Gary Striker, Woodmist Farms
Inset: Susan Crenshaw and daugher, Kaitlin, Ligara Farms
professional equestrian trainers in the Bay Area.
“I moved from Los Gatos to Morgan Hill because my business
was growing and I needed more space,” Crenshaw said. “I also
wanted to be able to take my top riders to A-circuit shows while
maintaining the congenial atmosphere of a small barn for all of my
clients.”
Ligara Farms focuses on the English Hunters, Jumpers and
Equitation riding disciplines and competitive development for
novice to advanced riders. Trainers coach their riders at home and
at horse shows in California as well as some Western U.S. regional
events. Horsemanship education is part of the program at every
level of riding.
“Having a good understanding of one’s horse makes for a better
competitive rider,” Crenshaw said. “That’s what matters, whether a
student competes at one show or a dozen.”
Crenshaw is joined by another professional trainer, Gary Striker,
from Spokane, Washington; and her daughter Caitlin who helps
manage day-to-day operations.
“There’s always been a real spirit of camaraderie at Ligara,”
Crenshaw said. “Many of my clients come here as kids and
continue riding with us through high school. Then they come back
after starting a career and getting married, and we end up teaching
their kids too.”
tim ing,” Topping joked, “but the weather here is unbeatable and it
makes year-round programs possible. What attracted me to South
County was the openness, the presence of horse properties and the
access to parks with equestrian trails.”
Topping operates Sonrisa Stables out of Red Fox Farms in
Gilroy. The Sonrisa Equestrian Team is made up of students from
8-18 years old. Her program offers a mix of English and Western
riding instruction. Students compete at local horse shows, and do
a bit of trail riding and horse camping at Harvey Bear, Rancho del
Oso and other locations.
In 2009, Topping launched a program in partnership with the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Each year, her students
select five or six wild Mustangs at a BLM ranch, and they work
together on what Topping calls the “extreme Mustang makeover.”
Students introduce the horse to human touch, wearing a halter,
being led by a rope, accepting a saddle, and responding to a rider –
basically getting the horse ready for adoption into a good home.
“My students do an amazing job in this program,” Topping
said. “They’ve prepared 30 horses in the five years since I started
the program, with a 100 percent adoption rate.”
Serving People with Special Needs H
Landa and Mark Keirstead put aside their professional
Karen Topping is a native New Yorker who moved to California
in 1999 to pursue a professional career in the equestrian field.
“I arrived during the year of El Nino, which was not the best
18
G M H T O D A Y M A G A Z I N E
careers in dentistry and high tech in order to launch One Step
Closer Therapeutic Riding in 2006. Landa had felt a passion for
horses since she was a girl, the couple had entered the “empty nest”
MARCH / APRIL 2015
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