By Tammy Chipko
Santana Stables, situated in the Mexican city of Puebla, has chosen southern California as its home for the summer. I spoke with the owners, Paulo and Jennifer Santana, about their location, sale horses and summer plans.
Santana Stables is located in the lovely community of HARAS in Puebla, about 60 miles southeast of Mexico City. Surrounded by volcanoes and snow-capped mountains, Puebla is an important industrial, cultural and educational center of Mexico and one of the oldest colonial cities in the continent.
Known in California by her maiden name Preletz, Jennifer rides as an amateur. Now married and handling the sales aspect of their business, she explains that they live and work on one of the 50 beautiful farms in this community. Each farm shares the International Facility that includes, among other amenities, a Grand Prix Field and miles of green hills for galloping and conditioning. A medical hospital and an additional competition site are in the future plans. Their location provides a unique environment for keeping competition horses fit and happy.
Paulo Santana, originally from Brazil, started his professional career developing young riders and horses. He has successfully competed at the International level and continues to compete in Mexico, Europe, and the United States. At the request of a family whose son had Olympic aspirations, Paulo came to Mexico from Brazil in 2003 as the young man’s private trainer. In 2005 he opened his own business in Puebla training a small group of clients
and developing a select group of young horses.
Paulo characterizes his training method as the “natural” approach. Jennifer feels that he has a special talent for developing young horses. Patience is at the core of his technique and this calmness carries over to his horses and riders. His success spans from starting young riders as well as young horses in the 1.10m classes all the way to the Grand Prix show jumping level. Paulo explains that he prefers to keep a small group of horses and riders, so he can carefully tailor his step-by-step program for each individual’s needs.
“My approach is the same with sale horses. I don’t like to have more than six or seven sale horses at a time,” adds Paulo. “We typically keep a horse for a year or more prior to selling it. Each horse is given personal attention and goals are set individually. We represent young horses, amateur horses, and Grand Prix prospects and have a great track record of selling quality horses. That is most important to me!”
Competing in the young horse classes, 1.40-1.45m, as well as in a number of Grand Prix, this year’s select group of six sale horses and a couple of Paulo’s students will be in southern California this summer. The group’s plans include competing at Oaks Blenheim and Showpark during the June, July and August “A” rated shows.
As we welcome Jennifer, Paulo, their students and horses to sunny SoCal, we hope to have rtunity to visit their facility and competitions in Mexico in the future. See a great video clip from Mexico produced by Showjumping Unplugged!TV on www.santanastables.com.
Santana Stables contact information:
Jennifer Paulo
(310) 486-5345 (310) 925-2369