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Kara Baker-Whitsell rides with good hands. Her long legs stay in perfect alignment with her hips, and her shoulders remain evenly square and her back straight. only her lower leg moves as she releases pressure and bends her mount's body piece by piece into perfectly balanced lead changes.

There's no trainer's slouch in the 23-year-old rider who gave up her non-pro status after moving up from the youth ranks. She joined her mother and older sister, Patty and Monica Baker, as professional trainer in 2001.

Kara's seat, legs and hands show no rigidity, just natural ability trained by years in the saddle guided by her mother and advised by her sister, who is two years her senior. Kara hasn't ridden under the scrutiny of an equitation judge in nearly five years, yet she still holds herself in the saddle as if she rode an equitation pattern in the World championship arena.

Today Kara isn't riding in an arena at all. Instead, she guides World champion pleasure stallion Inpassable, owned by Mary Hogan of Tempe, Arizona, through faded orange cones set in the large field that divides Baker Training Stable from Spurgeon Creek Road in Olympia, Washington. This field is where champions are made.

A NEW LOCATION
Patty Baker is a backyard horsewoman. Stepping out of the back door adjacent to the Bakers' living room, you find yourself in Patty's backyard, a 70-by-120-foot indoor arena lined with 11 stalls on each side. "We just wanted a new place - our own place," Kara says about their family's decision to purchase the new property three years ago.

The arena gives the Bakers a place to keep dry during the wet winter months in western Washington. "It's the first time we've owned an indoor arena," Patty says.

Patty, along with her daughter and business partner Monica, moved Baker Training Stable from Spanaway, Washington, to its new site after three years of searching for the perfect real estate. "We trained our own horses for years outside," Patty says, laughing about the Pacific Northwest's infamous rainfall.

"At first I worried that things being too cushy would make us not as good," Patty says with a smile about the new setup. "Monica used to ride DZ Weedo in our outdoor arena, and he'd lope with his hind end turned toward the rain."

The Baker women found the existing facility in a quiet, rural location, one hour south of Seattle in good traffic and just 10 minutes north of the State Capitol. The living quarters and business office are part of the barn, and from her living room, Patty can watch a horse's progress through a large picture window.

Monitoring, guiding, goal setting and encouraging are the main roles Patty now plays in Baker Training Stable. She also makes purchase decisions on resale prospects. Kara oversees training and riding the horses, while Monica is currently apprenticing under pleasure trainer Steve Heckaman in Aubrey, Texas, but stays active in the Baker training program.

THE WEEDO WAY
Patty's innate ability to pick a good horse helped pave the way to success for their Appaloosa program. Patty started out showing Quarter Horses and her girls participated in 4-H and open shows. She took on clients for training after realizing she could support her horse habit by coaching youth and non-pro riders.

The family moved into Appaloosas to show in the Appaloosa Horse Club's youth program with the gelding Canute, whom Patty trained for her daughters. Monica and Canute brought home the 1989 rookie of the year award their first year showing on the breed circuit.

In 1993 Patty purchased Kingweeds Houdini, a gelding out of Hall of Fame pleasure mare Merry Weedo.

The girls shared Kingweeds Houdini at the 1995 National Show, and Monica won National championships in girls showmanship and showmanship 16-18 with him. Kara rode the gelding to earn the all-around youth and youth versatility titles. Both girls used Kingweeds Houdini in trainer Richard Shrake's "Master's Series Horsemanship" video.

When Patty got the chance to buy the gelding's half brother out of Merry Weedo and by Zippo Pine Bar (AQHA) son Dandy Zippo, she took advantage of the offer based on Kingweeds Houdini's talent.

"The Dandy Zippos were getting to be hot," Monica explains about the decision to buy DZ Weedo, who came by as the perfect horse at the perfect time for Baker Training Stable. The buckskin baby would help secure Dandy Zippo's spot on the leading sires list with Monica on his back.

A yearling colt when Patty bought him, DZ Weedo became Monica's resale project and a pivotal point in the youth's turn into the professional realm of pleasure training. Patty knew the talented and highly colored colt would bring attention to their program, and his sweet personality allowed him to stay a stallion under the saddle of her 17-year-old daughter.

"To break in, you need a horse that really stands out," Monica says. "Something pretty that draws attention." At the 1997 National Show, DZ Weedo and the Bakers didn't just stand out, they stood at the top.

DZ Weedo fulfilled the Baker's highest expectations when he and Monica clinched a win in open trail and hard-earned reserve championships in 3-year-old western pleasure and ladies' western pleasure.

He then came back to win the Appaloosa Pleasure Horse Association limited 3-year-old western pleasure maturity. The youth and her stallion had done the impossible by leading a lineup of nationally known professional trainers.

The 1997 National Show also proved triumphant for the younger Baker sister, with Kara winning junior western riding on Zippin Cowgirl and bringing home the reserve champion western horse title. In youth competition, the pair won western equitation 16-18 and reserve championships in bareback equitation, trail and western riding. In 1998 they came back to win the high-point western horse, all-around youth and youth versatility titles.

Monica showed DZ Weedo again at the 1998 World Show, this time winning western riding and top 10 placings in junior western pleasure and ladies' western pleasure.

Patty describes hauling DZ Weedo as being like traveling with a rock star because of attention he attracted from fans who loved the way he looked and moved on the rail. The stallion's admirers included Char-O-Lot Ranch owners Doug and Sue Schembri, who made an offer on the stallion and took him home to stand in Myakka City, Florida.

"The Bakers are very good at bringing out the natural talent in a horse," Sue says. DZ Weedo's natural talent as a western pleasure producer rounded out Char-O-Lot's multidiscipline stallion roster.

SET FOR SUCCESS
Monica's accomplishments in the show pen also caught the attention of trainer Steve Heckaman, who invited her to join his crew in Texas as an

 associate trainer. After taking a year to consider the offer, Monica accepted the position.

While she misses her family and home in the Pacific Northwest, Monica says she's enjoying an incredible learning opportunity and the intense horse community of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She keeps her mom and sister up to date on what she's learning.

"Steve Heckaman has been wonderful with sharing his wealth of knowledge with us," Patty says. "Even with Monica in Texas, we talk to her almost every day, and she tells us new things she's learned that we can adapt to our program."

The next big Baker pleasure success came with Blazing Hot Spots, a horse Patty purchased and Kara trained after Monica moved to Texas. Monica rode the Blazing Hot (AQHA) son to a 2000 World Show win in 2-year-old snaffle bit pleasure. Kara, already accomplished as a youth in open all-around competition, literally picked up the reins and took on responsibility of Blazing Hot Spots as head trainer of Baker Training Stables.

Kara rode the gelding to a win in ladies western pleasure at the 2001 National Show, then followed up with reserve championship for the ApPHA 3-year-old limited futurity. Monica put her foot in the stirrup once again and won junior western pleasure. Baker Training Stable had firmly set out on the trail of success by consistently dominating the western classes.

FAMILY AFFAIR
Patty exudes a passion for horses, which she passed to both of her daughters. Her excitement and delight bubble from her, revealing the horse-loving little girl who grew up to live her dream career and share it with her daughters.

An accountant by education, Patty is a business-woman as well as a horsewoman, which she credits for her success. Good business sense, Patty says, is the best way for a trainer to survive, and both her daughters earned college degrees in business.

Patty also believes in honesty and won't lead a customer on about a horse's true level of talent. "I don't want to work with unhappy people," Patty explains about her philosophy. Neither does she want to work with unhappy horses, so she creates attainable goals for the horses in her care and their owners. "We try to do everything at a horse's top level of ability," she says.

Every horse that comes through Baker Training Stable is on probation for 30 days as Patty, Kara and their assistants evaluate its individual ability and disposition. "It allows us to evaluate what the horses are like and what they're good at," Patty says. "I want each horse to be the best it can at what it's naturally good at."

Once a horse enters the program full time, the Bakers focus on keeping training fun for themselves and the horses. "We look for new obstacles in trail and challenge each other to see who can do it the best or share ideas how to get a youngster to lope better," Patty says.

"When there are new things to learn, it keeps riding and training fresh and exciting," she adds.

ALL-AROUND REIGN
Through this fine-tuned evaluation and focus on fun, Baker Training Stables has earned a reputation for turning out top competitors that's spread through the show world. Kara has proven herself as a trainer of all-around western horses during the past decade as a youth and professional exhibitor. Her ability to get the best out of young horses transcends the pleasure pen, trail course and western riding pattern.

Trainer and stallion manager Steve Cruse of Scottsdale, Arizona, set out to help make Mary's stallion Inpassable into an all-around western horse. He only wanted top trainers on the stallion's back, so he recommended Mary ship the stallion north to the Bakers.

"Patty, Monica and Kara are some of the best right now when it comes to western riding and trail," Steve explains. "And that's why Inpassable went up there. Now our primary goal is to make an all-around horse out of him."

The Bakers lived up to Steve and Mary's expectations. With Kara in the saddle, Inpassable earned the 2002 National and World champion western horse tittles. Kara's accomplishments, especially in open western riding, have proved that training horses is in the Baker genes. "I feel very fortunate to have two daughters who God blessed with so many talents," Patty says.

She explains that, besides being naturally talented horsewomen, Kara and Monica are critical thinkers in the saddle. That ability, combined with quiet patience and hardworking dedication, helps turn out well-trained horses.

"I do think Monica and Kara's 36-inch inseams help them communicate with their horses and give them a little extra balance," Patty adds with a semiserious laugh. "They can thank my father, Grandpa Kemp, for that trait."

The long legs are functional, allowing them to lift and move their mounts. Those long legs also give Monica and Kara an elegant style that's carried over from equitation into training. But beyond looking pretty on horseback, the Bakers are capable riders and horsewomen who can bring out the best in their horses through consistency in the saddle and excellent care in the stable.

Baker Training Stable is a place owners can leave, knowing their horses are in good hands.

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