About Amrita Ibold:

My poor parents...this was only the beginning!

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...

Lessons in Overveen with the New Forrest pony club.

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!

What I loved most..bareback and a halter

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.

My best friend Pluis and I on our week exploring trek through Holland.

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!

I was very proud of the bridle I made myself.

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/

Horse racing on the street for the Queens birthday activities! Me racing my best friend Pluis.

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 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.

About Jenny:

I was born and raised on San Juan Island, and came into the world with a one-track mind for horses. My riding career began at the age of six when I tagged along behind my sister on a neighbor's tolerant paint mare. Throughout my childhood I rode with several riding academies in both Washington and New Hampshire, and got my first horse at age thirteen. After high school I spent a couple of years traveling, finally settling down in New Hampshire long enough to go to school, and returned to the San Juans eight years ago. I began studying natural horsemanship at Plumb Pond Natural Horsemanship & Equine Sanctuary, a local riding center, and eventually started managing the program. I was given an off-the-track thoroughbred in 2007 that had been chronically lame for six years. I had been practicing barefoot trimming for several years, and had accumulated enough knowledge and expertise to feel confident taking on such a difficult case. Within a few months, I made amazing progress in rehabilitating his run-under heals, thin soles, and seedy toes. He was sound at all three gaits and became my full-time partner. In 2008, our group of instructors and students were asked by Linda and Pat Parelli to perform at the Parelli Tour Stop in Redmond, Oregon. We hauled six horses and riders nine hours to Redmond and received a standing ovation from nearly 3,000 spectators. The following summer I took my gelding to Colorado to study at The Parelli Center in Pagosa Springs, and received inspiration and knowledge in horse psychology, human psychology, and most importantly, myself. 

I started riding at Sweet Water Farm in September of 2008, after I contacted Amrita Ibold for jumping lessons. She gave me an introductory lesson on her talented schoolmaster, Dagjeir, and he instantly sparked my love affair with the amazing Akhal-Teke breed. In December my beautiful grey gelding died in a tragic pasture accident, and in January of 2009, I started training on Dagjeir for Three-Day Eventing, something I had dreamed of doing since childhood. We competed at five USEA competitions, and three schooling shows, bringing home five ribbons and countless priceless experiences. Our season included training under David and Karen O' Conner, Amy Tryon, and Sarah and Gary Mittleider. . .some of the world's top eventers. Amrita's wily and courageous Dagjeir brought me from Novice Level, to Training Level, and schooling Preliminary, in a single season. 

I am currently riding and training with Sweet Water Farm full time, working towards many future eventing seasons, and using natural horsemanship to develop sane, sound, and savvy sport-horses. Amrita and I are also developing a conditioning system to produce rock-hard barefoot hooves that are ready to gallop cross-country over any terrain. My ambitions are to compete at Preliminary Level in 2010, promote the Akhal-Teke breed in every country of the world, and someday personally see a Sweet Water Farm Akhal-Teke to the Olympic Equestrian Games.

You can read all about it by checking out my blog:

"Tekes Tally-Ho! Barefoot Eventing, Natural Horsemanship, and the Amazing Akhal-Teke Breed"

http://eventingakhaltekes.blogspot.com/