theplaidhorse.com • October 2015 • 55
Busy Kids, Busy Lives Balmoral Builds Well-rounded Young Horsemen Throughout the Country ◼ BY PIPER KLEMM
In today’s world, busy kids have busy lives. Academics are more rigorous and intense than ever, there are more horse shows than ever, riders show more horses than ever – the question is asked over and over – how do you find time for horsemanship, quality, and keeping it fun all at the same time? Traci and Carleton Brooks’ Balmoral seems to have the answer. Operating out of two facilities in Southern California, Balmoral keeps specific programs for junior riders with busy schedules. Many of the riders at Balmoral live on the west side of Los Angeles and attend academically-oriented schools, which can potentially keep their horse time down. To accomodate this, Balmoral works with each rider, often teaching lessons before school to fit everything in. Working on demanding schedules, Balmoral tailors individual programs to reach the goals of junior riders from all over the country. Balmoral caters to a rider’s schedule and location, so riders of all levels can enjoy the advancement coming from working with industry veterans Carleton, Traci, and assistant trainers Jean Wingis, Katie Ledoux, Lexi Wedemeyer, and barn manager Jennifer Taylor.. Many riders fly in for the weekend and meet their horses at horse shows. Balmoral takes care of all of the details to make it possible for riders to keep up with their busy lives at home. Being ‘in town’ and in convenient locations can make life stressful – the horses have to walk down the street to get to the ring and are often subject to noise, vehicles, and construction in the surrounding areas. All of this makes them very relaxed and well-prepared for the activity of horse shows. Balmoral’s program is so fun that many of the mothers of junior riders who have never ridden start taking lessons. Horses like Now How Z and Once show in both the upper level national level classes and adult classes at California shows with moms learning to ride. On top of all that, Traci and Carleton are always bringing
along their own young horses up the ranks. Sable Road is currently leading the country in the Green Conformation Hunters. Let’s get to know three junior riders at Balmoral: GRACE PROCHILO: Grace Prochilo, 15, of Wilson, WY, found a winning program when she joined the Balmoral team. Commuting to shows in California and around the United States, Grace’s success has brought her to The Devon Horse Show (PA), The Pennsylvania National Horse Show (PA), The National Horse Show (KY) and many more with Teton Farms LLC’s Irasir. All three of Grace’s Junior Hunters qualified for Indoors in 2015. Irasir, a 14 year old Swedish Warmblood Gelding (Iroko x Rassasine) currently MACI ANDERSON AND MERLIN THE MAGNIFICENT.