Team Phoenix: Shinobu, Amelia, Scratchy, Angus...
Phoenix Internationalé 2011 Team members are:
Angus, Shinobu, Amelia, and Cees
Angus, Chief Trainer of the Academia de Phoenix Internationalé, is a lifelong student of equine sciences. Angus started riding and taking lessons at a early age, taking advantage of any equine opportunity presented. Angus studied many disciplines in his younger equine career including dressage, hunters and jumpers which led him to compete in the ASPCA Medal Maclay. He drove fine coach horses and heavy teams, rode cutting horses and re-schooled polo ponies. He competed in NCAA calf roping and team roping; he also worked at and helped to run a major university equine center. He won numerous awards at the local and national levels.
While studying avionics and electronics in college, Angus minored in equine sciences. He studied university level equine physiology, kinesiology, nutrition and psychology. He also studied commercial equine management and the thoroughbred race industry. He pursued a high tech career which took him to Europe and eventually to Silicon Valley where he rose to the level of senior director of strategic technical marketing.
Sunshine Tour
In the late 1980s and early 90s, Angus competed in national level show jumping. In 1996 while working in Europe, Angus decided to focus his attention on dressage. He began training under classical dressage masters in Europe, specifically in Holland, Sweden and in Germany. He has trained, schooled and successfully shown young horses through Prix St. George and has successfully competed internationally at all levels of dressage. Through this time Angus continued to ride hunters and jumpers, though not his primary focus. He is currently splitting his time between USA, Holland and Belgium riding dressage and show jumpers at the highest levels.
Biathlete
In 2005-6, Angus competed internationally as a masters’ level biathlete. While training for biathlon, Angus was able to work at Olympic training sites with human sports nutritionists, physiologists and psychologists. Angus brings this strong background in human sports sciences to his life-long experience in equine sciences. He teaches students the secrets of how to train their horses and themselves to work and think like world class athletes.
Angus has the vision to see the possibilities in a raw product (i.e., horse and rider) and the skills to teach and motivate horse and rider to reach their highest potential.
Angus featured on fresbar
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Shinobu “Bo” is the director of Phoenix Internationalé horse psychology and ground training division. Shinobu grew up with horses from a very young age. Her first working experience was for an Arabian ranch in the foothills of California working with young horses. She had a natural knack for quieting the easily disturbed horses and in doing so won the heart of the ranch owner. Her teenage years were spent working and riding the horses nobody else would ride on several ranches in California…and thus her career of helping “troubled” horses started.
Shinobu - Phoenix Internationalé
Her competitive career included many blue ribbons in English Equitation. In the 1980’s she worked with polo ponies in Oakbrook, Illinois, in the 90’s she trained and successfully competed on cutting horses, as well as conditioning a sting of polo ponies in Washington state. Shinobu was always drawn back to wanting to understand more about how horses are wired; this desire led her to more training in equine psychology.
Shinobu presenting another problem to be worked through
Shinobu has spent the last 15 years studying equine behavior with master level teachers in the United States to better understand how horses see the world, how they associate with humans and other horses, and most of all, how they learn. She has studied with Alexandra Kurland, foremost equine operant conditioning trainer in the U.S. She became certified level 3 in the Parelli International School, lived on the Parelli ranch for a season, and attended their instructor course.
Shinobu - Phoenix Internationalé
One of her most recent accomplishments was to work with some of Phoenix’s young horses alongside of Bereiter Marius Schreiner from the Spanish School. In recent years Shinobu has been known for the understanding and retraining of “problem” horses, starting of young horses, and has had repeated success starting wild mustangs.
We were able to use Shinobu 's Techniques to get this Bull Moose to lick and think!
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Amelia, a horse lover since childhood. Growing up, she took advantage of every opportunity, riding many horses. She became involved with the Pony Club at age 18. She brought home silver and bronze medals from Championships West for horse management in show jumping in Ogden Utah. She qualified for the National championships in the “Know Down”, a test on all horse knowledge. In Crestone, Colorado she learned stable management, the economics and logistics of running a boarding stable. As an endurance racer, she utilized her horse management skills to keep her horses fit over the 50 and 100 mile distances. During that time she worked with a corrective shoer who taught her how to do a natural trim and how to set shoes. She studied with Jonathan Field learning natural horsemanship in Abbotsford, BC.
- Amelia – Phoenix Internationalé
At a Hanoverian breeding facility in Germany, she rode many young horses, one being a filly who later became Eva Bittner’s Grand Prix show jumper. With Eva, Amelia traveled to the Hamburg Derby and the Tournament of Nations in Rome, Italy where she groomed and assisted in the warm up arena. Amelia tried her hand at breeding and came out with a National Grand Champion from the Friesian Blood Horse Registry. The filly is 3 and still at home with her mother Jewel.
In Germany, Amelia fox hunted with the local club. Drag hunting in Washington, Amelia met Angus MacGreigor and became a working student, schooling all levels of Dressage Horses and Jumpers. Lessons in dressage and jumping as well as fox hunting on the weekends paid off as she soon became a Whipper-in.
If everyday is new and unusual, then Unusual becomes the norm. Here, Phoenix Internationalé Catch Rider, Amelia, rides in a side saddle clinic. Leo had never had a side saddle or back girth on before, Amelia had never ridden side saddle.., both received rave reviews!
Currently, Amelia is working with Bo Bishop to expand her natural horsemanship skills. Amelia is in charge of teaching high performance equine feeding, hydration, pre-event and post-event care to keep horses at optimal performance. She also teaches grooming and proper German leather care. Amelia schools young horses, and does pre-show warm up and post show cool down. Her expertise in equine psychology, bio-mechanics combined with her European High Performance sport horse experience make her an invaluable asset to Phoenix Internationalé.
Amelia - Phoenix Internationalé
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Welcome Cees as our Phoenix Internationale, Dutch agent!
Cees, Dion, Angus at our European Farm
Bio for Cees will be coming soon.