LEHUA CUSTER
FAVORS AMERICAN HORSES
By Charlene Strickland
Los Angeles-based dressage rider and trainer Lehua Custer prefers to buy, train and compete horses born in North America. She’s passionate in her support of American horses and their breeders—and she isn’t afraid of being vocal about her enthusiasm.
Why American? “I like the idea of supporting my country. I think it would be awesome to do it by riding internationally on an American- bred horse,” Lehua says. “People like to say a European horse is less expensive. But
you don’t have the same relationship with the breeders, and we have really good bloodlines in Amer- ica. We can research with the Internet now. I think there are a lot of possibilities. We can get excellent video and photos. And with vet exams here, I’d feel confident about buying sight unseen.” How did Lehua learn to appreciate
homebred dressage horses? She’s origi- nally from Hawaii, where she started riding on locally-bred horses. “I had an Appaloosa cross and believed from the beginning I prefer to ride horses that were [bred] close to home.” She moved to California and
connected with renowned breeder and rider Hilda Gurney. “I was extremely lucky to work with Hilda. I learned how she would select stallions for her mares and how we worked with them from the ground up, through breed inspections and horse shows. I rode siblings, dams and sires, and was fortunate to learn generations of horses. That helped me understand how to train them better,” she adds. After working with Hilda for ten years at her Keenridge
Lehua Custer with F.J. Ramzes (by Juventus), owned by Wendy Sasser and bred by Cornell University. The pair were open Third Level champions in 2017 at the US Dressage Finals.
Trakehners and Oldenburgs for Hilda, starting with the 2000 mare, Livadia (Impressionist x Condus).
Quality Connections “I was really lucky—I got a horse from Hilda’s program,” Lehua continues. “Winterprinz was the sire of Winter’s Star. I appreciated that process from the begin- ning. I watched him being delivered, and I trained him to Grand Prix with Hilda’s help.” Lehua first showed the 2004 Oldenburg
Winter’s Star (damsire Werther) as a four- year-old at Training Level. She also rode Luminence (Leonidas x Werther), another of Hilda’s homebreds, to wins in Grand Prix, and to earn her USDF Gold Medal. Now on her own as a trainer, Lehua
continues to appreciate the quality of domestic-bred horses. “One of my most successful horses that I ride was also born in America,” she continues. “One client wanted to buy a Warmblood; she had a modest budget, and not enough money to import and buy one. It took almost a year.” The horse was F.J. Ramzes (Juventus x Rampal). (Read about Lehua riding this
horse in last year’s Charlotte DuJardin master class, Warm- bloods Today, September-October 2018.) “It depends on the horse,” she says about choosing blood-
farm, Lehua’s education was in-depth and systematic. “Seeing it all from the inside, I could appreciate all the blood, sweat and tears the breeders put in. Also, Hilda taught me how to ride more effectively. She is amazing!” Lehua showed many of the Keenridge homebred
42 January/February 2019
lines. “I really enjoy the feeling I have with a lot of the Dutch horses. I have had a lot of history riding Oldenburgs. They have the powerful enough hind end to give me the kind of ride I want to have.” Lehua’s goal has long been to have her own American-
bred horse—her own foal to raise. “I need to have my own, to bring him up,” she says. “I like the breeders here. They are very
Gina Falcone
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