Hard Work Pays Off For Patton-Hallman At Great American/USDF Region 5 Championships

She takes home multiple FEI-level championships aboard horses she’s trained all the way up the levels.

Teri Patton-Hallman likes to start her own horses. Between the expense of buying something already going and concerns over fixing someone else’s mistakes, she finds it’s just easier to begin with a clean slate.

But the real satisfaction in bringing along her own horses comes when Patton-Hallman goes home with an armload of awards as she did at the Great American/U.S. Dressage Federation Region 5 Championships held in Scottsdale, Ariz., Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Patton-Hallman won the open Prix St. Georges (67.25%) and Intermediaire I (62.38%) championships with Wynsum, a 10-year-old Hanoverian (Wolkentanz—Weichsel). And then she took home the Grand Prix championship (64.17%) with Fontainebleau, a 14-year-old Hanoverian (Wanderer—Wischnu). She’s owned both horses since they were 3.

“I’d rather spend the money on the quality of horse. It’s more rewarding,” said Patton-Hallman. “Fontainebleau is my third horse that I’ve trained to Grand Prix.”

She explained that “Boo” has needed extra time in his training because of his large size—he’s 18 hands.

“It’s always taken me a little bit longer to get him through the levels because he is so big,” she said. “He’s very willing to please. Sometimes he over-tries. He’s a really good horse.”

The pair has only been showing at Grand Prix for a year, but Boo already excels in his piaffe and passage. “I wasn’t as happy as I would like to be [with the Grand Prix test at the championships],” said Patton-Hallman. “I’d like to have a mistake-free test. We had a few mistakes here and there. The Grand Prix is coming. Right now it’s about communication for the transitions.”

Wynsum is the complete opposite of his stablemate. “He’s a boisterous young man,” said Patton-Hallman with a laugh. “He tends to like to do airs above the ground. He’s really started to mature since I started taking him on the road with Fountainebleau. I’ve been tickled pink with how he’s showing this year.”

She said the Prix St. Georges test went well at the regional championships, but she lost Wynsum’s attention when someone brought a few horses up to the covered arena during her Intermediaire I test.

“I was pleased with how he’s handling the shows now. He put in some good tests. We’re working on the Grand Prix at home, but it kind of depends on the horse. I just let the horses tell me when they’re ready.”

Patton-Hallman has lived in Arizona since 1985, but the 47-year-old dressage trainer recently relocated to Carefree from her mountain home in Payson, where she’d previously run her business. She said many of her clients came with her, but the close proximity to Phoenix of her new location has expanded her business rapidly.