More about Susanne Hassler
Susanne Hassler definitely bears the dressage gene. Her earliest inspiration for the sport came while watching her grandmother compete for Sweden in World Cup and World Championship qualifying events, and her mother, Anita Owen, is an FEI-C judge.
Growing up in Colorado, where she participated in Pony Club and was active in competitive trail riding, Susanne won year-end national awards in her age division; she crossed the Continental Divide many times on horseback during her early education as a horsewoman.
As a 16-year old, Susanne studied dressage under Christina Hermodsson and Maude von Rusen. She came home inspired to participate in the North American Young Riders Championships, and invested herself in her training under Sue Curry (Schaefer) and her mother, Anita Owen. After finishing high school, Susanne moved to Canada to compete in her first NAYRC and to continue her studies under Canadian Olympian Christilot Hansen-Boylen. In 1984, Susanne won the Consolation division of the Championships, placing 13th overall; in 1985, Susanne placed 3rd in the Consolation and met her future husband Scott on the awards podium; and in 1986, Susanne won the Individual Gold Medal at the US Young Riders Competition, the first time the event was held separately for the US and Canada.
Her successes in the Young Rider divisions brought Susanne scholarships and awards. In 1985, she was the first dressage rider to ever win the prestigious sportmanship-performance award, the Hermes Trophy. She was also awarded a training grant by the USET, taking the opportunity offered by Belinda (Baudin) Nairn-Wortman, Susanne's employer at the time, to go to Germany to train under Herbert Rehbein. The experiences and exposure to international dressage gained over that summer heightened Susanne's competitive ambitions and passion for dressage.
While earning her B.A. in Biology at Middlebury College in Vermont, Susanne had the opportunity to maintain and further develop her riding through her employment at Tylord Farm. Tylord's retired Grand Prix horse Unkenruf had been trained by Mr. Rehbein and Susanne welcomed the opportunity to hone her skills on such a lovely stallion. She also lent her energy and time to the further development of Tylord's Trakehner stallions Laiken and Enrico Caruso. Shortly after her graduation from Middlebury, Scott proposed and together they shifted her focus toward the development of Hilltop Farm.
Susanne's passionate guidance of Hilltop's breeding and raising operations touched customers around the world, helping yield countless Championship results. She designed many in-depth, educational seminars for breeders, including detailed seminars on nutrition, broodmare and foal management, orthopedic development, and advanced reproductive technologies. Susanne also developed Hilltop's many customer service related programs during her years at Hilltop: Breeders Sales Support, Breeders Award Programs, and the very successful Devon Support Program; she always strove to yield success for an ever-widening Hilltop customer base. Susanne expanded the influence of Hilltop stallions worldwide and brought internationally reputable stallions to North American breeders with Live Foal Guarantees through Hilltop's International Frozen Semen program.
In 2004, Susanne was able to resume her competitive pursuits aboard the young Hanoverian stallion Royal Prince. Undefeated in both the 5-and 6-year old USEF/Markel Selection Trials, Susanne rode Royal Prince to the best result for an American entry to date at the FEI-World Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany. Her 4th place finish at Verden was followed by the win of the National Championships for Young Horses, making 2004 a memorable year in Susanne's competitive career.
Susanne looks forward to returning to sport aboard Harmony Sporthorses' young stallion Davidoff Hit. Susanne will speak at the American Hanoverian Society's annual convention on "Raising a Stallion Prospect," drawing from her many years of experience in selecting and raising young prospects for Hilltop as well as for the customers who entrusted youngsters to her care, like Irene Hochflich-Wiederhold's young stallion Selten HW who recently won the Reserve Grand Championship title at Devon 2006.
