Thea Stinnett
Thea Stinnett was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She was born with horses in her blood. Despite not having any other horse people in her family she went to every length to just swing a leg over a horse, including becoming a guide for horse tours on the beach along the Oregon coast at the age of 8. She was given her first pony soon after from a relative, and began her showing career jumping. From there Thea learned from great trainers such as Rich Fellers, Joan Curtain, Jim Dahlquist, and Hap Hansen. While riding with Hap Thea had a top 10 finish in the West coast USET finals. She later became Jim Dalhquist's assistant in a business that was 95% hunters, teaching, riding, and managing his operation before moving east to also ride with Jeff Cook to ride in the jumpers. Thea has had some great hunters, including Lucky You, a famous son of the notorious hunter stallion, Best of Luck, but jumpers are what interest Thea, including USET and equitation classes. Her path mirrored Chris's from this point. She managed Heathman Farm, and got her amateur card back and competed in the Amateur classes and some Grand Prix's. Her consistency in the Amateur division led her to get the attention of George Morris at the Spruce Meadows Master's in 1998. He was acting Chef D'Equip of the American team. One of the duties of all Chef D'Equip's from all nations was to put together an amateur team to compete in an amateur "Nation's Cup." George not only picked Thea, but he put her as his anchor. She went double clean, and the team won the class. To top that off, the very next year George once again picked Thea, and the Irish mare Sea Nymph, to be on the team, and once again ride in the anchor position. Double clean and victorious again. Later the next year, Thea entered her first Grand Prix, the Re-Max Grand Prix of Thunderbird, in British Columbia, Canada. She went late in the class which gave her time to study and learn the details of the course. Chris had already ridden E-Ticket to a clean round and now it was Thea's turn. She put in a clear round that looked like an equitation ride. She would go last in the jump off. Chris, nervous about the wiley Thea behind him, had a fast time in the jump off but with 4 faults, and sat in 4th with two to go. The next rider went clean with a very fast time and into the lead. Thea walked under the Thunderbird clock tower with a cool calmness about her that was about to get even cooler. She picked up a gallop and hit the timers of her first Grand Prix jump off with conviction. Perfect roll backs, angles, and speed had her right in the mix with two jumps to go. A vertical off of a rollback, and a long gallop to the final oxer right at the in gate. She was clear, (as that horse always was), jumped the vertical, and believe it or not, looked over at the timers, and realized she had plenty of time under her belt to take it easy and
jump the last jump clean. She reeled in her gray mare, added a step compared to the competition, jumped the last giant oxer with perfect ease, and won the class by a full second. Not bad for her fist Grand Prix.Moving east was the best thing for Thea. The focus was now on her, and the finishing school
that George Morris and Chris Kappler were providing her. She had many more years of riding with them that yielded her numerous victories on multiple horses, proving that Thea can win over and over again with any horse. These few years molded Thea into a professional that not only knows the sport, and the nuances at the highest level, but also gave her the tools to be one of the areas top trainers. Thea is looking for dedicated students, who aspire for more in the sport, and want the best care for their horse. She will improve your horse, or help you find one that is your tailor made perfect
match. Her beliefs are simple: the horses must be horses. Turnout, and time to keep moving and grazing are keys to equine health, especially colic prevention. Straw is used to bed the stalls for the reason that pine shavings dry out the horse's feet, making them brittle and hard to shoe, resulting in a smaller foot on a lame horse. Also, straw holds no nutritional value, but when horses are bored they will nibble at it, keeping their digestive systems moving. If they aren't in the stall, they are in the exercise walker, in the ring, or in the grass paddocks. Horses are nomadic by nature and require activity. Jumpers and Equitation (pure classic jumping) are the primary focus of Heathman Farm, but with much experience showing and developing top hunters Thea is excited to have those students as well. She is here to help you and your horse achieve a higher level of knowledge
of the sport and success in it.
jump the last jump clean. She reeled in her gray mare, added a step compared to the competition, jumped the last giant oxer with perfect ease, and won the class by a full second. Not bad for her fist Grand Prix.Moving east was the best thing for Thea. The focus was now on her, and the finishing school
that George Morris and Chris Kappler were providing her. She had many more years of riding with them that yielded her numerous victories on multiple horses, proving that Thea can win over and over again with any horse. These few years molded Thea into a professional that not only knows the sport, and the nuances at the highest level, but also gave her the tools to be one of the areas top trainers. Thea is looking for dedicated students, who aspire for more in the sport, and want the best care for their horse. She will improve your horse, or help you find one that is your tailor made perfect
match. Her beliefs are simple: the horses must be horses. Turnout, and time to keep moving and grazing are keys to equine health, especially colic prevention. Straw is used to bed the stalls for the reason that pine shavings dry out the horse's feet, making them brittle and hard to shoe, resulting in a smaller foot on a lame horse. Also, straw holds no nutritional value, but when horses are bored they will nibble at it, keeping their digestive systems moving. If they aren't in the stall, they are in the exercise walker, in the ring, or in the grass paddocks. Horses are nomadic by nature and require activity. Jumpers and Equitation (pure classic jumping) are the primary focus of Heathman Farm, but with much experience showing and developing top hunters Thea is excited to have those students as well. She is here to help you and your horse achieve a higher level of knowledge
of the sport and success in it.
