Equistride International

Together with her daughters, Mary Ann and Tonya, Carole Grant operates Equistride International, a Michigan-based training facility which is expanding to include 30 stalls. Winter months are spent in Wellington, Florida with her students. Carole currently teaches clinics throughout the country and also makes trips every year to Europe to buy horses for her clients. She is joined by partner, Dr. Larry Baudin, who helps with the sales side of the business.

Carole has had a successful career, both, as a rider and a trainer. With her horse, Percy III, she represented the United States at the 1982 World Equestrian Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. She earned two Gold Medals at the 1983 Pan-Am Games in Venezuela. As a result of USOC financial grants, Carole spent a year training in Germany for the Olympics. Due to a recurring bout of laminitis, the pair missed the 1984 Atlanta Games.

In 1986, Carole and Percy III won USDF Horse of the Year with a median score of 70%. In the 1990s, she rode Mrs. Muresan's horse, Tolerant, to many Prix St. Georges and I1 wins, as well as USDF Horse of the Year awards. She also qualified and competed at many Olympic Festivals and Can-Am Challenges.

In addition to her riding accomplishments, Carole has demonstrated her skill at selecting and training horses for the Grand Prix ring as well as with those horses whose character make them suitable for the Amateur. Some of the Championship-caliber horses she has trained include Lectron, who went on to the 1984 Olympic Games with Robert Dover; Wonderful Walden, who won the Gold Medal at the Pan-Am games with Betsy Rebar Sell; and Martalon, who, with Young Rider, Holly Thomas Studley, competed successfully in many Grand Prix events. Carole's daughter, Mary Ann, and her horse, Dalue, competed in two USET Festival of Champions at Grand Prix, was long-listed with the United States Equestrian Team and placed 11th at the prestigious Berlin CDI.

Carole is the recipient of the Whitney Stone Memorial Trophy, presented by the United States Equestrian Team for a distinguished international career in the sport and for being an ambassador for the sport. She has been on the USET Selection Committee for many years.

Carole makes frequent trips to Europe to select horses for her students. While there, she often travels to Spain to purchase Andalusians for her amateur students. She likes them for their character and ride-ability. One such horse is Venablo, who is helping his rider, Brenda Sanford, learn the sport. He gives his rider a good place to sit so she can develop her position and, because he is so trustworthy, she is learning to overcome her fears.

Carole's most well-known student is Betsy Rebar Sell, who rode Wonderful Walden to the Team Gold Medal at the 1999 Pan-Am Games. Betsy is now competing Walden in the Grand Prix and will soon move her second horse, Lincoln, to Grand Prix as well. Rebar Sell, who has worked with Carole for the past 20 years, said, "Carole always gives 110%, whether you are the first or last ride of the day. She gives you her complete attention and enthusiasm. She makes the exercises WORK for you. She is quick to diagnose what the problem is and makes it simple to get where you are headed." She also added, "I feel that, because we are both women - and she is a small woman - Carole understands that technique replaces strength."

North Carolina rider, Karen Rossen said, "She really believes in 'gymnasticizing' the horses. The first thing is that the horse needs to be working straight, evenly, and over-his-back before you can go on to more difficult exercises. At the same time, she is not at all reluctant to push you to achieve more than you thought possible. I've never ridden harder or achieved more in a single clinic than I have with Carole."

Carole describes her own training program as "straight-forward, German and technical. It is very clear that we have a program for the horses and riders. We do a lot of gymnastic exercises each day." She credits her late ex-husband, Chuck Grant, second inductee to the United States Dressage Federation Hall of Fame, with helping her "get into the mind of the horse," She credits Mel von Brueggen, former coach of the US Equestrian Team, with helping her master the technique of piaffe and passage. She has worked with Georg Thoedorescu, Reiner Klimke, Harry Boldt, and George Wahl - all classical Masters of Dressage.

Presently, Carole is spending a lot of time seeking out good horses and training them for international competition as well as seeking the perfect horse for amateurs. She is most interested in teaching horses from beginning-to-end and she wants her students to go beyond riding well so they will eventually be able to train their own horses.