Suzette Sontag, along with her husband Ed, is owner of the Smart Start facility. Suzette started riding at the age of 8. There are three things that stand out in those early years. The first one, asking her mom if she could get off her pony "now", knowing that if she got off she couldn't get back on without help. Her mom said 'no' so she had to keep riding. The next is the day her pony cantered. Wow, how much better was that than the trot! The third was her first horse show where she placed sixth out of six and got this beautiful green ribbon. She was hooked on showing from that day forward.

Suzette spent the next many years as an amateur rider. In 1999, when her mother died at the age of 58, Suzette decided that if she didn't build an indoor arena until she could afford it she would never do it. Life is too short. Another thing was brewing to change the course of her riding career... Safarr..... In everyone's life a horse comes along that's more difficult than any other. Safarr developed into one of these horses as he grew. By the time he was six, he couldn't be kept in a stall- he could canter in it, he couldn't be away from other horses, not even on a bordering fenceline, he couldn't be trail ridden at a walk, he couldn't canter without bucking, the list goes on. Enter, natural horsemanship. It was what saved them.

Those preliminary years of learning natural horsemanship is the beginning of a journey that has been phenomenal. Natural horsemanship has developed into Smart Horsemanship, a twist that Rick and Suzette have put on it like no one else does. (See training philosophy page for an explanation). Smart Start Stable evolved into a business, from Rick Schmitt starting horses, Suzette and Rick fixing problem horses to Suzette showing horses successfully at the national level against the top riders in the country. That's normal everyday horses, not the fancy super duper fancy ones, - horses that give 110% when they go out there because that's what the Smart Start horses do.

Suzette earned her Bronze Medal in dressage (successful scores at First, Second and Third Level) and has shown Fourth level. She and Safarr have won a Candian Reserve National Championship in Second Level and five more National Top Tens in First, Second and Third Level. She's won another National Top Ten on a client's horse and she and Rick have helped their clients win nine additional Top Tens in Training and First Level Dressage and Trail. Safarr and Suzette earned the USDF Year End Championship in both Arabian Training Level in 2000 and in Arabian Second Level in 2006. Suzette has won many Regional Championships, Reserve Championships and Top Fives on both her horses and her client's horses. She has also been year end award winner in many organizations, both against all breeds and Arabs. She's been high score of the show at open dressage shows on Arabs - against all breeds. Smart Start likes the Arabs but works with any breed, they've just had a "run' of Arabs the last few years. Their techniques work on every breed.