.com or follow Evan on Instagram @evangrooms and @pipertalks
Photos by Jeni Brunner, www.jenijophoto.com
