In an era when the fast track to equestrian success seems all the rage, a throw-back to classical dressage and the thorough horsemanship that that entails is quietly ensconced in Ventura County.
Dr. Gail Hoff-Carmona moved her Los Alamos Dressage Center from her long time New Jersey base to Canada Larga Stables in Ventura a year and a half ago. With her came a lifetime’s worth of expertise in training, coaching, breeding and judging. Most of it is geared for the dressage horse and rider, but her knowledge and talents and her Swedish Warmbloods have been appreciated by wise equestrians in various disciplines, especially jumping.
Her resumes in both the dressage world and the “real world” are long. Gail holds a B.S. in animal science and pre-veterinary medicine, an M.S. in zoology and a Ph.D. in immunology. She retired from a career in science, filled with many distinctions, in 1982 and has since devoted herself to horses.
Riding mounts she trained herself, Gail earned USDF bronze, silver and gold medals and trained six other horses to Grand Prix level. She is a USEF Senior dressage judge and a Recorded dressage sporthorse judge.
“I think the breadth of experience I bring to the table is somewhat unique,” she says modestly.
Though she’s been too busy simply “unpacking” her life to do much about marketing herself, Gail relays that she’s ready to return to a fuller schedule of working with horses and riders, either at Canada Larga or in clinic formats.
Gail’s initial equine interests centered on Arabians, who she raised and trained to national success. She next embraced European Warmbloods and especially the Swedish Warmbloods. She has bred three licensed Swedish Warmblood stallions and a mare who received diplomas for both dressage and jumping ability. Her two stallions, LA Baltic Sun and LA Baltic Inspiration, have greatly influenced American sporthorse breeding and are well known at Dressage at Devon and the Devon Horse Shows for their own successes and/or that of their offspring.

Ever the Scientist
LA Baltic Sun is now deceased, but his semen is available in frozen form.
Since he earned the title of Champion Young Horse at Dressage at Devon as a 3-year-old, Baltic Sun went on to win many USDF national titles through Grand Prix dressage. Gail is a big believer in the synergies between dressage and show jumping, and she agrees with European thinking that it is valuable for a horse to do both. Baltic Sun demonstrated the wisdom of that thinking. He did not compete in the jumper ring, but had plenty of scope and could have been a beautiful hunter, Gail relays.
Baltic Sun’s son, LA Baltic Inspiration, has competed in jumpers and Gail says more than a few Grand Prix riders have coveted him. At one point, Inspiration was competing in Grand Prix jumpers and also working at Prix St. Georges level dressage.
The scientist in Gail is fascinated by the connection between jumping and dressage. Both need a lot of power, but different kinds of power. “The Grand Prix dressage horse needs a lot of potential energy: They need to be able to sit and hold themselves,” Gail observes. “The jumper needs a lot of kinetic energy: They need muscles that can run and stretch.” After deducing that, Gail kept Inspiration at Prix St. Georges during his Grand Prix jumping days to keep the focus on his jumping power. When he retired from jumpers, she continued his dressage training to the Grand Prix level.
The movements required in jumping and dressage also have similarities. A roll-back turn on a tight jumping course shares a lot with dressage’s pirouette, Gail comments.
Even though she hasn’t advertised her services very much, riders are finding Gail. She sold one of the four horses she brought West, a Grand Prix veteran, to a less experienced rider moving up the ranks. Gail has enjoyed helping that pair, and working with another student pursuing dressage with a Friesian.
“I enjoy helping students in dressage, no matter what level they are at,” she says. “I am interested in anyone that really wants to learn dressage.” Her judge’s eye adds an extra perspective to her many years of experience. “For example, I might work with an upper level rider who is doing a pirouette that is better to the right than to the left,” she explains. “Sometimes I can see that little thing that might solve the problem rapidly.”
For more information on Dr. Gail Hoff-Carmona’s training and coaching services, or on breeding to one of her stallions, call 805-640-7961 or visit Los Alamos Dressage Center’s website at www.losalamosdressage.com.