Rider of the Month

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Karen Ringquist

Congratulations Karen Ringquist! You have been selected as September’s Rider of the Month! In her quest for new adventures, Karen started riding lessons in 2007 at age 40, a long time to wait for a woman who has been horse-crazy since before she could crawl. Combining her passions for horses and the outdoors, she initially focused on trail riding and alpine horse camping.

Karen has since owned a variety of horses but the one that remains closest to her heart is Cavalli. After trail rides and getting to know each other, she realized that her beautiful grey Arabian enjoys performing tricks. Following her horse’s cue, she found Lukas Bardue, who has been the driving force teaching Cavalli and Karen the art of liberty.

She also has learned from great trainers like Jessica Wisdom over the years as they have enjoyed the art of dressage riding. Cavalli has since retired from performing with the BlackPearl Friesian Dance Troupe but still enjoys the spot light whenever possible. 

Karen was chosen for her unwavering commitment not only to her horses but to everyone in her life. She goes the extra mile to be generous and offer encouragement and friendship to everyone in her barn family. Karen enjoys sharing her love of horses with those who may otherwise not have the opportunity. Thank you Karen, we are proud to have you a part of our equestrian community! 

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July 2023

Melinda Watterson

Congratulations Melinda Watterson! You have been selected as July's Rider of the Month!Melinda has held a passion for animals throughout her entire life. Her dedication to their health and well-being has resulted in a career path that continuously changes lives. She found a love for 3 Day Eventing and from that stemmed a relationship with her equine that will forever change her as a rider. Castletown aka Townes, is a big bay Thoroughbred. Melinda listens to his needs and is diligent about his care. She is dedicated to move forward as a team, making barn nights together very frequent for these two. Not only is Melinda a beautiful rider, she owns a mobile small animal veterinary service in the Spokane area! Melinda has received her Doctorate for Veterinary Medicine from Colorado State University. We have watched Melinda work with canines and felines in the area with comfort and an understanding of their needs. We have listened to clients of hers, hearing nothing but positive feedback. One client expressed immense gratitude for the care her dog received during his final moments. The job of an animal vet is challenging on many levels. We are grateful for all that Melinda has to offer our community through her work as a small animal veterinarian and her positive attitude at the shows and clinics. Thank you, Melinda, we are proud to have you in our community!

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May 2023

Grace Safranski

Congratulations to Grace Safranski! She is May's Rider of the Month!!
Grace Safranski is based out of Mystical Rose Ranch in Liberty Lake where she manages boarding and training. She grew up riding any pony or horse she could get her hands on, and while showing in 4-H for many years with her Arabian/Halflinger pony, discovered and fell in love with Dressage. Starting off as a working student under dressage trainers, she grew into an assistant trainer position with Equilibrium Equestrian, and then eventually growing her own client base. She has worked diligently under the instruction of Jessica Wisdom and Kenton Wright to understand the art of riding and training dressage while creating versatile equine athletes. She is also a performing member of the Black Pearl Friesian Dance Troupe, and has trained and performed on many of the different Friesians in the Troupe. 

​She welcomes a variety of breeds and ages of horses, treating each of them as an athlete, closely monitoring them and being their dedicated trainer. She believes in a thoughtful training approach, using patience and fairness with her training tactics to obtain the desired outcome. 

​Grace is dedicated to her clients and their horses--willing to go the extra mile or take the extra time to get results. She enjoys teaching a range of students of all different levels, helping riders and horse’s partnerships develop. 

Grace has been nominated because of the positive impact she's made in the Eastern Washington dressage community. Thank you for sharing your gift with horses, we appreciate you!

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April 2023

Janelle Celaya

Congratulations to Janelle Celaya! She is April's Rider of the Month!!Janelle has been riding horses for many lifetimes- or so it may seem with the constant smile on her face. The saddle is a place of comfort and miles shared with loved ones. This is well known to Janelle as she cherishes every ride with healthy expectations and boundaries for her horses and herself. We have had the ability to watch Janelle in parts of her riding career as well as her presence in the local hunter jumper shows. In her riding, we see a diligent and hardworking horsewoman who is sturdy in boundaries but listens to the concerns of her horses. At shows, we watched her at Spokane Regional Hunter Jumpers Debut Show in April, where Janelle single handedly wrangled time and competitors as a volunteer. This helped the show run smoothly and effectively with a bright smile and encouraging energy. Many comments were made over Janelle's ability to nurture the individual needs of each competitor as they entered the ring. Due in early July, Janelle is expecting her first child. We could not be happier for her on this new adventure in motherhood and we cannot wait to see you in the ring or ringside with your mini! We nominated Janelle because of her positive attitude and constant smile; no matter what the circumstance. Thank you for your positive stability in the industry, Janelle, we appreciate you!

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March 2023

Maura Winter

Maura is a seasoned horse woman with over 20 years in the saddle. She has a passion for the english game; having her focus lie in jumpers and dressage. Though english is her main attire, she has dabbled in the world of western riding, making her style well rounded and versatile. Maura got her first horse when she was 23 and eager. She has since added to the heard with a Connemara filly with great promise in the jump ring. Maura has consistently used positive reinforcement and sturdy guidelines to cater to the needs of her horses. One proud moment was teaching her mare Naoma to load comfortably and confidently after a history of trailer trauma. Not long after, Maura engaged in starting her young horse McE. She is extremely proud of the progress and development her and McE both received while learning together. At this point, their goals are big but not far off! Maura dreams of taking McE up in the 1.00 M Jumpers someday. Watching the way she listens and communicates to her horses, we believe she will make it to her dreams! Maura states, “the most significant thing I've learned is that horses will forgive you for just about anything, but they shouldn't have to. If you make a mistake, let it be an honest mistake.”
We nominated Maura for her positive training and two way street communication with her equine friends. Great job Maura! We are proud of you!

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Febuary 2023

Eddie Landry

For the month of February, we are thankful for your continued support and nominations. We are excited to congratulate Eddie Landry! You have been nominated as our Rider of the Month for your positive impact on the equine industry in the Pacific Northwest!

Eddie is a native Texan, from the big city of Houston. He did not grow up with horses but he had great role models from watching old western movies and visiting one of the largest livestock shows and rodeos nearby. He says living in Houston was big city life except for rodeo time. To kick off the rodeo thousands of horses, their riders and wagons would travel on historic cattle trails into the city camping along the way. During the two weeks before the rodeo depending on the road you were on and timing you could be sharing the road with one of the trail riding groups.

As he grew up the closest he got to being a cowboy was being active in the Boy Scouts going camping and backpacking all over Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. He earned his Eagle Scout ranking and enjoyed sleeping on the ground, being surrounded by nature and beautiful vistas.

He attended the University of Dayton as an Art Education major concentrating in photography. He may have been majoring in art but he did everything he could to continue enjoying the outdoors and finding horses. During his time in college, he would travel to a local university to photograph their horse shows. He was able to make some great contacts at the university that got him directly involved in the horse community by teaching horse care at a summer camp, leading trail rides, and learning how to drive a wagon team.

After college he worked as a farm caretaker and purchased my first horse. He worked full time in various positions in the medical industry, but has continued to grow and enjoy his horsemanship journey.

Eddie started showing in the Ranch classes and fell in love. He rode with a long list of Top horsemen and women to help shape him and his horse as a versatile team. Since he lived in Columbus, OH he showed at the Quarter horse congress numerous years and each year he scored better and showed improvement. He also enjoys ranch sorting, really any cow work, obstacle challenges, trail riding, and will try anything if he can ride in a western saddle and jeans.    

Since moving to Greenacres, WA with his wife, and fur babies he continues to find wonderful community of equestrians. He shares, “my wife and I enjoy helping animals and humans through PEMF sessions (stache vitalty). I have also joined the S.C.O.P.E. Mounted Patrol working with the Spokane Sheriff dept to patrol county parks and report what we see back to authorities. We have also started a riding club called the Greenacres riding club through the Old Peoples riding club organization to bring us together to improve our horsemanship and continue learning. The riding club, Stache Vitality, and Stache Ranch sponsored a Horseman Gathering one day a month Dec-March at the Spokane County fairgrounds . This was a wonderful way to ride with old friends, and meet new ones. The price was $10 per horse and that allowed you access to the arena from 9a-5pm. The last date in 2023 is March 4, but we look forward to offering this next winter season as well.”

Eddie is a great resource if you are looking to get started in Ranch Riding. If you are also interested in the local Ranch Horse classes check out “Spokane Ranch Horse connection” group on Facebook for more information on shows, clinics, and local trainers.

Currently Eddie has started offering lessons, clinics, and training at Stache Ranch. He is excited to share what he has learned from his journey with horses. He shares, “I did not always have the best rides, or even feared going on a trail ride because I did not know what to expect from my horse or how embarrassed I would be. If this is you, I understand you, and can help.” 

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January 2023

Londynne Stratton

Londynne has been riding for just over a year and has been focusing on the English discipline with the trusty and loving Enzo. With him, Londynne has been able to move forward in her skills with ease and confidence. Though she focuses on dressage and jumping, her involvement in WAHSET has exposed her to the adventures of the western disciplines. 

“The growth and determination this young lady has shown is like no other. She is every trainers dream student. She listens and then try’s so hard to do what’s being asked and if she has questions she doesn’t hesitate to ask. She takes the time to go home and study what she has been taught and comes back the following week stronger and picks up right where she left off. Londynne as a freshman has chosen to join WAHSET and has taken the bull by the horns she takes every opportunity she can to learn and be a better horse man. she is not scared to try new things in the short year she has been riding she has done everything from Dressage, jumping, cattle sorting and is learning her barrel and pole patterns.” Says Brandy, who has had the blessing of watching Londynne grow.

Londynnes overall goal for the season is to become an all around better horseman and learning to communicate more effectively and be more open to receiving communication from Enzo. What a great goal Londynne! We here at Bountiful Roots Wellness are proud of you!

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December 2022

Jenna Blankenship

For the month of December, we are grateful for your support and nominations. To round out 2022 we are excited to congratulate Jenna Blankenship! You have been nominated as our Rider of the Month for your positive impact on the equine industry in the Pacific Northwest!

Jenna is a senior at Ridgefield High School in Clark County and is on the school’s equestrian team. She enjoys a variety of disciplines and has one western pleasure show horse and a gaming horse that does barrels, poles, drill, and cows. She is also the president of the galloping glory 4h club. She competes at the local open shows and a few paint shows with her horse. For fun, she taught my performance horse liberty and tackless riding, he can ride outside without a bridle, lunge with no lead, and knows stay and come. Her gaming horse competes in an 8 person drill team and enjoys learning new things. Jenna’s mom is the advisor for the high school team and they are active members of the saddle club.

It is an honor to choose you Jenna! Congratulations from Bountiful Roots Wellness and PNW Equine Network.

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November 2022

Stalon Robinson

For the month of November, we had an amazing number of nominations. Though all the nominations were deserving, there was one that stood out to us. Congratulations to Stalin Robinson! You have been nominated as our Rider of the Month for your positive impact on the equine industry!

Stalon owns and operates RD Ranch Versatility Horses. Starting his career in the equine industry at a young age, he grew up learning the ropes of being a cowboy from his father, whom he looks up to a great deal. Together they rode and trained horses, Stalon eventually opened his own business in Nine Mile Falls, Wa. He focuses on being patient and confident with your equine friends. Stating “We are a team and I want my horses to think through problems instead of reacting to them. A lot of times in training, less is more.” These words obviously resonate with his clients as one states, “Stalon loves sharing his extensive knowledge with as many people as he possibly can. It has been said that Stalon takes extra time in clinics, lessons, and even farrier work to go the extra mile in order to create a more successful horse and rider combo.”


It is an honor to choose you Stalon! Congratulations from Bountiful Roots Wellness and PNW Equine Network.

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October 2022

Tyanne Bashore

Tyanne has been indulging herself in equine sports since she was a young girl. Traveling to Hunter Jumper shows with her trusty steed Beamer and Frankie, they always knew how to brighten the days of those around them. Tyanne had many horses too love through her lifetime so far. She built relationships based on trust and respect with her equine partners, which in turn offered success in her showing career. Her current mount, Gretchen, is a mare trained in Dressage and Jumping; she LOVES her jump days. They have been building their relationship for 7 years now. You can see the love they have for one another through their playful nature. Great job, Tyanne! We are proud of the way you care for Gretchen with open and honest communication.

About Rider Of The Month

Katie Hough started Rider of the Month on her website earlier this year. We have joined in collaboration with her to open to the voting to the entire pacific northwest! Katie Hough founded Bountiful Roots Wellness in 2019 after a month-long journey through Peru, where she completed a Yoga Teacher Training program in Calca. This trip was the culmination of years studying how to heal the body, mind, and spirit through ancient traditions and herbal practices. In 2020, she graduated from the American College of Healthcare Sciences with honors where her focus was Complementary Alternative Medicine. Not long after, she completed schooling for Massage Therapy and Equine Massage Therapy. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist and has been certified in Cupping Bodywork and Equine Myo-manipulative Functional Therapy. Her focus is designed around rehabilitation, injury prevention, and stabilization. Based in Deer Park, Washington.