"She was great. She's such a partner," said Hoag. Later this season she plans to compete at Miami and the FL Dressage Derby. A best-selling novelist, Hoag plans to move to Los Angeles in the near future.

Also owned by Hoag is Oliver, a Dutch four-year-old KWPN gelding (Iroko x Joriena/Zuidenhorn). He is trained by Betsy Steiner, who described him as "Truly incredible to ride. He's so soft and supple and athletic, it feels like his feet hardly ever touch the ground."

Steiner believes that Oliver has the quality and ability to do the young horse championships in Europe, and hopes that they will be included in his future. "Thanks to farms like Hilltop Farm (MD), young horses are being better promoted in the US," said Steiner. We need a system here for young horses to expose and promote them and make people more aware of breeding here."

Text by Amber Heintzberger

Tami Hoag is a celebrated novellist. Order her books at Amazon.com