Originally Posted 02/03/2013
It seems only appropriate to introduce who we are and why we’re on this adventure! We are sisters – Miare and Megan – on a journey with our mother, Jan. Lifelong horse owners and enthusiasts, we only discovered the brilliant sport of dressage in 2000. Raised on a small hobby farm in a ‘bedroom’ community in Minnesota, nearly all of our horses were given to us or purchased for a nominal sum of money. We didn’t have the opportunity for riding lessons until we were able to pay for them ourselves; our parents provided us with the horses and it was up to us to go make it what we wanted!
When it comes to our love of horses, one of the most influential people in our lives (aside from our loving and supportive mom) has been our Aunt Betsy. At one time, she bred Arabians and it was a number of years before she discovered the Pony of America (POA). A longtime reining and stock horse enthusiast, Betsy ceased her Arabian adventure and transitioned into the POA world, around the mid 1990’s. At that time, we (sisters Megan and Miare) were young enough to ride and show, but Betsy was just getting started. She purchased a few mares from a breeder and a stallion prospect. Over the next several years, we watched and learned as she grew her program and expanded into the world of POA’s. The breed as a whole is amazing for children. Quiet, easy to work with and very willing, the POA is a breed born of stock type and not highly compatible for the sport horse world. For a few years, we tried to find a way to develop a niche POA suitable for dressage, but alas, it was a fruitless effort.
I don’t actually remember how we got in touch, but sometime around 2002, I email-met a woman who was selling frozen doses of a stallion named Power Boy RP112. We were blown away by his movement despite his short stature. Since then we’ve been fans of the German Riding Pony, a breed specifically developed for the sport of dressage.
As the name implies, the German Riding Pony was developed in Germany, some 45 years ago to provide the children a suitable mount to learn the sport of dressage on. The foundation of the breed is English Thoroughbred, Arabian and Welsh with occasional warmblood mixed in. The combination took a few years to get right – the athleticism of the Thoroughbred, the gentle nature of the Welsh pony and the smarts of the Arabian, all in a pony sized package.
It is the knowledge we have gained from our experiences plus research that has led us down our current path; one we wish to share with you as our story unfolds…..