Phoenix's first ride was on a pony at Griffith Park in 1979 when she was 1 year old- she has been "horse crazy" ever since.

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Her first job was mucking stalls at age 12 at McCarthur Cutting Horses in Taos, N.M.

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In 1992 she got her first horse (a quarter horse mare named Sugar) and joined 4-H. She competed at regional shows and at the State Championships in jumping.

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She moved back to California after attending Rutgers University in New Jersey for performance arts and began her professional career under the tutelage of Kimberly Monk in San Juan Capistrano at High Point Farms in 2002.

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She took a strong interest in Natural Horsemanship techniques and studied the Pat Parelli Horsemanship program.

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She was fortunate to have ridden at the World Famous Landgestuet in Warendorf Germany, where she was honored to groom and care for Florestan I, the late famous stallion who has sired over 80 approved sons.

 

During this time she also was able to receive private lessons with Peter Borggreve who is a Master in the art of Dressage.

 

Her experiences working and riding in Germany were very educational on multiple levels- from studying other riders and instructors to learning about the bloodlines and histories of the sport- all influenced her technique and standards.

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Phoenix returned to California in 2006 to start her own training business based in Fallbrook.

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Phoenix has volunteered for and given clinics for local non profit riding clubs, Vista Palomar Riders and Fallbrook Riders Field.

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She was Certified in 2004 by the American Riding Instructors Association in Basic Dressage and then re-certified as an Advanced Dressage Instructor and Advanced Recreational Riding Instructor in 2010.

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Fun Fact: Phoenix was paid by the federal government for a time to teach riding and train horses.

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She worked for Stepp Stables at Camp Pendleton

where she developed and implemented wounded service member riding programs, taught group lessons and led trail riding strings.

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Phoenix worked as a Barn Manager for Fairbanks Riding Club in Rancho Santa Fe.

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Most recently she was the

2022 Circuit Champ for San Diego and Temecula Chapters for 2nd Level

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2022 6th place at CDS Championships for 2nd level.