At age 18, Diana Gerdes completed her Trainer B license in Germany, her native land, as a riding instructor and horse trainer, equivalent to an FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) III level instructor in this country. Little did she know that training would serve her all of her life through a series of adventures and travel to various countries. Today, she and her husband, Wayne reside in Pulaski County, outside Crocker, Mo., where she operates Germania Stables and has for the past 10 years. Previously, her Germania Stables was located wherever Wayne, a retired military man now working privately for the U.S. government, was stationed. Her daughter, Caroline was married earlier this year and her son, 14-year-old Christopher still lives at home.
“As a result of a head injury that occurred in my early adulthood, I can no longer work as a professional rider,” Diana explained recently, “but I found my passion in teaching. I concentrate on the partnership between the horse and rider. I have fun working with absolute beginners up to level M riders. My focus is the training of the horse and rider as a unit to the best of their abilities. A balanced, correct riding position and the correct schooling of the young are the emphasis. We do mostly English riding, dressage and jumping here, although we also do basic Western riding. It takes about two years for the rider to finish the basic English riding course. This kind of training helps the young rider to accept responsibility and learn leadership skills that will serve them the rest of their life.”
She continued, “Our course includes everything involved with caring for the horse, including bringing them out of the pasture, brushing and currying, learning about and choosing the right horse tack, and mucking out stalls. This is not a fancy program where riders walk in and everything is done for them and they just hop up on the horse. Here, they learn it all,” she added with a big smile.
Jenni Erst is the program manager and computer guru for Germania Stables as well as Diana’s dear friend and an instructor-in-training.
Diana is also a licensed NARHA [North American Riding for the Handicapped Association] instructor, now PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) for disabled riders. “We have scholarship programs and sponsorships for those students who are interested in riding but can’t afford it. I am so thankful too, for my adult students and the parents of my students who help the younger students in our program. I couldn’t do this without them. There are others who help too, like a neighbor who cleans the field and re-seeds for a nominal cost and another who allows us to use 15 acres for trail riding and of course, my husband who funds much of this. We own less than 7 acres here and lease another piece nearby but with 11 to 12 horses it all really helps. This is a community effort. I couldn’t possibly do it all without the others.”
Diana’s stable of horses includes some that belong to her and others that board at Germania and they represent a unique mix from a Tennessee Walker and Andalusian cross to a Belgian, a Thoroughbred, Arabian crosses, a Missouri Fox Trotter and even a Welsh Cob Pony.
Diana concluded, “And what do we really do here? We teach young people about horses, how to care for them and how to work with them successfully because the end result is that horses make better people.”
