Kingdom Keys Dressage :: Susan Stegmeyer

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Susan Stegmeyer

Susan Stegmeyer, now a professional trainer and instructor, has had a passion and love for horses since very early in her life at age 7. She is pictured here with two early equine friends.
Yearning to ride at age 8 she cleaned stalls at a local barn for the chance to ride a school horse for 30 minutes. At age 15 she worked at a farm taking large groups of riders out for trail rides. She was trusted to safely take these groups across a large well traveled road before getting into the trails, In return that farm let her show their prize Connemara pony.
Always wanting a horse of her own and not having the family funds to buy one at such a young age, her dream finally came true at age 18. She went to watch The National Horse Show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. There they were giving away an Arabian stallion and out of a quarter of a million entries she won!	Bandit
This would be the first of many horses that she would learn to train. Years later after losing this beautiful horse to colic, she purchased her next horse, a thoroughbred gelding named Striker.	Striker
After having some difficulty with him one day, an instructor suggested she take dressage lessons as a way to improve his balance. This first exposure spawned an interest in dressage that would never wane. She spent the next several years studying and perfecting her skills. At age 30 she purchased a 2 year old trakehner named Pascal. This horse would be her upper level prospect and she was able to train and compete with him in eventing and successfully show him at fourth level .	Pascal Pascal
Years after year she continued to take lessons from different top trainers to assist her with the eyes on the ground. She found it interesting to discover each trainers methods and began keeping meticulous notes and journals. Always dynamic and eager to share what she painstakingly learned, she then owned and managed Old Willets Farm on long island for 10 years. It was there that she purchased a beautiful thoroughbred mare Julia Tucker to breed with one of her instructors elite hanoverian stallions Guardian to foal Guarded Jewel.	Julia Tucker Gaudian Guarded Jewel
Although busy with a full time job, running the farm, and owning 3 horses along with boarders, she still had the passion to trailer her horses over to Ann Gribbon's Knoll Farm and take lessons. Although teaching the students at her own farm, she knew the importance of continuing her education with those above her level. Over the years, she gathered so much information, attended so many clinics, and rode with so many different trainers that she thought she should write a book. Fast forward to 2009 and she is finished with her book and hopes to make it available to you this year.	Guarded Jewel Guarded Jewel
Today she makes her home with her husband Kevin in the beautiful Hudson valley in New York State where she is a trainer at The Stables at Mirabella in Florida, NY and Lucille Farm in Wallkill, NY and also travels to teach and give clinics. She still has Guarded Jewel and he is now 19 years old. She has enjoyed her journey with him and hopes to ride a grand prix test on him someday.

Susan is never at a loss to find different excercises and ways to get her training point accross. She only has to think back to the hundreds of lessons and clinics she has attended. Knowing that feel is a hard thing to teach she enjoys the challanges some of her students present to her, both young and old alike. She taps into the "Best Of"all the lessons she has had. The following list are the Instructors and clinicians that she has taken lessons with, rode in their clinics, or just audited their clinics. Nicole Uphoff, Christopher Bartle, Jane Savoy, Lisa Wilcox, Ingrid Klymke, Robert Dover, Debbie Mcdonald, Carol Lavell, Lenden Grey, Henk van Bergen, Dominique Barbier, Montie Roberts, Tom Noone, Karen Ralph, Dr. Cezar Parra, Ron Postlieb, Paul Belasik, Jan Brons, Gunner Osterguard, Captain Mark Phillips, Becky Langwost, Katcha Eilers, John McPherson, Major Lindgren, Herr Rattnetter (Spanish Riding School),Sandra Holts, Britta Johnson, Margaret Boyce, Siegfred Winkler, Darleen Wilcox, Debbie Wilcox, Pamala Goodrich, Sherry Ackerman, Terry Stryker, Donul Eagan, Max Gayweiler, Anne Guptill, Gerd Heuschman, Klaus Balkenhol, Colonel Christian Carde, Carol Seaman, Andreas Helgstrand and lastly Doreen Meckus (who introduced her to dressage)