About Sandy

Sandy began teaching at the Traditional Equitation School located at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in 1987. At that time, she was showing a Throughbred at the Prix St. Georges level and her Swedish Warmblood, Montag, at Second Level with scores in the 70th percentiles. In 1988, Sandy was invited to train at Strömsholm, the Swedish National Riding School, with Bo Tibblin. Sandy and Montag stayed two years in the 2nd year student program there. The training was strictly focused on riding with no theory. Sandy rode six horses a day doing everything including breaking young horses, jumping, ground driving, driving a carriage, and of course, dressage.

Sandy returned to the Los Angeles area in 1991 with Montag and showed him at the Prix St. Georges and Fifth Level. Sandy’s high score of 66% at Prix St. Georges earned her the FEI High Point award at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

Later that year, Sandy returned to Sweden and took her horse to Germany to train with Gabriella Grillo for eight months and was there in the spring of 1992 when half of the U.S. Olympic dressage team trained there. Notable Olympic team members training with Gabriella included Carol Lavell, Michael Poulin, Charlotte Bredall and Hilda Gurney, as well as Nicole Upphoff who stabled her horses permanently at Gabriella’s during the period Sandy visited.

Sandy was privileged to ride one of Gabriella’s Grand Prix horses during her stay, and Sandy returned twice more, first for three months, then later for a few weeks to continue her training with Gabriella.

In 1993, Sandy returned to school at Strömsholm to complete the theoretical part of her training having become fluent in speaking, reading, and writing the Swedish language. The theoretical training included technique for teaching riding, running a riding school, anatomy, feeding, training, finances, and other required skills. At that time she was training with Eva-Karin Oscarsson.

Sandy taught various levels of dressage and jumping at a riding school in Sweden for a year before starting her own business of breaking young horses, training dressage horses, and giving lessons. She continued to show Montag up to the Intermediare level while schooling all the movements of Grand Prix and training her second horse, Watteau, to the Prix St. Georges level. Both horses consistently placed at each show. In July of 1999, Sandy sold Watteau, then age 7, and returned to Los Angeles.

When asked whom Sandy felt had the greatest influence on her teaching and riding skills and to describe her teaching philosophy, Sandy had this to say:

“I feel that Gabriella Grillo has had the greatest influence on my riding and teaching. She taught me that every horse has a talent; you just have to find the way to bring it out. Gabriella is extremely thorough, and would leave no stone unturned in her quest for excellence. Our lessons were long, sometimes 2 hours, but not hard. She interspersed riding with long and vivid explanations of what she meant.

I like to do the same, but I realize that 2 hour lessons are not very practical. I feel I am also very thorough in my teaching. I believe that you need to have a good position and a correct understanding of the aids to ride your horse in the proper frame. If you can do that, then the movements come easily. I take nothing for granted and assume nothing when it comes to evaluating what my new students already know. You may ask me all the questions you like, and there are no stupid questions. I am not the type of trainer to just come and run you through a bunch of movements and give my critique. That is what the judges are for. My goal is to really teach my students to ride and to get along better with their horses through better understanding.”