Amber Henter enters her fourth season (2021-22) as the Mustangs' jumping seat coach. During her time on the Hilltop, she has coached four NCEA All-Americans and an NCEA Rider of the Year.
During her third season on the Hilltop (2020-21), Henter helped lead the Mustangs to an ECAC Conference Championship and NCEA Reserve National Championship. The jumping seat team finished 8-4 in a season that saw multiple program-bests, including a 10-2 overall record. Henter's jumping seat riders totaled two NCEA All-American honors, including a Fences First Team selection for Devin Seek and Flat Second Team selection for Taylor Madden, two ECAC Rider of the Year honors (Seek - Fences, Madden - Flat) and two All-Conference nods. At the NCEA Championship, Madden earned a spot on the All-Championship Flat Team and scored a 254 on Championship Day for the highest Flat score of the entire weekend. SMU also had the highest Fences score of the weekend as Olivia Woodson scored a 271.
In her second season with the Mustangs (2019-20), Henter helped SMU to a 7-5 jumping seat record and an impressive one-loss spring season before the postseason championships were cancelled due to COVID-19. She coached the jumping seat team to multiple accolades for the season, which included an NCEA Fences All-American Honorable Mention selection in Tali DeJong, ECAC Fences Rider of the Year (Devin Seek), ECAC Freshman Flat Rider of the Year (Miranda Seade) and three All-Conference riders.
During her coaching debut in 2018-19, Henter led the SMU Equitation on the Flat and Equitation Over Fences squads to the Semifinals of the NCEA Event National Championships. The Mustangs also earned a back-to-back conference tournament title in Martin, Tennessee, becoming the first team in UEC history to hoist the league trophy twice. Henter oversaw the development of First Team NCEA Ariat All-American over fences Nora Gray, First Team NCEA Ariat All-American on the flat Vivian Yowan and NCEA Ariat All-America Honorable Mention team member, Devin Seek. The trio also earned All-UEC honors over fences, with Yowan also notching All-UEC recognition on the flat. Gray and Yowan were named UEC Riders of the Year over fences and on the flat, respectively, while Seek garnered UEC Freshman of the Year over fences. Gray capped off her senior campaign by winning NCEA Fences Co-Rider of the Year and the coveted Athletic Director's S.P.I.R.I.T Award at the 2019 Pony Awards.
Henter joined the SMU coaching staff after a successful stint as an assistant trainer under Shane Sweetnam at Sweet Oak Farm, one of the top showjumping barns in the nation. Prior to her time at Sweet Oak Farm, Henter spent two years as an assistant trainer for Valerie Renihan at Findlay's Ridge, coaching and riding for clients of the facility.
As a student-athlete at South Carolina, Henter was one of the top riders in the country, posting a career record of 61-26-1 from 2012-15. During her senior year, she went 23-6-1 with four Most Outstanding Player awards, earning her Ariat First Team All-America honors and a spot on the All-SEC Team. Henter is the only Gamecock in program history to be selected as a team captain three years in a row (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15). Her 2015 graduating class is known as the "Four Rings in Four Years" class, as the Gamecocks won a national championship and three conference championships over a span of four seasons.
During her sophomore season in 2012-13, Henter helped lead South Carolina over Auburn to win the inaugural Southeastern Conference Championship. One year later, the Gamecocks clinched their second straight SEC Championship and became the first team in University of South Carolina history to win back-to-back SEC Championships. During her senior year and third season in a row as team captain, Henter led the Gamecocks past all three 2015 conference champions (Fresno State, Baylor, Georgia) in Waco to win the NCEA National Championship.
Henter's addition to the SMU staff partnered her with a former SEC rival in Mustangs' associate head coach
McKenzie Lantz, who was also one of the top riders in the country while at the University of Georgia.
During the 2013-14 season, while Lantz was a team captain at Georgia and Henter was a team captain at South Carolina, the Bulldogs and Gamecocks went head-to-head four times in what is considered the most thrilling season series in NCEA history. After the SEC opponents split their regular season series with the Bulldogs winning at South Carolina in October and the Gamecocks winning at Georgia in February, the two squads faced off twice in a span of just three weeks with championships on the line both times. At the SEC Championship, the Gamecocks beat Georgia in a 10-10 tiebreaker to win their second straight conference title. Three weeks later in Waco, Texas, Georgia knocked off the Gamecocks in an 8-8 tiebreaker to win the NCEA National Championship.
Henter graduated Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in hospitality and retail management.
