| About Elizaeth Elizabeth Poulin got
her first taste of the show ring when she was just four years
old. With her father, FEI rider and future USEF ‘S’ judge Tom
Poulin, “coaching”, Elizabeth won her first blue ribbon upon her
Shetland pony, Cozy. Thus began a long tradition of earning
ribbons in the show ring under the tutelage of her father.
Picture above: Father Tom Poulin
competing at Dressage at Devon. Because Mr. Poulin was already a successful trainer and rider,
Elizabeth had the rare opportunity to grow up riding talented
and correctly trained horses at various stages of training
through GP. These opportunities enabled her to develop a “feel”
for correct balance at each level and the individual movements
early on. Her inherent talent was not without recognition; as a
Young Rider, she was offered a full sponsorship by Haku Baldwin
from the Hawaii Animal Aloha Center in Maui to compete at the
FEI levels on the Westfalen mare Caprice.
Unable to
stay out of the saddle and away from the family business, she
thereafter resumed training with her father and cultivated her
own clientele in the Chicago area. At the same time, after years
of honing her focus and discipline, Elizabeth earned a 2nd
degree black
belt in Tai Kwon Do.
In 2004, Elizabeth was offered the position of Head Trainer at Horsegate Ranch outside of Houston, TX.
Here, she trained and campaigned the young Holsteiner stallion
Cacique from second level to Prix St. Georges. The pair won
classes at the Florida Winter Equestrian Festival with scores as
high as 68.158%.
In April 2006, she was invited to join Canaan Ranch as the Head
Trainer and Instructor. Since then, she earned countless wins
and placings, primarily with horses Donates, Flamingo Star and
Valkyriez, but also Lorelei and Flavigny, at such prestigious
shows as the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Championships and
Dressage at Devon. Elizabeth is a strong supporter of the
National Young Horse Dressage Program and trains on the road
with USEF National Young Horse Dressage Coach, Scott Hassler.
She was recently accepted by Hassler Dressage to participate in
the 2007 Young Horse Trainers Symposium.
Not surprisingly, Elizabeth’s students also had successful 2006
and 2007 show seasons, earning a number of Champion and Reserve
Champion titles at the GAIG/USDF Region 9 Championships as well
as success at the North American Young Riders Championships.
Elizabeth’s training philosophy is simple: train the horse for
the long-term goal because the short-term goals are flexible. In
other words, she believes in training a horse to its full
potential but at a rate that the horse is comfortable with.
Although her forte is training promising young sport horses for
a career in dressage, she trains horses and riders of all ages
and levels of ability. And, yes, she still trains with her
father Tom. “I have yet to feel that I know everything that my
Dad knows. After all of these years training with him, he still
can provide insights and solutions I haven’t thought of.” |
