We truly believe that we represent some of the finest young horses in the country that are specifically bred to be amateur friendly, and yet still highly competitive.  We are constantly looking for ways to improve our marketing  and services not only to get that message out, but also to better serve the needs and desires of our current and future clients.  Because we are never content to just sit on our laurels and wait for people to come to us, we are bringing the question to you.  How can we serve you better?  What is important to you, our current, past and potential future clients?

The first show we did was the Fiesta de Dressage here in Albuquerque.   Marika and Rivera both made their show ring debuts for Paradigm Sporthorse Farm.   Marika struggled a bit with maintaining her confidence in the ring, but she got through all of her tests with no major mistakes and overall was a very good girl.   Rivera was able to hold together her first-show nerves though, and brought home some top placings and scores in the high-60’s at Training Level.

Point Blank showed for Cherry Tree Farm at First Level, his first rated show in about 2 years, and also brought home some top placings with scores in the high-60’s.   Several of our students also had success, with John Collins aboard Aaron, Rena Haynes aboard Roy-El’s Leading Man, and Emily Esterson aboard Bel Canta all scoring well and earning highly respectable placings!

In between shows, I hurried out to California again to get a few more lessons in with Hilda before the USEF-mandated time limit was breached regarding showing in front of a judge who you train with.   It turned out to be a good thing, as I was able to feel out a few things that were missing with my horses at home so I could spend the next few weeks working on it before heading up to the Paragon CDI*** & open show.

The 2 White Feet crew put on yet another wonderful show up in Estes Park for the Paragon show, and Modern Magic strutted her stuff to scores as high as 69% in First Level.   Richochet also claimed high marks in her breed class, ending up the Filly Champion with scores of 78.8%!   Finally, McKensey made her show-ring debut under Fred Magazzenni with scores as high as 71.2% at Training Level and was the Reserve High Point horse at 4^th Level and below on the first day of the show.   Overall, another highly productive outing for Paradigm’s horses!

As I mentioned, I’ve begun teaching clinics at 4 Winds Equestrian Center.   I am there about every 2 weeks on Saturdays.   Many days end up full, but if you are interested in getting in, please contact Colleen Novotney at 4windsec@higherspeed.net.   It’s a fantastic facility, super staff, and great group of riders!

That’s about it for now.   I hope to have some very exciting news to report soon, so keep checking back for updates!   It’s going to be huge!

If you are ready to join the STC Dressage team, or would like more info about how we can help you Take your Ride to the Next Level, give us a call, we would love to hear from you!

As pretty much everyone is aware, we had an outbreak of EHV-1 this spring here in the western United States.   While none of our horses were affected, and the spread of the disease was contained very quickly and effectively, it did cause quite a stir.   There was one show in March where all the horses did very well.   Whirlaway, Magic, and Mysti all scored in the mid- to upper-60’s their first time out at First Level and secured top placings.   Several other young horses that are just starting their under-saddle careers were there for schooling and handled the experience quite well.   Keep your eyes open for them to debut in the competition ring.

Then things got a bit more difficult.   As you can see on the calendar, there was supposed to be a show here in Albuquerque in May, and then another in June up in Parker, Colorado.   Both were cancelled as a precautionary measure due to the virus.   So, needless to say, there’s not much else to report about our shows yet.   Stay tuned though, as we have been given the ‘all-clear’ by the USDA and our individual state veterinary offices, and our next show is 4^th of July weekend here in Albuquerque.

During all of this, Acacia managed to manifest what is quite possibly the coolest job ever, next to mine of course!   She applied for, and ultimately got, a new career as the State Brewer’s Associations Coordinator with the Brewer’s Association based in Boulder, Colorado.   Most of the time, she gets to work from home and teleconference with her main office.   That is nice because it means we can continue on our path together, and she is able to still help out in many ways with the business operations, marketing, and shows on the weekends.   Also, she gets to travel all over the country to various craft beer festivals and guild meetings to support the individual states get their craft beer associations started.   Then, they can have a larger, more unified voice to help with gaining more market share and favorable legislation, in addition to promoting themselves better.

May found us saying farewell to our little sweetheart, Whirlaway, as she embarked on her journey to her new owner.   Congratulations go out to Sylvia of The Woodlands, Texas on the purchase of Whirli!   We wish you the best of luck in your partnership and look forward to hearing all the wonderful updates that we know will be coming our way!

Finally, my joy for writing has been starting to be realized.   I have been a public member on the Barnby Notes website for a little while now.   The link will take you directly to my profile, but be sure to browse the site while you are there!  For those who are not familiar, Barnby Notes is an online journal-keeping resource.   There are dozens of public members, including Lendon Gray, Betsy Steiner and Debbie McDonald, to name a few.   You can read their journals, post comments, and learn from them as they document their training.   Anyway, I am currently in the process of a mentorship with Dr. Kathleen Kelly, who specializes in helping athletes use their journaling, along with visualization, to improve their abilities.   She’s left some very insightful comments that are worth checking out!

Also, I was published in the April issues of both Dressage Today and Sidelines.   Dressage Today featured me in their popular “Ask the Experts” column, and Sidelines ran a feature article about me and my business.  Check them both out!

Well, that’s it for now.   There are a lot of things to look forward to still through this year, and I can’t wait to see it continue to develop!    Please, continue to follow along on this wonderful journey and share our experiences.  If you are ready to join the STC Dressage team, or would like more info about how we can help you Take your Ride to the Next Level, give us a call, we would love to hear from you!

First, I would like to congratulate again John of Albuquerque, NM on the purchase of Aaron and Staci of Boulder, CO on the purchase of Dost!   Both matches could not be better and we look forward to seeing both pairs progress down the road.   Of course, both horses can still be viewed on our Sold Horses page, as an example of the quality of horses we have sold in the past.

Just recently, our 2011 Calendar was uploaded to the website.   It includes the proposed show season for STC Dressage, as well as a few other events that are going on through the year.   There will be more dates added to this calendar as time passes and clinics are announced, etc.   Keep checking back for the latest updates!   If you are interested in showing with the STC Dressage team, just contact us and we’ll set something up with you!

We’ve also updated our Accomplishments page to reflect our results and titles earned throughout the year.   I must say, it has been quite an impressive year!   Once again, it would appear that STC Dressage has brought more Champion titles back to New Mexico than any other farm in the state!

I would encourage you to also check out some of our Clients’ pages.   Paradigm Sporthorse Farm has a lot of updates to sales horses and other information up.   Also, Camelot Friesians is debuting a brand-new website, designed by Acacia.   It will have new pictures, more current information, plus a new section for the Olde English Bulldogges that they will soon be breeding in addition to the Friesians.

Hopefully everyone has already noticed some of our new marketing campaign.   We have ads in several nation-wide magazines, on more sales websites, and flyers have been getting sent to friends all over the country who have graciously agreed to post them at area shows and farms.   All of the advertising has also been designed by Acacia with her expert touch!   If you haven’t seen it yet, keep your eyes open as we are always interested in feedback to continue improving our results.

As we set our sights on the coming year, we are excited about the prospects of it.   We have some unbelievable new young horses coming under saddle that will be ready for competition in the spring.   We are also working on making some trips out to California for training, so keep your eyes on the calendar for dates to be added for that.   We also have one or two things in the works which we hope to announce before too long if the details can be worked out.   All in all, very exciting!

As always, if you are ready to join the STC Dressage team, or would like more info about how we can help you Take your Ride to the Next Level, give us a call, we would love to hear from you!

It starts with the Memorial Day weekend show here in Albuquerque.   Barbara Burkhardt’s Dost was competing solidly at 4^th Level again, winning both of his classes with scores in the mid-60’s.   No less impressive was Camelot Friesian’s young mare Mysti, winning both of her Training level classes with scores in the low 70’s.   Of course, Paradigm Sporthorse Farm also had another good showing with Aaron making his debut at Third Level, Modern Magic going in the ring for the first time in the 4 Year Old test, and Whirlaway continuing her steady performances in Training Level.   All three posted good results with respectable scores.

Next up was the Fiesta de Dressage, again here in Albuquerque, on July 4^th weekend.   Dost once again put in some solid 4^th Level rides, winning with scores in the mid-60’s.   Modern Magic also put in an improved performance, getting a little more comfortable with the competition life.   Right after we got home from that one, we had to re-pack the trailer and head up to the Rocky Mountain Dressage show in Longmont, CO the following weekend

Marquis

Paradigm took Magic and Whirlaway under saddle, and their 2 year old gelding Marquis to show in hand.   Whirlaway, as is becoming her style, went out and put in some very solid and steady performances earning top placings and scores up to the low 70’s at Training Level.   Modern Magic continued showing improvements in her rides, also scoring up to low 70’s in the 4 Year Old test.   The star of the show, though, was Marquis.   He ended up as the Young Horse Champion with very impressive scores of 78.8%.

Rheiny

After a short break, it was back up to Colorado again for the Paragon Dressage CDI* in Estes Park.   Magic and Whirlaway continued their winning ways and low 70’s scores, while the yearling filly Rheiny Day Woman was the in-hand horse.   Rheiny did not let us down, once again capturing for us the Young Horse Champion title with scores in the low 70’s.

After spending about 8 days at home, it was once again back to Colorado, this time for the GAIG/USDF Region 5 Championships, RMDS Championships & Open Show, and the GAIG/USDF Rocky Mountain Series Breeders Championships (wow that’s a mouthful!)   Over the course of 6 days of competition, Paradigm continued setting the standards.   Marquis ended up taking home the USDF Reserve   Champion Colt as well as the RMDS Young Horse Champion titles with individual scores over 81%!   Modern Magic and Whirlaway set the 3^rd and 4^th highest scores, respectively, out of more than 740 total rides during the week.   In addition, they placed consecutively next to each other in the top three in all but one class that they were entered in.   Finally, Aaron captured the GAIG/USDF 2^nd level Freestyle Champion title.   This picture is our final ribbon haul!

Normally, that would have been the end of the season for us and we could have relaxed a bit, but instead we got home and quickly changed gears to prepare for the Oldenburg Horse Breeders Society Inspection that we were hosting only 2 weeks later.   It turned into only slight chaos when the judge missed her flight out and couldn’t catch another until the following day, only just arriving when we should have already been halfway through the inspection.   It all turned out ok though, and Paradigm finished the day with 2 out of their 4 fillies earning Premium status.

World Equestrian Games 2010

If that’s not enough, it was time to change gears yet again and head back up to Colorado once more for Acacia to officiate a wedding at the charming Eureka Lodge in the stunningly gorgeous town of Silverton.   It could not have been a more perfect setting, perfect day, perfect wedding!   And yet, our travels were still not done!   We drove home only to re-pack our suitcases and drive the same day to the airport to fly out to Lexington, KY for the Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games!   I would love to talk about what an incredible experience that was, but it will have to wait for another update or this one will never end!   It was awe-inspiring though, and I got to meet up with a lot of dear old friends and reconnect with a lot of people I hadn’t seen or spoken to in years.

Then we came home, and you guessed it, once again had to change gears and get back into competition mode (though it wasn’t too hard after the inspiration of WEG!).   It was time for the Harvest Fling show here in Albuquerque.   While a comparatively easy show as we only had one horse to ride, it was no less important.   Dost was due to make his Prix St. Georges debut!    It’s been a much-anticipated and hard-worked-for event, and he didn’t let us down.   For his first time ever at the FEI levels, Dost finished in first place with a score of 62.895%!

After this show, we are finally able to catch our breath a bit and relax.   As I mentioned in the beginning, it’s been quite an exciting ride!   We are now looking forward to our plans for the winter season and they include some potentially exciting things.   I’ll keep you posted on the plans as they develop.   It’s also time to really get going with the next group of young horses and if I’m right, next year will be even better than this year!   I can’t wait!

As always, if you are ready to join the STC Dressage team, or would like more info about how we can help you Take your Ride to the Next Level, give us a call, we would love to hear from you!

The online calendar is growing in size, and there are still more additions to come as dates become more firm.   For those who may be interested in having STC Dressage handle your horses at inspections or breed shows in the area, be sure to get in touch with us soon so we can be sure to add it to the schedule.   If you are not sure whether it’s worth hiring a professional handler for your horse for an inspection or show, check out our Accomplishments page to see the results!

In late April, Sean rode Aaron in a clinic with Hilda Gurney.   They worked to improve his tempo and throughness in his collected work and as a result have been able to get his flying changes more consistent.   After a bit more practice at home, watch for him to debut at Third Level in the near future.   Aaron’s 2^nd Level freestyle also received some polishing up with advice from Hilda so look for a slightly modified routine at the next show.   The updated routine, along with new music should push his scores even higher.

Also along the lines of training, all the horses are continuing to improve steadily.   Dost is getting more and more of his strength back and is starting to work his piaffe/passage transitions again, along with getting more balanced in the pirouettes and changes.   It won’t be long before he finds his new home, so if you are thinking about coming to see him don’t wait much longer!   Whirlaway, too, just keeps getting better and more balanced.   She will definitely be a perfect horse for a junior or smaller adult to bring along through the levels with her steady mind, correct gaits and willing attitude.   And of course there’s also Modern Magic, a gorgeous black 4 year old mare with unlimited potential and outstanding athleticism that will make any advanced rider eager to own this sure FEI prospect.   Check out Dost and Whirlaway on the Sales Horse page, and keep your eyes open for pictures and video of Magic coming soon.

After evaluating all of the horses we’ve had in training over the last several years, we have decided to make a small change to our offered services.   We have, since our inception, offered a ‘partial training’ option which included only 3 days a week of training.    This was primarily beneficial to the horses that we were starting under saddle so as not to put too much mental or physical stress on them for the first few months.   We are no longer starting horses under saddle, but instead refer them to Dennis Brazeal of Bosque Farms, NM who does a superb job of getting their initial training underway.   For older horses, a 5-6 day per week training program is required to show any significant progress in their development, any less has proven to be ineffective.   For these reasons, we are eliminating the partial training option from our offered services. This will allow us to optimize and dedicate more time to our students and full training horses.

As always, we are continually reviewing our efficiency and making changes where necessary to best serve the interests of our clients and friends.   We welcome any comments you have about our services or the website so we can keep making progress.  When you are ready to join the STC Dressage team, or would like more info about how we can help you Take your Ride to the Next Level , give us a call, we would love to hear from you!

Speaking of our first show of the season, we could not have started out much better.  The highlight of the show was the 2nd Level Freestyle performed by Sean on Paradigm Sporthorse Farm’s Trakehner gelding Aaron.  They set the high score of the show with a 74.5%!  Also showing at the top of her game was the Swedish Warmblood mare Whirlaway, proving once again why Paradigm, owned by Wanda and Mark Hage, is the top dressage breeder in New Mexico and 28th in the nation as ranked by USDF for 2009.  Whirlaway was expertly started under saddle by Dennis “D” Brazeal of Bosque Farms, NM about 5-6 months ago and after only riding her for 3 weeks upon her return home Sean piloted her to scores of up to 70% in her Training Level class.

Also posting highly respectable scores for the weekend was the Friesian mare Mysti, owned by Camelot Friesians, LLC.  Mysti is a fantastic quality mare, very ‘modern’ in type and movement, which the judges seem to agree upon with consistent scores of ’7′ on her gaits and overall scores up to 68.8%.  Finally, but certainly not least was Dost, a Hanoverian gelding owned by Barbara Burkhardt.  He posted scores up to 63.2% at Third Level and made the move back up to 4th Level.  For complete results of the show, visit www.nmds.us.

The show could not have run more smoothly with the clients all lending a hand wherever needed and Acacia managing things back in the barn and keeping Sean on track and on time!  Huge congratulations and thanks go out to all of our clients and friends for a job well done at a very successful first show of the 2010 season!  We can’t wait for the next one!

We would also like to take a moment to thank all those riders, owners, staff, support personnel and spectators who chose to wear a green ribbon on their lapels for the weekend in support of Sean’s good friend Courtney King-Dye.  As you are all aware by now she was seriously injured in a riding accident and though she has shown marked improvements over the last couple of weeks, she still has a long, difficult road ahead of her.  Continue to pray for her.   Check her website, Courtney King Dressage, for updates from her husband Jason.

Show season was of mixed results this year. There were some disappointing rides here and there and while Regionals did not go as well as we would have liked, the season as a whole still turned out pretty good. Paradigm’s horses Aaron and Pia were both ranked nationally for their respective breed organizations. Aaron was 4th place in 2nd Level, Open Division for the American Trakehner Association and Pia was 3rd place in Training Level, Open Division for the Swedish Warmblood Association of North America. Other results from Paradigm include their young filly Rivera taking top honors at the Dressage in the Rockies Breed Show in Parker, CO. She then had strong placings at the RMDS Breed Championships as well. Paradigm’s mare Raven Review earned her Elite status with the American Hanoverian Society as well as claiming the Champion Mare title, besting several other mares from host facility Horses Unlimited, a premier large scale breeding operation. There were many other highlights for Paradigm over the year, proving once again that quality, not quantity, is the key to success in any breeding program. Keep your eyes on this farm as they continue on their path to become a nationally recognized producer of top-quality horses.

Other highlights include Montesserat, the Swedish gelding from Wahoo Farms, bringing home scores in the 70’s once again this year. Watch for him to keep progressing and working up the levels as he will likely continue to dominate the show ring. Katherine Pettus claimed top honors with several horses at breed shows during the year. And Camelot Friesians posted good results with their young horse Mysti scoring in the high 60’s during her first season of showing. She too should only continue climbing in her scores as her strength and balance continue to improve.

Other awards include Sean (finally) turning in all of his scores to earn his Bronze Medal with USDF and then continuing on with Paradigm’s Oldenburg stallion Rosenkönig to also earn his Silver Medal. Tragedy struck soon afterwards, however.

In September, complications resulting from kidney failure led to the loss of that wonderful stallion. He will be remembered always for his kind nature, exceptional talent, and outstanding progeny. He will certainly live on in our hearts and minds and through those offspring, who are already proving their worth. In a strange twist of fate, out of this heartbreak came the new beginning.

On the day that König was put to rest, a day which could not have been much darker, a new light began to shine. At the Friesian Keuring later that same day in Castle Rock, Colorado, Sean met Acacia Coast. They kept in touch over the ensuing weeks and a developed a bond. Through this bond they discovered that their paths, both personally and professionally, were very closely matched. So it is with great pride that beginning in early December, STC Dressage announces the addition of Acacia to our ‘family.’

Acacia is the owner/operator of Elevation Friesians, based out of Elbert, Colorado. Elevation has produced top-quality friesians over the last few years and captured several top honors at the Keuring this year. Her operations will be moving down here to Los Lunas and will join forces with STC Dressage. In addition to her knowledge and passion for horses and what it takes to run a successful breeding program, Acacia brings many other things to the table. She has a degree in International Business from Fort Lewis College and has spent time studying abroad in Europe as part of that degree. After working up the ranks for several years, Acacia has been the Custom Solutions Project Manager at the Center for Creative Leadership(CCL) for some time now. CCL is one of the largest management training firms in the world, with campuses both here and abroad, and works with such clients as the Energizer Battery Corp. and NASA. Acacia’s time with CCL has given her experience with international travel, event planning, sales and negotiation and information technology, among other things.

Once the transition is made, Acacia will be helping with the day to day operations of STC Dressage, as well as continuing to improve our networking and marketing pipelines. With the combination of STC Dressage and Elevation Friesians, there will be no better team in the state of New Mexico or the entire Southwest Region. With an extensive network of contacts both throughout the United States as well as Europe, we can help with shopping for horses. If we don’t have it here, we’ll help you find it and can arrange buying trips both domestically and abroad. If you’re looking to advance your knowledge and abilities with riding, training and general horse management, we’re the place to be. With a consistent string of top-placing horses, we can give you the experience and exposure of what it takes to be at the top. When you’re ready to take your ride to the next level, give us a call!