“…a hidden jewel of a dressage horse training facility…”
Meet The Equidae Dressage Stable Team
Shayna Simon - Head Trainer
Shayna Simon is a well-respected Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer previously based in the San Diego area where she had been training with four-time Olympic rider Steffen Peters at Arroyo Del Mar. She has trained with Klaus and Annabelle Balkenhol for a year at the USA Olympic training center; for four years with Willy Arts at DGBar Ranch; with Guenter Sidel for three years; and at Brookside Equestrian with Linda Walton, the biggest importer of Lusitanos on the West Coast. Shayna has her Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals from the USDF, and her Silver Para-equestrian Training Certificate from USEF. In February 2020 she participated in the USDF Sport Horse Prospect Development Program with Willy Arts and Scott Hassler.
Shayna is currently training four young horses in preparation for the coming season: Kensington (5 yrd KWPN gelding), Memphis (3 yrd KWPN gelding), Jackpot (6 yrd KWPN stallion, co-owned with Andreas Helgstrand), and Samara (6 yrd KWPN mare, owned by Nova Equestrian). Shayna qualified two of her horses for Lamplight in 2020: Kensington ranked 5 th in the country in the FEI 5 yrd competition, and Jackpot ranked 11 th in the FEI 6 yrd competition. Shayna is excited to be introducing her youngest horse, Fitzroy, to the USA; he is presently based at Caledonia Dressage in Scotland.
Beatrice de Lavalette - Top Rider
Beatrice de Lavalette grew up in a French/American family in France where riding horses and ponies was expected. Both Bea and her older brothers played a sport called ‘Horse-Ball’; based on the Argentinian sport ‘Pato’, it’s basically basketball on ponies. As she got older, Bea transitioned to dressage. After a serious non-horse-related injury in 2016, Bea continued riding but became interested in para-dressage. In 2018, on her return to the USA, Bea was searching for a trainer in the San Diego area to help her enter the US Para-dressage world. Since meeting, Shayna trained Beatrice and her PRE mare Delegada X (‘DeeDee’) in preparation for their first FEI CPEDI*** in Wellington, FL in January 2019.
In 2019, Shayna traveled to Holland and Germany and brought back two new horses for Beatrice. Bea presented Duna, a 12 yrd KWPN mare, for the first time at TIEC in Tryon NC at the US National Para-equestrian Championship where they won the Grade 2 competition. The couple was part of the winning US Para-dressage team in the FEI CPEDI*** in January 2020 in Wellington. Beatrice and Duna are on the short list for the Tokyo Paralympics, now scheduled for August 2021. Beatrice and Shayna are also training Bea’s six yrd Hanoverian gelding, Sky High 15, in preparation for the World Championships in Denmark in 2022 and the Paris Paralympics in 2024.
JOIN OUR TEAM!
Equidae Dressage is currently looking for a working student. Responsibilities include:
Helping with feed and shared night check.
Walker duties.
In charge of horse equipment, boots, etc.
Keeping tack room/feed room clean.
Bemer and Pulse treatments on all horses.
Ensuring that the barn stays clean.
Moderate to advanced level of Spanish is a plus.
Housing is available. We often eat dinner together and share the cooking/cleaning up. We have dogs but no cats. Working students may bring one horse or ride one of Beatrice’s older horses. For more information, please contact Shayna Simon at (916) 342-4442 or email equidaedressage@gmail.com.