In the Spotlight... The Trainers & Amateurs of Sarah Paripovich Training
Sarah Paripovich Training is located just outside the metro area in Buffalo, Minnesota. Sarah Paripovich is the head trainer and is assisted by Albert Martienez. In just a few short years Sarah has grown her business to be well recognized as a great youth and amateur training center. Sarah prides herself in educating the amateurs and turning out finished horses that are extremely competitive in today’s tough competition. Albert starts the young horses and manages the grooming and beautifying of the show string.
2005 was a year of successes for many of the horses on that beautiful show string! There are a limited number of stalls at Sarah Paripovich Training so only a small number of horses attended Region 10, Region 6 and Canadian Nationals. With this small number of hoses the wins still accumulated. The barn brought home 11 Regional Championships, 7 Regional Reserve Championships and 25 Top Five awards!
Since becoming a professional, this year marked Sarah’s first time to attend Canadian Nationals. The wins earned at this show were even more impressive than those from Regionals; four horses brought home 2 Championships, 2 Reserve Championships and 7 Top Ten placements! Sarah and Albert feel extremely blessed to have wonderful horses and clients to work with. They are very proud of the accomplishments of all of the amateurs and their horses. I spoke with several of their current clients and they are equally pleased to be working with dedicated and detail oriented trainers.
Ashley and Janelle Then are the proud owners of Gustenuff Color, a 7 year old gelding which they raised themselves. The Thens chose Sarah as their trainer because of her training techniques and pride for her horses. They feel Sarah is very personable and strives to understand the needs of each horse and rider team.
Ashley rode “Zip” to a Canadian Reserve Championship, while her mom steered him to a Top Ten, even though it was her first time showing at Nationals! In addition the mom and daughter team brought home 2 Regional Championships and 2 Regional Reserve Championships. Sarah rode “Zip” to her first Top Ten as a professional, a Regional Championship, and an additional Regional Top Five.
MAHA Youth President Lizzy Seward also began showing under Sarah’s direction in 2005. Unconventionally, Sarah and Albert actually approached Lizzy to see if she would be willing to allow them to train her horse, HF Hale Bopp. Sarah and Albert saw great potential in the gelding that Lizzy and her mom, Nancy, had never taken too seriously due to his small size. Lizzy and Nancy have been extremely impressed by how closely Sarah and Albert pay attention to the details; from wrapping legs to knowing when to adjust the training program based on each individual horses needs.
This diligence definitely paid off for Lizzy and HF Hale Bopp as they brought home the Canadian National Championship in both Western Pleasure 14- 17 JOTR and JTR. Nancy has been very pleased with Sarah’s ability to marry Lizzy’s abilities with those of her horse. Both Lizzy and Nancy feel the learning environment in the barn has been very supportive while continually improving Lizzy’s performances. They feel Sarah and Albert really put in the extra time that is needed to turn out an excellent horse that will stay on top of it’s game.
Another new corner to the barn in 2005 was Indira Jerome. Indira has been showing for many years but as her goals changed to focus on more success in the show ring and learning different training methods, she chose to join Sarah’s barn. The change is proving successful for Indira and her gelding Jer-Goldre. Since making the move to Saddle Creek she has won several classes and at Fall Fest had her most notable placing yet, Top Five in Western Pleasure AATR! Indira is looking forward to the show season next year and is excited to see what she can accomplish with more help from Sarah.
One of the youngest competitors of this group is Paige Nolte. Paige is very proud to show her gelding Mosey in western walk trot and has enjoyed the experiences very much. Paige was the first person to ever show her gelding and Sarah helped her through the entire process by making lessons and shows fun, teaching her safety and horse care and using her good sense of humor to encourage Paige to stick with it! Paige has been very lucky to always place at the shows she attends including winning a Top Five at Region 6 this year!
The final amateur I spoke with was actually Sarah’s mom, Darla. Dana recently began showing in Purebred Western Pleasure and is enjoying the personal accomplishment and positive comments she receives from Sarah. She is very proud that Sarah keeps it really fun and doesn’t treat her like her mom but treat her like part of the amateur team!
Unfortunately, I was not able to speak with all the clients of Sarah Paripovich Training but the MAHA Leader staff would like to wish everyone continued success in 2006!
(taken from the November/December 2005 & January 2006 issue of The MAHA Leader)