Since this is my first blog posting, I figured I would tell everyone a little bit about myself. I was born and raised on Whidbey Island, Washington, on a small cattle farm. My love from horses goes back as far as I can remember. They were always a part of my life- they were always my only passion in life. From the time I was young, we always had several ponies and farm horses around, so I spent my days riding around the trails and on the beaches. I remember heading out early every morning, with a sack lunch packed and a group of friends, and riding our horses all day long and well into the night. Often times, even that wasn’t enough, and we would routinely sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and go for bareback “moonlight rides” up into the big hay field or down to the beach.
I originally started out riding western. I enjoyed trail riding and western gaming. Then I switched to English when I joined our local chapter of the United States Pony Club at age 7. I remember showing up for my first dressage lesson with a western saddle on my fat little pony. J I competed in Eventing for several years, as well as Pony Club Mounted Games, but I soon became fascinated with dressage. I would often get “problem horses” given to me to train and I found that, no matter what discipline the horses competed in, they all improved dramatically through dressage work. I began competing at lower level dressage shows around age 13.
My first real “dressage horse” was a thoroughbred mare who was slightly psychotic and very high strung. I bought her sight-unseen from a lady in California, and it was only after I had owned her for a while that I discovered she used to be owned by a rodeo outfit called “Wild Rides Inc.” who used her as a rodeo bucking horse. But, despite her history, she taught me a lot about riding with tactful feel, and taking everything in stride- whether it was wining, losing, or bolting out of the dressage ring mid-test. When I was 16, I got the chance to compete that mare in the North American Junior Dressage Championships at Paxton Farms, as a member of the United States Pony Club dressage team. I then was able to sell my Thorougbred mare, and I bought a Swedish Warmblood gelding named “Miguel”. With Miguel, we were members of the silver medal team at the 2002 “Cosequin” Junior Dressage Championships, and a member of the bronze medal Region 6 team at the 2004 North American Young Rider’s Championships.
Growing up, my only instruction was occasional group lessons through our Pony Club chapter. Then I took lessons from Trenna Atkins and Carol McArdle, in Washington. I came to Debbie McDonald in the summer of 2005. At the time I was attending Washington State University, studying Animal Science and Business. After being a working student for the summer, I was offered a full time job at Parry and Peggy Thomas’s River Grove Farm. That fall I traveled with them to the Elite Hanoverian Auction in Germany, to purchase a horse for me to train and show. I have gone back with them every fall since then, and we have found many nice young horses there. Currently, the horses I am showing for River Grove Farm are the following:
“Dax”: 6 year old black Hanoverian gelding. Recently purchased by an in-barn customer, Melanie Cornwell. He is the kindest, most honest horse I have ever ridden. He is incredibly smart, and breath taking to watch.
“Wenesa”: 7 year old chestnut Hanoverian mare. She is now owned by an in-barn customer, Elma Garcia. This mare was very successful last year, showing 2nd level with scores consistently in the high 70%s.
“Argentinia”: 7 year old chestnut Hanoverian mare. She is a very talented and beautiful mare. She was also successful at 2nd level this past show season. We have high hopes for her, and think she has the potential to be an international quality horse.
“Dylan”: 4 year old bay Hanoverian mare. The newest member of our barn. She is still very green, but shows great quality gaits and a fantastic mind. She will make her debut in the show ring next spring.
“Whidbey”: 8 year old chestnut Hanoverian gelding. He was the first horse the Thomas’s bought for me at the auction. He is named after the Island I grew up on. I started out showing him Training level as a 3 year old. This past year he was very successful at PSG and the Developing Horse classes. He is a feisty little guy, but he is very smart and a lot of fun to ride.
“Felix”: 12 year old dark brown Hanoverian gelding. Felix was bought from the auction as a 3 year old, and trained and shown by Debbie McDonald through Grand Prix. This year, I was given the incredible honor of taking over the ride on this amazingly talented horse. I will never be able to express my gratitude to Debbie for having the confidence in me to allow me to ride Felix.
“Wizard”: 10 year old dark brown Oldenburg gelding. Wizard was bought from Holland as a 5 year old. Debbie rode him for two years, then I took over the ride on him 3 years ago. We competed at PSG/Int. 1 the first year, then we did the Brentina Cup last year and were able to clinch the title of 2008 national champion. This past spring, Wizard and I were invited to be the test rider for the Grand Prix at the World Cup in Las Vegas.
I truly believe I have the best job in the world, and I am eternally grateful for the support of Bob and Debbie McDonald, and Parry and Peggy Thomas. All I have ever wanted in life was to be able to make a living doing what I love- training horses. I feel very fortunate to have had the success I’ve had at a fairly young age. But, although the success is a fantastic result of the daily hard work, at the end of the day it is the training process that really fascinates me. I will always be happy as long as I continue to do what I love- work with these magnificent animals.
