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California Riding Magazine • June, 2009 Fremont Hills Stables, LLC by Kim F. Miller |
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Winning isn’t everything, but it sure is a nice indicator that something special is going on at Fremont Hills Stables, LLC. A joint venture between veteran trainer Debbi Sereni and longtime partners Wendy Carter and Missy Froley, Fremont Hills has a habit of coming home from most A circuit hunter/jumper shows with a tri-color for at least half the horses and riders that participated. “Consistency speaks for itself,” notes Carter. “It’s not about winning every class, but about being consistent in your riding and training and plugging away at it.” All that plugging away over the years has established a great reputation for the Fremont Hills trio. Carter and Froley have been training partners for over seven years, dating back to Carter’s days in Orange County’s Coto de Caza with her Cedar Glen Farm. They had been training exclusively out of the privately owned Bay Rose Farm nearby when Sereni approached them about joining her business, Fremont Hills, which is located at the Bay Area’s beautiful Portola Valley Training Center.
BRINGING OUT THE BEST In addition to her own superstar son, 2003 Maclay Finals champion Matt Sereni, Debbi has many equestrian feathers in her hunt cap. Her adoption of a now 4-year-old Guatemalan daughter, Mia, triggered the desire to stay closer to home. Bringing Carter and Froley on board at Fremont Hills made that possible and created a training program where students get the best of three great perspectives. Prospective customers don’t need to look further than Froley to see how far Carter can take a rider. When the future partners first crossed paths, Froley was working for highly regarded Orange County regional trainer Caroline Bonham. With Bonham’s permission to approach Froley about a fulltime job at Cedar Glen, Carter got a yes with one caveat. “I thought she was going to ask for a certain day off or a dollar amount,” Carter recalls with a laugh. “But what she said was that she didn’t jump over 3’ anymore.”
Left: Wendy Carter & Right: Missy Froley Carter’s instinct that Froley was capable of much greater heights is now regularly born out in the Grand Prix ring, where Froley has been campaigning successfully for two years. Froley’s self-imposed limitations had nothing to do with her abilities, but with her confidence. That made her a perfect candidate for Carter’s positive approach. In those critical years of her career, “Wendy gave me so much confidence in my abilities,” Froley notes. The experience, Froley adds, helps her relate to many of Fremont Hills’ amateur riders, for whom confidence is often a big issue. Confidence building flows nicely from the trio’s shared philosophy that riding should be fun. “Nobody gets up in the morning to come out here and have a bad day,” Carter says. “We watch our students and first tell them everything that they are doing well. From there, we point out what parts can be made better. Psychologically, it seems to be working pretty well.”
Missy Froley & Crown Affair. The trio is also known for being straight shooters and for treating their clients with respect and appreciation. “They know horses and, equally important, they know people,” says Adult Amateur Hunter contender Sara Leith-Tanous. “They have that ability to be supportive and encouraging, but not pandering or Pollyanna-ish. They really get down to business.” The trainers, she continues, are most likely to address a riding glitch with humor and humanity and that alone has reduced Leith-Tanous’ stress level, and enabled her to enjoy the sport more and to focus on the changes that need to be made. She and her horses are thriving under the trio’s direction. “They are super positive people and I can’t say enough good things about them,” she concludes. Carter acknowledges that her intensity is sometimes mistaken for being unapproachable. “I think the people who know me will vouch for me that I am very approachable and that I’ll always go to bat for the people that I care about,” she reflects as Sereni and Froley nod in agreement. A TERRIFIC TEAM The three trainers pride themselves on bringing something different but equally valuable to their clients. Carter and Froley often refer to Sereni as the glue that holds Fremont Hills together. In addition to running the day-to-day barn business, Sereni teaches the entry-level pony kids at Fremont Hills and starts them off with a rich background in horsemanship. Although her resume includes taking students everywhere on the West Coast and beyond, these days Sereni stays mostly close to home. She accompanies the young riders to local shows and holds down the fort, working with adult clients who opt not to show, when Carter and Froley are off at the bigger events. “Nobody gets left behind is our motto,” Sereni says. Froley does all the riding and show ring campaigning for Fremont Hills. A particularly well-rounded equestrian, Froley jumps off of a hunter and onto a jumper at the back gate with the ease and expertise of a true horseman.
Mia Sereni & Button As a junior, she won just about all there was to win in the Equitation ranks and today her talents are equally effective as a hunter and jumper rider at all levels and as a coach to students in any of the hunter/jumper divisions. Froley spent the majority of her junior years with Caroline Bonham in Orange County before going to work for Carter as a young professional. Like Froley, Carter is a Southern California native. She is grateful for a wonderful start with Foxfield Riding School’s Joanne Postel and Nancy Turrill. “They taught me about the passion for horses and that it’s not just about winning,” she recalls. Throughout her junior and amateur years, Carter considers herself lucky to have continued her education under the watchful eyes of Mike and Lolly Edrick, Bennett Kurtze, Jimmy Williams, Susie Hutchison and Lucy Stewart. Her biggest influences as a rider and up-and-coming professional were Leslie Steele, Carleton Brooks and Scott Wilson.
Fremont Hills & Bay Rose at the
2009 HITS Desert Circuit. AN INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH Sereni, Carter and Froley are committed to the idea that each of their riders and horses is an individual deserving of their own goals and game plans for reaching them. “There are some training programs where the horse needs to fit into one program,” Carter comments. “In ours, every horse and rider gets the same basics, but we may reach them in different ways.” Their program is augmented by the wonderful set-up at the Portola Valley Training Center, where a huge outdoor ring is one of eight riding arenas. The footing is excellent, raves Sereni, who established Fremont Hills many years ago and moved it to Portola Valley in 2004. A 5/8ths-of-a-mile exercise track and access to many miles of trails enable clients beneficial breaks to in-the-ring schooling. The trainers are particularly excited about a treadmill they invested in last year. It’s a great supplement or substitute for hand walking and lunging and has fitness-building benefits for healthy horses as well as those coming back from injuries. Like a people treadmill, the machine can be set for various speeds and tilt levels to accommodate a variety of work-outs. Twenty-five is about the right number of horses to keep things humming along nicely at Fremont Hills. The clientele is evenly mixed between amateurs and juniors ranging from a 7-year-old Short Stirrup competitor to advanced amateurs campaigning in the high jumper ranks. “We have a broad spectrum of riders,” says Carter. Catering to everybody’s competitive desires is easily accommodated by an itinerary that includes both Northern California shows, regular trips to Southern California and East Coast forays to the Indoors circuit as appropriate to their clients’ goals. Having three super capable trainers serves Fremont Hills especially well when show schedules mandate a divide and conquer approach to the circuit.
Debbi and Mia Sereni The program’s competitive itinerary varies according to their students’ needs, but there are certain staples on their calendar every year: usually four weeks at Thermal, the Oaks in June, Pebble Beach, Woodside, Menlo and Larry Langer’s end-of-the year show in Los Angeles. Wherever they go, ribbons rack up on their tack room curtains and fun is sure to follow. A dinner outing with all clients is de rigueur at every show and holiday parties highlight the circuit’s short off-season. As Carter reiterates of their modus operandi, “We know that nobody wants to have a bad day or do poorly at a show. It’s important to us that we help our riders set goals they can attain.” Ribbons, tri-colors and year-end awards are among the results of Fremont Hills’ philosophy, but the biggest reward for the trainers is “the smiles on our students’ faces when they accomplish their goals,” concludes Carter. “And usually those have nothing to do with ribbons.”
For more information on Fremont Hills Stables, LLC, visit www.fremonthillsllc.com or contact Wendy Carter at 949-683-2905, cdrglen@aol.com, or Debbi Sereni at 650-888-4010, ponies7@comcast.net. |
