Piccinni - Top Rider/top instructor By Ingrid Edisen


Barbie Piccinni operates


one of the largest boarding barns in Austin, White Fences Equestrian Center. Last year she achieved her goal of achieving national dres- sage ranking in the top ten. Many of her students are recipients of United States Dressage Federation (USDF) bronze medals. Since her childhood days in Michigan, she knew she wanted a career in the horse industry and was introduced to horses at day camp when she was five.


“I rode a steady paint


mare named Lady. I got my arm almost bit off at that day camp by a palomino at feeding time but it did not dishearten me to turn away from horses. In my teenage years I took care of all the neigh- bors horses in exchange for rid- ing privileges. When I turned 14 my Dad finally agreed to let me purchase my first horse, which I did with babysitting money. He thought it would keep me away from the boys! My first horse was named Sunshine and we called him Sunny. He was a half-Arab, half-Morgan two- year-old unbroken stallion--not your typical first horse. My mother found a master trainer from England named Barbara Ezel who was to be the foundation of all my knowledge starting horses. She would pick me up


from school each day and bring to the barn where I learned from the bottom up how to ride and train Sunny. She knew dressage and three-day eventing so that is what I learned. We started Sunny in dressage and trained him to 4th level. Barbara moved away and then I continued to teach Sunny in other disciplines of riding such as western, showmanship, barrel rac- ing, jumping and driving. In 1980 I moved to


Texas and brought Sunny with me. There was not a lot of dressage going on here then so I decided to learn hunter which was popular. I showed hunter/jumper in between taking care of my children and owning a restaurant business. In 1993 my husband had


a stroke and my hobby turned into a business. In addition to caring for my husband and my two children I ran White Fences in south Austin along with a dog boarding business. It was very successful but I always wanted a much larger facility so


I could watch the horses running and playing in the pastures. In 2004 my husband passed away after a long illness and I opened my present facility, White Fences, in Manor, about 15-20 minutes east of downtown Austin. Here we have a 65-horse facility which is currently full with a waiting list. My daughters Angel and Gina both train out of the facility which is very rewarding to me. They both make me very proud. Most of my clients


are show orientated but I do have some clients that are motivated to just train and learn. My teaching structure is geared towards clas-


THE HORSE GAZETTE


sons daily. This makes a very long day but I love it. When I get back to the


house my boyfriend, Ascencion usually has a nice dinner waiting! I couldn’t do it without him.” As it turns out, Ascenc-


ion Hernandez not only cooks but built the entire facility for Barbie. [He partners with Scott Arnold in a business that constructs covered riding arenas.] Barbie explained that


she is a goal oriented person. She made up her mind to go for the top twenty-five ranking in ‘09 with the slightly longer goal of making it into the top ten the following year (this year). However, she exceeded her goals in ‘09 and made it to the top ten last year. The schedule was grueling. She had to criss cross the country to attend shows and is purposely taking this year off to recoup. This year she is focused on as- sisting her students gain their USDF silver medals and riders from her barn are at shows at least twice a month. She hopes to participate in the Olympic qualifying competitions in two years and/or the World Cup whenever it is held in Las Vegas.


sical show ring dressage. When I am showing my daughters take over my lessons. Gina is one score away from her bronze medal. She got her first, second and one third level score in one weekend! Angel is fantastic with nervous riders that needs confidence. We all have our strong points to help riders achieve their goals.


I have my bronze, silver,


and gold USDF medals. I also have my “L” Judges status with which I graduated with distinction. I am currently being coached by Elaine Gibala, from Lexington, Kentucky, and David Blake who is at Stefen Peters barn in San Diego, Califor- nia. My goals are to participate in the Olympic trials in two years. Last year my horse, Royal Tango and I were ranked 16th in “Horse of the Year” national standings at Grand Prix and ranked 9th in the Freestyle Grand Prix. Royal Tango is a 12-year-old, 17.3 hand Dutch warm blood by Contango. I have had him since he was two and trained him myself. My usual day consists


of working with quite a few horses, usually about 6, and giving 2-8 les-


For now she is weighing whether she should ship her horse over to Holland and seek out even more concentrated coaching in Europe or hiring in more Europeans to help her over here. One person she is considering is Christine Taurig who does travel stateside. When asked how she


helps her students get over stage fright when showing, she told her secret of teaching them to think of the judge as somebody they have contracted with to get an opinion about their riding. “It is sort of like thinking of the judge working for you,” she said. Ever ready for the next


show, she keeps a tack trunk packed and is blessed to have employed Rafael Hernandez as her groom. Ironically, his name is the same as the groom who works with Steffan Peters’ famous dressage mount, Ravel.


To contact White Fences


Equestrian Center, call (512) 282- 6248 or visit www.whitefencesau- stin.com. Ascension Hernandez of Covered-Riding-Arenas-of-Texas. com can be reached at (512) 563- 7404.


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