Whether your goals are having a clean go over a Beginner Novice cross-country course or you have your sights on competing at Rolex in Kentucky, you should consider riding with Kim Scheid of Spring Creek Training Centre.
I first met Kim when I got hooked on eventing 20 years ago and she has been one of the sport’s long standing leading riders and trainers in California.



Kim found her way to California from Illinois when she came to work at Racelands in Murrieta, for Patty Parker. Kim was raised on an American Quarter Horse farm and was hired to show and train Patty and her Quarter Horses. Kim showed Patty’s horses at the circuit’s World shows and in all disciplines including show jumping. She even took home champion in pleasure driving at the Cow Palace. 
Kim worked for Patty and also ran her own training business. Kim took up eventing when she trained in England for her BHSAI (British Horse Society Assistant Instructor) certificate. Much of her experience in England was working with the main veterinarian for the track and one of the leading jockeys, which gave her an excellent hands-on education on lameness and treatments. On her second trip back to England, Kim received her large “I” instructor’s certificate and believes that that training has been instrumental in her own and her students’ successes.
One of Kim’s first top horses was a Quarter Horse named Storm Child that she showed up through the Intermediate level. She competed in Lexington back in the 70s, before it became known as Rolex. Storm Child won enough prize money in the jumper arenas, including the Coliseum in Phoenix, to pay for his own board. Kim also has been a serious dressage student from the beginning and showed Storm Child successfully through Fourth Level dressage.
In the 80s, Kim was one of the first trainers to show and breed Warmbloods for eventing. Kim imported Haan, a 4 year old Hanoverian gelding, with whom she went on to win AHSA and the USET Training Level Horse of the Year in 1985. Kim competed Haan in 1986 for the De’ Broke Trophy at Bruce Davidson’s Chesterland Farm in Pennsylvania. She finished 11th out of 142 and was short-listed for the Pan Am Games in 1987. She was sitting number two in the nation, right behind Mike Huber, when she was sidelined from a broken ankle due to a misstep out of a feed trailer. 

Breeding, Too
At the same time, Kim was focusing on her breeding program. She imported her Oldenburg stallion Goldwelt, who she picked specifically to cross with Thoroughbred mares to focus on breeding event horses. Of Goldwelt’s 150 some foals, one third have become eventers, a third are jumpers and the others are competing successfully in dressage. One of his top foals is Gem Dandy, who will be headed to compete in the Intermediate level at Rolex with Southern California rider Tamara Smith. 
Kim enjoys teaching the young kids and her amateur riders. Kim started Heather Morris, who rode Rebel Express, a horse Kim found as a 4-year-old. Heather and Rebel Express were on the Young Rider gold medal team in the 90s and went on to compete at the Advanced Level at Rolex. She was slated as an alternate for the 2004 Olympics, but her horse was retired when a heart problem was discovered. Heather now works as Mike Huber’s assistant.
The horse Country Toad is another of Kim’s success stories. She imported him for another Young Rider team member, Rachel Lathrop. Rachel also competed at the Advanced Level with Country Toad.
Kim has remained in Riverside County since the 70s. After Racelands, she moved to French Valley in 1987 where she bought land and started Spring Creek Training Centre. Last year she moved a few miles east, to 40 acres situated between Temecula and Hemet. Over the past 20 years Spring Creek has hosted one-day schooling horse trials, CDS-rated dressage shows, eventing clinics with Mike Huber, dressage clinics with Brent Hicks, and Oldenburg keurings.
The new 40-acre location has an 11-stall barn, pipe corrals and room for expansion. 100’ x 100’ privacy paddocks are under construction for young horses and lay-ups. They are building a mare and gelding field with grass for retirees. There is a large 250’ x 250’ sand jumping arena, large dressage court, and 30 of the 45 cross-country fences are completed. The fences include elementary level through Preliminary level. 
Kim enjoys bringing along the young horses. Her current premium Oldenburg mare, Fierro del Oro, is her latest project. Kim’s mare is bred to Grand Prix jumper LA Baltic Inspiration, a Swedish stallion. After the foal is weaned the mare will show and train in both dressage and eventing. Kim looks forward to starting her in eventing and then will hand over the reins to her working student, Marilyn Hannaman, to ride up through the eventing levels while Kim shows her up through the dressage levels. 
Kim loves teaching all level of riders. She is able to teach what she knows and has a history of consistent successes. She stresses the importance of the dressage as that can often be the score a team wins on. She states that when the horses retire from jumping they often continue to be competitive in the dressage arena. Plus, she always wants all her dressage horses to enjoy jumping to keep them happy in their work. Kim also has a great eye for horses that will work for her customers. She recently has imported horses from New Zealand to match with her students. Helping her at the farm and at the shows is Kim’s brother Dan Scheid and his wife Sherri. Dan rode Kim’s stallion up through Intermediate level and helps coach at the shows when Kim is on course with her own mount. 
Riders looking for an event barn that has a solid program for anyone that wants to have fun on course or in the dressage arena, should seek out Kim and Spring Creek Training Centre. Call Kim Scheid at 951-760-0536.