We always bought our horses off the race track. Their talent and temperament, however, were not always what we needed for eventing and certainly not for dressage, but no one was breeding riding horses in Colorado. Long story short, I felt there was a nitch that needed to be filled. I discovered the German Warmbloods and, in particular, the Trakehner, as that was the only Breed Association in the U.S. at the time.Mile High Horse Ranch was built in 1976 as a breeding facility starting with several Trakehner mares and my original imported stallion Pregelstrand, the first warmbloods in the West. My goal was to breed good riding horses for Dressage and Combined Training.We had many outstanding successes, to mention two: TITAN, one of our Anglo-Trakehners, was named by the Chronicle, the USDF and AHSA (USEF) 1990 Horse of the Year at Prix St. Georges. He went on to be "long listed" for the 1992 Olympic Team, but was injured before he could try out. The horse business continued until the mid 1990s, when I really got tired of being with horses all day and not having the time to ride. The mares and foals were sold and Mile High was changed into a boarding stable with emphasis on Combined Training. Timing is everything, as Lynn Klisavage was looking for a place to land at the same time and she became our head trainer.Another gelding, HANNABAL, was the individual silver medal winner and a contributor to the silver medal 1995 Pan American Team in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with my niece, Leslie Webb on board. Leslie was then named Horseman of the Year in 1996.
