BACKGROUND

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Jana DiCarlo was born in Tampa, Florida. She lived in Spain and Taiwan as a child when her father was in the Marine Corps and finally settled in Northern Virginia where she has lived for thirty-two years.  She came up with the Anyplace Farm name in 1996 when a group of girls she was teaching decided to switch barns, just after spending a considerable amount to have that farm's name embroidered on jackets.  Jana decided to come up with a name that could follow her clients wherever they were boarded and so the name came about.

Growing up with a horse in her backyard, Jana competed in local hunter shows and competed in VQHA and AQHA sanctioned shows.  She attended Virginia Intermont College, competing on the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) team and competed in the occasional AHSA show.  She began teaching when she was 18 while she was home from college during breaks.  After college, she worked as a groom for Frank Madden & Bill Cooney's  Beacon Hill Show Stables of New York (now a business run by Frank & Stacia Madden in Colts Neck, NJ) while they competed in Tampa, FL one winter.  Her charges included Mia Wood and Candice (Schlom) King.  She then managed a sales and training barn in Middleburg, VA.

Jana returned to teaching in 1988 and continued teaching while working a full time job as an Executive Assistant for various corporations in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia.  She currently supports the President & CEO of a Defense Contracting firm in Reston, VA.  Jana's mission was to provide the best in 'crossover training' for the rider that wished to compete at the local level and move up to the rated horse shows.  Riders were given a strong foundation based on classic equitation.  They were taught how to be strong, consistent winners and how to gracefully handle times when they weren't.  Respect for parents and other individuals supporting them was paramount, as was the well-being of their horse.  Proper turnout of the horse and rider was taught and after moving up from Anyplace Farm, riders moved seamlessly and confidently into the rated ring and onto their college IHSA teams.

After reaching all of her teaching goals, she decided to make 2005 her last year as a professional.  Time with horses in the future will be spent working towards personal riding goals such as attending clinics, taking lessons with local professionals, competing in horse shows and hunting or pleasure riding with friends.  She'll also enjoy watching former students competing at shows with their new trainers.

Jana also enjoys writing and producing the horse in art.  She is a contributing writer for Horse Talk Magazine and as a college student, penciled the cover of the 1987 Grand Prix Issue of The Chronicle of the Horse.