scores and what levels they were riding. Feeling like a fish out of water, she rode her test ride and was surprised to learn that she and two other non-dressage riders got the jobs. “Turns out they didn’t want experienced dressage riders per se, since a lot of the riding would be considered ‘entertainment dressage,’ so that was where it all started.”
WORKING STUDENT After two years riding Andalusians, Stacey was suddenly unemployed when the company shut down the operation. It was the mid-eighties. “I picked up an issue of The Chronicle of the Horse and
found a position in Rochester, Massachusetts working for a Hanoverian breeder,” she says. While there she met dres- sage trainer and Olympian Michael Poulin, which would begin their longtime coaching relationship. After three years with the breeder, she next moved to the Poulin’s farm
in Maine and was a working student there for two years. “Looking back, this was best foundation on which to build my dressage career,” she remarks. Stacey ultimately became homesick for southern Cali-
fornia. With the Poulins on her resume, obtaining employ- ment wasn’t difficult and she landed on her feet at a Swed- ish Warmblood breeding farm in Del Mar. “While there I was exposed to a lot of top riders and trainers, including Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel, who were starting to branch out on their own. It was a good time for me,” she says.
DOWNS AND UPS While in Del Mar, she met a veterinarian and the pair became engaged. He wanted to move his practice to the Midwest and off the two went to launch their careers. “After six years, life didn’t quite work out as planned there. In fact, we never married. So I had to move on,” says Stacey. Next she found herself in Virginia working in 1996 with
a Warmblood importer named Irwin LePow. It was there that she had a breakthrough in her career. “He had a very talented horse named Voyager that I rode. Together we won all kinds of championships. The big event that ‘put me on the map’ was a Washington International Prix St. Georges class that was so large it extended over two days. We were champion of that enormous class and placed sixth in Inter- mediate 1 as well. Suddenly people knew who I was.” In 1998 she moved to North Carolina, bringing Voyager
with her, but he hurt himself soon after with a career- ending injury. She settled north of Charlotte and built up her dressage training business, married her husband Scott and had a daughter, now 12. She stayed in touch with Michael and for a while would come to Florida to clinic with him during the winters. “Michael has been my mentor and I try and work with him whenever possible. For example, at the U.S. Dressage Nationals last year he was there and coached me with the horses I competed,” she says.
DIFFERENT BREEDS Riding different types of horses throughout her career has proved to be an advantage for Stacey, since she learned how to be tactful with the sensitive ones and firm (at times) with the more laidback ones. Currently she’s training and competing PREs, Warmbloods and a Friesian. “The PREs tend to be much more sensitive than Warm- bloods and ‘wear their hearts on their sleeves,’ says Stacey. “You can’t ride them with force or be too demanding, but instead must be calm and respectful.” She has found that their bodies develop quickly, especially for the balance in the collected work, so it’s tempting to push them along fast, especially since they try very hard for their riders. “When it comes to the Warmbloods, I find that there are
Top: Furst Aurum competed at the 2015 5-Year-Old Young Horse Championship last year and qualified for this year’s as well. Bottom: The Friesian mare Trijntje v.d. Bokkefarm is frequently caught ‘in flight’ in her photos.
32 September/October 2016
times that it’s okay to be aggressive. But they tend to need more time to mature. Their bodies, muscling, and balance develop more slowly,” she says. For example, even though Furst Aurum has qualified for the 6-Year-Old Young Horse Championships, currently ranked eighth in the nation,
High Time Photography
Don Borys
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