About Amrita Ibold:
1999- I started breeding Akhal-Teke horses. My first 2 broodmare came from Italy, and my first stallion from Idaho.
2000- My first visit to Turkmenistan to see the home country of this amazing breed.
2010- Expo in Shanghai, China to have a booth at their first horse expo to promote US and European breeders in China.
2011- Under the new president of Turkmenistan the International Akhal-Teke Association was created, and members have been invited every year since.
2014- I was invited to Beijing for their first Akhal-Teke meeting.
2016- I was invited to Iran to their first Association festivale.
Currently I am the registrar for the closed Russian studbook.
My passion is 3 day eventing. for 6 years in a row I went to Nick Holes-Smith event camp in BC Canada. I have ridden with the O'Connor's, and many other trainers. I compete in area VII.
Curently Susan Derr-Drake teaches at the barn 3 days a week and our horses and riders are blossoming like never before!
I was born horse crazy in the Netherlands. When I was a little girl I was always pretending to be a horse, and when I rode bicycles I would have a string on the handle bars for "reins." My parents were absolutely "non-horsey" people, and always thought I would simply grow out of it...little did they know I would only grow into it!
I started out having riding lessons on New Forrest ponies when I was very young, and at the ripe old age of 12 thought I was an expert and trained a neighbor's Shetland pony, or so I thought...
My best friend and I liked to feed it...and one day, naughty as it was, it laid down to roll on the trail while we were riding. But instead of getting back up, it laid there with legs straight, not moving. We thought our little darling was dying! As it happened, one of the local trainers rode by with his clients on their fancy horses. He took one look at our situation and started laughing out loud!!! (We were shocked by his reaction, as clearly one could see our poor pony was nearly dead). He got off his horse, and told us to help him push...and scolded us for feeding him so much! Our pony was so obese, his belly had gotten stuck in the dip of the track!
I started out having riding lessons on New Forrest ponies when I was very young, and at the ripe old age of 12 thought I was an expert and trained a neighbor's Shetland pony, or so I thought...
My best friend and I liked to feed it...and one day, naughty as it was, it laid down to roll on the trail while we were riding. But instead of getting back up, it laid there with legs straight, not moving. We thought our little darling was dying! As it happened, one of the local trainers rode by with his clients on their fancy horses. He took one look at our situation and started laughing out loud!!! (We were shocked by his reaction, as clearly one could see our poor pony was nearly dead). He got off his horse, and told us to help him push...and scolded us for feeding him so much! Our pony was so obese, his belly had gotten stuck in the dip of the track!
On good days my mom would give me 1 guilder on the weekends to rent a pony for a day. The little beasts where so used to be rented out to kids, they knew every trick in the book to get rid of you...but I didn't mind...as long as I was on (or under) a horse!
We moved to France when I was a teenager, and I had to leave my best friend behind and the ponies that we rode. I was heart-broken and furious at my parents, so I refused to come out of my new bedroom for a week. I got so bored that I read my horse books from cover to cover. That is where I came across the Akhal-Teke horse. I had never seen a horse more beautiful in my life before, and dreamed it was a horse only fit for Kings and Queens.
Fortunately, things didn't turn out so bad after all. Our neighbor's sister had married a man who owned 2 horses just outside of town, and I was able to ride them any time I wanted. As it turned out, they where hot-blooded Thoroughbreds who were locked up in small stalls 7 days a week. I would go there as much as possible and ride one after the other on long trail rides. When I look back, it's amazing the people let me because the horses were insane most of the time as they so rarely got taken out of their stalls. But I was in heaven and somehow never fell off...probably due to my love of bareback riding and all those naughty ponies!
We moved to France when I was a teenager, and I had to leave my best friend behind and the ponies that we rode. I was heart-broken and furious at my parents, so I refused to come out of my new bedroom for a week. I got so bored that I read my horse books from cover to cover. That is where I came across the Akhal-Teke horse. I had never seen a horse more beautiful in my life before, and dreamed it was a horse only fit for Kings and Queens.
Fortunately, things didn't turn out so bad after all. Our neighbor's sister had married a man who owned 2 horses just outside of town, and I was able to ride them any time I wanted. As it turned out, they where hot-blooded Thoroughbreds who were locked up in small stalls 7 days a week. I would go there as much as possible and ride one after the other on long trail rides. When I look back, it's amazing the people let me because the horses were insane most of the time as they so rarely got taken out of their stalls. But I was in heaven and somehow never fell off...probably due to my love of bareback riding and all those naughty ponies!
After high school I moved back to Holland, saved up money, and bought a Connemara pony. She was untrained, and I did not own a saddle, but before long we rode the trails at a gallop (my favorite gait), and jumped anything that seemed suitable. My best friend's mom schooled us in classical dressage, which was a saving grace as it taught me to have some decent manners. I also took lessons once a week by Mr. Slagveld, a retired army officer, and started competing at Marienwiede in dressage and jumping. My best friend and her mother loved dressage, and we went to many dressage shows, always discussing correct movements and aids, to later on try it out on our ponies.
Incidently my best friend ended up buying the stables we used to ride at as kids and still operated the barn today at NAALDENHOF http://www.staldenaaldenhof.nl/
Incidently my best friend ended up buying the stables we used to ride at as kids and still operated the barn today at NAALDENHOF http://www.staldenaaldenhof.nl/
After studying in Holland I travelled the world, and saw the horses in India, Burma, Thailand, and Nepal. In New Zealand I worked on a sheep farm for 3 months where we'd check the flocks by horseback every morning. Soon after that, I moved to the US and got a job hearding cows on the range, also by horseback. I married, had a child, and when we sold our business I wanted land and horses again! We bought our farm on San Juan Island, WA in 1999, and in 2000 our first Akhal-Teke horses came!
I have always trained my own horses, and most of my Akhal-Tekes have competed in Three-Day Eventing http://useventing.com/ before having a breeding career. I teach dressage and jumping on my Akhal-Teke horses to local community members, as well as visitors from afar who come to the islands where we live. 3 day eventing is my passion, every year I train with Olympic rider Nick Holmes-Smith, and take classes with other Olympic riders Amy Tryon, the O'Conners, Sara Mitleider to neme a few.
I have always trained my own horses, and most of my Akhal-Tekes have competed in Three-Day Eventing http://useventing.com/ before having a breeding career. I teach dressage and jumping on my Akhal-Teke horses to local community members, as well as visitors from afar who come to the islands where we live. 3 day eventing is my passion, every year I train with Olympic rider Nick Holmes-Smith, and take classes with other Olympic riders Amy Tryon, the O'Conners, Sara Mitleider to name a few. I have traveled to see the Akhal-Tekes in Turkmenistan, as well as all over the US and Europe to get a better understanding of the breed. And finally I have my dream come true...to ride what I believe is the most amazing breed horse when it comes to appearance and intelligence.
We have people come to our farm from all over the world, either to go for a trail ride on an Akhal-Teke horse, or to ride one and fall in love and buy one.
We promote the breed by competing at USEA recognised 3 day events, we publish articles in magazines, and we go to Expo's.
I have always trained my own horses, and most of my Akhal-Tekes have competed in Three-Day Eventing http://useventing.com/ before having a breeding career. I teach dressage and jumping on my Akhal-Teke horses to local community members, as well as visitors from afar who come to the islands where we live. 3 day eventing is my passion, every year I train with Olympic rider Nick Holmes-Smith, and take classes with other Olympic riders Amy Tryon, the O'Conners, Sara Mitleider to neme a few.
I have always trained my own horses, and most of my Akhal-Tekes have competed in Three-Day Eventing http://useventing.com/ before having a breeding career. I teach dressage and jumping on my Akhal-Teke horses to local community members, as well as visitors from afar who come to the islands where we live. 3 day eventing is my passion, every year I train with Olympic rider Nick Holmes-Smith, and take classes with other Olympic riders Amy Tryon, the O'Conners, Sara Mitleider to name a few. I have traveled to see the Akhal-Tekes in Turkmenistan, as well as all over the US and Europe to get a better understanding of the breed. And finally I have my dream come true...to ride what I believe is the most amazing breed horse when it comes to appearance and intelligence.
We have people come to our farm from all over the world, either to go for a trail ride on an Akhal-Teke horse, or to ride one and fall in love and buy one.
We promote the breed by competing at USEA recognised 3 day events, we publish articles in magazines, and we go to Expo's.
