By Stephanie Ernst
I have always loved horses. It’s in my blood.
My grandparents bred and raised Arabians, building their program around their Crabbet-bred stallion, Azar Nefs. Even though that legacy surrounded me, I didn’t grow up riding Arabians. Instead, I fell in love with the Quarter Horse; solid, steady, and honest in a way that spoke to me from the very beginning.
At just five years old, I was hooked. After years of lessons and leasing horses, I begged my parents for my “dream” Quarter Horse. That dream didn’t come the way I imagined, though. Instead, they found me a free mare — one with more than her fair share of issues. But, I didn’t care; she was mine. At fifteen, I finally had a horse of my own.
She wasn’t easy; in fact, she was a challenge in every sense of the word. But she taught me how to ride — really ride. She taught me patience, grit, and how to keep showing up, even when things weren’t perfect. She was just the beginning, and I didn’t know how important those lessons would become.
Through 4-H and open shows, we worked our way forward, earning top-ten placings, and even a State Championship along the way. Every mile, every class, every ride built the foundation for what would become a lifelong passion. After high school, I took that passion further, apprenticing with several trainers. The first of whom were my aunt and uncle at Dundee Stables. That’s where everything shifted.
They had Arabians, and I fell instantly in love.
There was something about them. Their presence, their elegance, their fire. I found myself diving into the Class A circuit, showing hunters, western, and even a bit of dressage. I had found a new world, and I was all in.
Life kept moving forward, and I got married. Together, my partner and I trained and showed Arabians, traveling across the country doing what we loved. During that time, I bought my first purebred Arabian, a mare named SA RBlue Moon. She was my light.
I purchased her as a yearling, and she journeyed with me through every chapter of my life. For 25 years, she was my constant — through growth, change, joy, and heartbreak — until her passing in 2024. Losing her left me feeling as though I had lost a piece of my soul.
Also along this journey, I became a mom, and with that change came a shift in priorities. I stepped away from showing, went back to college, and earned my nursing degree.
Life once again took a turn when I got divorced and became a single mother. My focus was clear, though: raise my son, build a stable life, and keep moving forward.
Despite life’s curveballs, the fire in me never went out.
Showing horses was where I felt most alive, most myself, and where I felt truly happy. I just didn’t know how long it would take to find my way back.
At 43 years old, everything stopped when I was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer.
The world I knew shifted overnight. What followed was a year of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, ten surgeries in nine short months, and a recovery that tested every ounce of strength I had. I was fighting for my life, literally.
And I made it through.
The following summer, with treatments behind me and healing underway, I made a decision: I was going back to what I loved, and there wasn’t a better time in my life to do it. I didn’t want to train for other people, though; I wanted to do this for me. I wanted to show, and have fun, so I reclaimed my amateur status. I began my search for a new show horse, knowing I wanted a palomino half-Arabian. My search led me to Copper View Farms. I already knew Cheryl, and respected her program, so it felt like the right place to start.
She showed me several palomino and buckskin prospects… and then she introduced me to a chestnut four-month-old half-Arabian/half-Quarter Horse colt, named CV Dubl Smoking Guns.
It was love at first sight.
He moved like a dream. There was something about him—something I couldn’t explain, but I knew it mattered. I think I signed the purchase agreement the very next day. When he was weaned at six months old, he came home with me. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was going to be my future dressage horse. This was something relatively new to me, but it was a journey that I was excited to see through.
Now four years old, Zues, as he is affectionately known, is my best friend, and my heart horse. He has already earned Arabian Horse Association (AHA) Regional Champion and Reserve titles, multiple top-five finishes, and even a top-ten placing at the Region 10 Arabian and Half Arabian Sport Horse Nationals (SHN) in the Sport Horse In-Hand division. I started him lightly under saddle at three, and by August, we were competing at Introductory Level. By November of his three-year-old year, we had moved up to Training Level, were showing Western Dressage Basic Level, and he even won his very first ranch class.
Then, in December 2025, something incredible happened.
One of my best friends, Jennifer Rodencal, and I were given the opportunity to lease a barn from my aunt and uncle… the very same aunt and uncle who started me on this journey when I was eighteen! It was a full-circle moment.
Now, alongside Jennifer, and our other best friend, Ashley Hoffman, the three of us run our own “Do-It-Yourself” amateur group. We travel together, support each other, and show throughout AHA Regions 10 (Minnesota and Wisconsin) and 11 (Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri).
With our trainer Tracey Dikkers guiding us, Zeus and I will compete in both classical and Western dressage in 2026.
When I look back on everything—the challenges, the heartbreak, the fight, the comeback—I wouldn’t trade a single moment. Every step led me here, and I can’t help but think how lucky I am.
And this? This is exactly where I’m meant to be.
