Chemaine Hurtado
It’s a good bet that only one resident of Bear Valley will be pinning a USDF Diamond Award to their riding coat! Bear Valley resident and dressage rider and trainer Chemaine Hurtado of Symphony Dressage is one of sixty-seven Americans who received this coveted national award. Chemaine was awarded the USDF Diamond Award which recognizes those who have earned their USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Rider Medals and Freestyle bars; this means that Chemaine has achieved the highest honors in all levels of dressage.
Chemaine has been riding most of her life; at the age of 6, she watched her sister ride in a lesson, and longed to be the little girl riding the magnificent horse. It wasn’t until she was 9 or 10 that she was able to realize that dream, riding horses at her childhood friend’s ranch. Chemaine rode and trained her own horses for years until she started studying with internationally known dressage rider Hilda Gurney and groomed for Hilda at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Since those early years, Chemaine has worked with many internationally recognized trainers.
To Chemaine, who has competed in almost 400 rides, the Diamond award was almost anticlimactic, because it has been over twenty years since she achieved that goal. Thus far, Chemaine has bred, raised, and trained 8 horses to Gran Prix (GP), the very highest level recognized by The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (the international governing body of equestrian sports.)
Her first horse to reach GP was Nova, and with her, Chemaine achieved her USDF Gold Medal, rewarded to riding to GP. Chemaine bred, raised, and trained Nova’s 2 foals, Winter Nebel (Belle) who has achieved I-1, , and R Star (Roo), who as achieved PSG and is currently working toward GP.
Chemaine has a large clientele of students in Southern and Central California and neighboring states. She has been featured clinician at the Western States Horse Expo in Pomona and Sacramento CA for 5 years and won a coveted invitation to attend the highly regarded Scott Hassler Young Horse Trainers Symposium.
Always active and looking for new endeavors, Chemaine is looking forward to bringing Roo and her client’s horse Dathina to GP. She is working with Rancho Los Quatro Vientos Andalusians and the Mountain Springs Ranch Irish Draught Breeding Program. In this community of accomplished equestrians, Chemiane’s Diamond Award shines especially bright!
Peggy Aten
Peggy Aten is the Bear Valley Dressage Club’s current secretary, and a long-time resident of Bear Valley Springs who has seen the area’s equestrian activities rise, fall, and rise again. As a rider, dressage scribe, and avid fan of all horses, Peggy has contributed much to the club and to the strong dressage community here in our lovely valley.
Peggy’s earliest horse memories began with pony rides at about age five, a fascination that her parents hoped she’d quickly outgrow. By second grade, though, Peggy owned a Quarter horse and rode all over Camarillo, then brought the family horses to Bear Valley when her family moved here in 1978. “My dad was a train fanatic, and we ended up moving here because of the Tehachapi Loop- Dad just loved all the train activity in the area, and Bear Valley was a great place to raise a family. And I’m still here!” she said with a laugh.
Riding on the trails and experimenting with jumping, lower-level eventing, and ultimately dressage, Peggy graduated to new horses and eventually settled on Arabians as her breed of choice. “While they weren’t competitive in open dressage, I loved that they were smart. I was able to show in other classes too, including the ‘main ring’ traditional riding classes. I especially enjoyed hunter classes and sidesaddle, a class almost unique to the Arabian shows,“ she added. Peggy’s purebred gelding, Golly Gee Whiz, is somewhat retired these days but they had a long and successful career in the show ring, including three national top-ten awards, two in the United States and one in Canada.
As a busy Physician’s Assistant commuting to Bakersfield daily, Peggy’s time for horses was somewhat limited, but Covid really changed things for her, with both horses and life. “We were working crazy hours, and under so much pressure at the hospital, it was a really scary time. In the midst of all that mayhem, I saw a photo of a spectacular yearling Half-Arabian filly at the Scottsdale show, and I totally fell in love. I ended up buying her sight-unseen! Most people know about the government PPP program- the Payroll Protection Program- but I interpreted it differently, as the Pandemic Pony Purchase!” she explained.
Now two years old, Peggy’s PPP filly, barn name Padme, has developed into a winning sport horse in-hand, earning high scores under the capable guidance of Hannah Finch in Ojai. Padme is tall, elegant, and a lovely mover due to her exceptional Arabian maternal bloodlines and her Dutch Warmblood sire. “I have trouble even believing I did this, but she’s entered in the US Arabian Nationals Sport Horse Championship show, which is in Wilmington Ohio in September. I’ll be there scribing, so will get to see my PPP baby show,” Peggy said with obvious excitement.
When not helping the dressage community, enjoying her own horses, and working full-time as a pediatric PA, Peggy has started to trial with her Jack Russell terrier. “Working with the dogs reminds me how important relationships with our animals are,” she said. “Cross-training with Jack Russell’s and horses is a great reminder of how forgiving and smart they are,” Peggy concluded. Interview by: Suzanne Vlietstra
Crystal Taylor
Crystal Taylor, the Bear Valley Dressage Club’s current Vice-President, has lived with her husband Dennis in Bear Valley for over a decade and appreciates the variety of equestrian activities in the community, especially her new favorite, dressage. As a math teacher, Crystal likes the precision of dressage, the education she gains from riding and lessons, and the ability to help her partner, a Fell pony named Jackson, become a better athlete.
Crystal grew up in Bakersfield with parents who both were active with horses that they kept at their home in the country. “Somewhere there’s a photo of me at 4 years old sitting on a Shetland-Welsh cross pony in the backyard, while everyone else was in the house keeping cool,” she said. “I’ve always ridden.”
With time devoted to trail riding, doing gymkhana events, and a lot of her youth spent racing up and down canal banks earning her the nickname “The Wild Indian” from neighbors, Crystal has enjoyed several breeds of horses and different disciplines. “We had POA’s (Pony of the Americas) when we were kids that we did everything with, then we had some Arabians. I didn’t show but my parents taught us to learn by doing. We learned to ride by riding,” Crystal explained.
Asked about her dressage inspirations, Crystal mentioned that her mom was her first big influence, because they would spend hours watching dressage on TV whenever they could find it broadcast, and then talk about what they saw. Her father also was an important equestrian influence and they still chat about horses together to this day. “It’s so important to help kids learn about horses, to get them involved at any early age,” she noted.
Because she commutes three hours a day to teach in Delano, Crystal says she’s now a ‘weekend warrior’ and that Jackson, at age 16, is the perfect ride for her. “He knows more than I do and suits me fine because I can’t ride much during the week during the school year. He’s happy to wait for me, and is so fun and charming and patient when we have time together,” she explained. The duo are working through training level and are aiming for first level next year. Asked about her dressage journey thus far, Crystal laughed and said “I started out riding ponies and here I am… riding ponies again!”
Interview & photo by: Suzanne Vlietstra
Bear Valley Springs Dressage Club 