MARIA ANNA KWINTEN DIGMAN

MY STORY

The luckiest people in the world are those who have found their passion, who get up every day and are able to do what they love. Maria is one of those lucky few. Riding is not just her work, it is her passion, her hobby, her favorite sport, and it has been since before she could walk, Her earliest memories revolve around horses, she was raised with them, grew up with them, and has traveled around the world with them. Dressage is not just a sport to her, the horses are not just her job, dressage and horses are her way of life.

AT A GLANCE

Dressage rider from starting young horses to teaching Grand Prix movements
Experienced with competing and promoting stallions
Experienced Dressage Instructor / Coach
Lifelong experience in Barn / Stable management

Knowledge in care, maintenance, feeding, etc. of top International level sport horses
Experienced and knowledgeable in basic veterinary care/ maintenance / first aid, including giving IV and IM injections.
Comfortable and experienced driving large horse trucks and all tractors and farm equipment
Experienced with mare care, foaling, and care of young foals
Experienced International level competition groom, braiding, etc.
Experienced in flying with horses and caring for them during international transport, understanding of all necessary documents/ paperwork, etc.
Speaks English, Dutch, Russian.

RESUME

February 2019 - Present
International Test Rider of Dressage Sales horses
- Riding sales horses to test them for clients
- Making videos of sales horses
- Writing reports on sales horses for clients
- Searching for suitable new dressage horses for clients
- Driving around the Netherlands with clients and helping them to try sales horses

January 2020 - Present
Owner / Operator of M.A. Dressage & Sporthorse International B.V.

Test Riding sales horses
Taking horses in training of all ages and levels
Short term riding and training of horses that clients have bought, before the horse(s)
ship out of the Netherlands
Starting young horses under saddle
Promoting young horses and stallions
Riding in competitions and IBOP
Promoting and selling horses for clients
Driving around the Netherlands with clients and helping them to try sales horses - Searching for suitable new dressage horses for clients

December 2016 - January 2020 - Freelance Rider - dressage Teacher in Noord Brabant

Riding dressage horses of all ages and levels as many times per week as the owner wishes, from once per week to taking horses in full training.
Teaching riders of various ages and levels
Riding and caring for horses while their owners are on vacation

December 2016 - May 2019 - Rider for Stal Vangrunsven, Erp, NED

Riding all of the dressage horses from L level to Grand Prix.
Preparing the dressage horses for competition, competing them at competitions,
qualifying them for, and competing them at, Regional and National Championships. Competing as part of the Silver medal winning Dutch Team in a Grand Prix “6 stal” freestyle quadrille as part of “The Challenge of The Americas”
Making sales videos of dressage horses
Presenting sales horses for clients
Lungeing and doing ground work/ work in hand.
Riding all the jumping horses, using dressage work, and cavalletti to help
gymnastatize them and improve their jumping.
responsible for managing the care of all the horses; feeding, cleaning, turn out,
walker, treadmill, blanketing, grooming, cleaning of tack, etc.
Grooming horses for competitions, braiding.
Managing the barn when the owners are away traveling or at competitions.
Managing all the grooms/ stable workers.
Riding in lessons with Katja Gevers

August 2016 - December 2016 - Head Rider for President Dressage Stables, NED

Riding between 8 - 14 young dressage horses per day, from 3 year olds to FEI horses. Mares, geldings and stallions.
Starting young horses under saddle.
Preparing young horses for KWPN Keurings / IBOP
Preparing horses for competition
Riding young horses in lessons with Patrick Van der Meer, and Marije de Lange
Responsible for the daily care of the horses I had to ride.

October 2015 – August 2016 - Stable Manager for Chester Weber / Live Oak Combined Driving. Ocala, FL, USA, Beekbergen, Netherlands, & Frankfurt Germany

Duties Included:

Overseeing and helping with the daily care of all the horses: Feeding, turn out, stall cleaning, grooming, bathing, blanketing, wrapping.
Overseeing and helping with the daily physiotherapy and exercise of all the horses: Treadmill, Theraplate, Ultra sound machine, UltraOZ, Magnetic blankets, Vibrating blanket, Ice, etc.
Administering basic veterinary care to all horses: wound care, skin care, poultice, wrapping, administering oral medication, administering IM injections and IV injections.
Keeping track of horse weights by weighing horses every two weeks and planning/adjusting their feeding program.
Managing the staff, making staff schedule, hiring and firing
Scheduling the vet and farrier
Managing maintenance of stable and all equipment used
Secretarial work: Managing barn budget, keeping track of and sorting receipts, dealing with sponsors, writing monthly horse reports for owners, keeping track of all horse records and writing a monthly report for each horse, ordering feed and supplies, organizing transport (and paperwork) of all horses, equipment and staff to Europe for the summer, doing the entries for National and International competitions.
Promotional: helping to talk to sponsors and owners, taking pictures and video, and posting online
Managing our farm at competitions, overseeing and helping with all aspects of grooming and care at competitions
Traveling with the horses, flying with them to Europe and caring for them during the flight.

April 2015 – August 2016 - Rider for Chester Weber / Live Oak Combined Driving International . Ocala, FL, USA, Beekbergen, Netherlands, & Frankfurt Germany

(Part time April 2015 – September 2015, and then full time rider since September)

Riding all the driving horses in Dressage to help them work better in the carriage Lunging and work on the ground
Starting young horses under saddle
Riding the horses at International competitions in the USA, England and in Europe to warm them up
Rode with either Conrad Schumaker and/or Olympian Ellen Bontje almost every day, for the summer of 2016 in Frankfurt, Germany.

February 2015 – September 2015. Owner/Trainer/Manager Silver Horse Dressage FL, USA

Managed farm and all aspects of horse care
Had an average of 20 horses in dressage training at all times, with a waiting list
Gave Dressage lessons to students of all ages and levels
Took horses in training to sell and sold them
Prepared Young horses for their breed inspections, mare/stallion testing
Prepared horses for competitions and competed them from young horse classes to Intermediate II
Started young horses under saddle
During this time I rode with Katherine Bateson Chandler in clinics, and with Catherine Haddad Staller in clinics or at her farm in Wellington FL for a weekend.

Fall 2012 – Spring 2015 - Coach of the University Of Florida Dressage Team. Gainesville, FL, USA

Gave dressage lessons to all the riders on the UF Dressage Team
Selected the Teams to compete and represent the school
Coached them at competitions, both Regionally and Nationally. The UF Dressage Team was the Regional Champion every year that Maria Coached them.

December 2004 – February 2015 - Owner / Manager / Trainer of Hallet Training Inc. OR & FL, USA

Managed farm and all aspects of horse care
Had an average of 20 horses in dressage training at all times, with a waiting list
Gave Dressage lessons to students of all ages and levels
Coached students at competitions
Took horses in training to sell and sold them
Prepared Young horses for their breed inspections, mare/stallion testing
Started young horses under saddle and rode them in their first competitions Competed and Promoted Stallions
Competed horses of all ages, levels, breeds, and sex at competitions from young horse classes through FEI Intermediare II
Trained numerous horses from the beginning through doing all the GP movements
Took “Problem” horses in training and rehabbed them
Drove our Truck and Trailer to transport horses to all competitions
Operated all farm equipment/ tractors used for maintaining the facility
Organized large clinics with International clinicians at our facility on a regular basis
During this time I rode in clinics with Katherine Bateson Chandler (regularly and with multiple horses), Jennifer Roth (S), Charlotte Bredahl, Guenter Seidel, and Catherine Haddad-Staller

2008-2010 - Rider for Gaea’s Farm. IL, USA

Started young horses under saddle and competed them . They sent the horses to my farm, first in TN and then to FL. Their young horses earned many USDF Horse of the Year, material, highpoint and championship awards during this time

Fall 2008 – Summer 2010 - Rider and Manager for Chasing The Muse Farm. Arrington, TN, USA

Started young horses under saddle and competed them . Their young horses earned many Horse of the Year, material, highpoint and championship awards during this time
Rode and competed all horses at the Farm ranging in level from young horses to competing at FEI Prix St. George / Schooling Grand Prix
Managed the day to day running of the farm and care of all the horses
Taught the owner of the farm and all of her boarding clients, ranging in level from beginners through competing at FEI Prix St. George
Transported horses to and from competitions and managed/ cared for them at competitions
Coached clients at competitions
Started all young horses under saddle

2004 – 2008 - Rider For Wind Mountain Lippizans. OR, USA

Trained, competed and promoted their stallions out of my barn. The stallions Conversano Canada and Favory Canada were USDF Horse Of the Year for the United States, every year, at every level and freestyle level I competed them at.
Started all their young stallions under saddle and had them in training at my farm in Oregon
2003 – 2004 - Rider for Carpe Diem Farm. WA, USA

1998 – 2004 - Rider, Instructor, Manager at Unicorn Spring Ranch. OR, USA

Took over managing my families 100 acre farm
Managed and helped with all aspects of horse care
Managed staff
Managed and helped with all aspects of running and maintaining a large farm/ facility

Operated all farm equipment/ tractors used for maintaining the facility
Helped organize/ manage small competitions on our farm
Had horses in training for both dressage and jumping
Competed horses of all breeds and levels
Started young horses under saddle

1996-1998 - Part time Veterinary Assistant at Del Oeste Veterinary Hospital (as an unpaid learning experience)

Went on rounds with the veterinarians, helped handle the horses, prepare/ draw up oral medications and vaccines / injections, help with wrapping / bandaging and other basic jobs such as disinfecting wounds, stock the vet truck with supplies, help with care of horses in the clinic, etc.

1990 - 1998 Unicorn Spring Ranch. OR, USA

Gave dressage and jumping lessons
Taught Pony Club and 4H
Coached students at shows
Helped with the Therapeutic riding program at our facility, warmed up/ trained the therapy horses and taught riding lessons to the therapy kids
Rode ponies and later horses for anyone who needed them exercised / trained.
Exercised the horses and ponies used in the Therapeutic riding program which my mom ran
Started riding as soon as I could walk. I have ridden and cared for horses nearly every day for as long as I can remember.