SIENNA | 15 YEAR OLD HOLSTEINER | AUSTIN,TX
Sienna is a 15 year old chesnut Holsteiner by the stallion Holsteiner Conejo and out of a Thoroughbred x Saddlebred, KY Commander. She lives at Coraggio Equestrian in Austin Texas and trains with Paige Barnett. Their assistant trainers are Cathy Coleman and Amy Gangstad-Monfries.
Her owner, Riley says, “My horse came from Gianna Aycock’s barn, Storybook Sporthorses. My trainer Paige watched her a few times, and when it came time for me to go looking for a new jumper, Sienna was the very first horse she had me try. I tried her at a Katy show 3 years ago, and when I first rode her we were completely out of control. I couldn’t get her to stop AT ALL and instead of freaking out, I just couldn’t stop smiling. My trainer put the fences up bigger than I’d ever jumped, but I hardly noticed, and Sienna didn’t seem to notice either! I was completely smitten with her after that first ride, but since she was the first horse I ever tried, we decided it would be best to sit on at least one more. I rode another horse the next weekend, and in the same day rode Sienna again. My mom actually has photos of me on each horse: on the other one, I looked normal, just riding along. On Sienna, I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time, even as she dragged my helpless self around the ring. On the way home from the show, it looked like we wouldn’t be buying her. She was a bit out of our budget and was a real challenge for me to ride, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I even had a dream about her in between the first and second times I rode her. In the car, my mom turned to me and told me that “we bought a horse,” and I’m pretty sure I started crying. The next day, I went out to the barn, and there she was! We’ve been together ever since. I’m 100% convinced this horse is my soulmate.”
Sienna is known to be a very hot horse under saddle, but on the ground she’s the sweetest and quietest thing. Supposedly you’d never know she was a mare by meeting her on the ground, but as soon as you get on her you can tell. She’s very opinionated and likes to make decisions for you. She’s very keen and always game to run or jump, and it’s hard to try and keep her from doing something she wants to do. She could probably run and jump for hours straight if you let her! It’s the hardest to get her to stop after a course, all she wants to do is go fast. She also smiles after every treat, and she’ll beg for treats by lifting her lip and ‘smiling’ for you! Everybody feeds her cookies to see her smile, so she thinks everybody has cookies for her. Riley says she also loves Captain Crunch Berries and that the best word to describer her is ‘game,’ since she is ready for anything.
Riley shares, “One of the times I’ve been most proud of my horse was a Ragan Roberts clinic we held at my barn a while back. Ragan is an incredible trainer, and I was so grateful to get some coaching from him! His clinic had TONS of cavaletti work and exercises to slow horses down and make them go rounder, which are both of the most difficult things for Sienna to do. I was also intimidated to be jumping in the group with the highest fence heights/most advanced riders, because I wasn’t used to jumping big, and i knew it wasn’t Sienna’s strong suit either. Despite everything, she tackled every challenge like a pro and really made me look good in front of everybody. She even did the canter cavalettis without blinking an eye! I was so proud of her performance and her willingness to try to do what I ask, even when I was unsure and I knew it was really difficult for her.”
