Elegant, willing and regal.

That’s the way Jamie Zuidema, of Cumming, Iowa, describes his Masters Western Pleasure horse, Gettin My Sundis On.

“She possesses a certain air about her in the way that she carries herself under saddle and when she is simply standing alone in her stall,” he says. “She is always very present and almost self-aware.”

Gettin My Sundis On comes by it honestly. Sired by VS Code Red, the red roan mare is out of Hotroddin On Sundi, a horse Zuidema started riding in 2004 and had in his program, with various owners most of her career. Hotroddin On Sundi earned over 250 performance points in American Quarter Horse Association competition, numerous futurity championships and Reserve Championships and Top 10 placings at the Quarter Horse Congress. She is the dam of such decorated performers as Invite Me On Sundi, Sundi Night Invite, Sundi Funday and Six Ways From Sundi. Invite Me On Sundi (by Invitation Only) was the 2008 3-Year-Old Limited Non-Pro Western Pleasure Champion and Reserve in the Open Division with Ellie Parsons and the 2010 Congress Reserve Open Maturity Champion with Randy Wilson. In all she has earned over 100 performance points and logged more than $36,000 in National Snaffle Bit Association earnings.

Sundi Night Invite, a 2006 bay gelding by Invitation Only, earned over 200 performance points, placed fourth in the 2012 Reichert Celebration 3-Year-Old & Older Limited Horse Western Pleasure; was 2014 Reichert Champion $2,500 and Under Intermediate Open Maturity and Youth Western Pleasure Champion; and was NSBA Reserve High-Point Youth Western Pleasure Champion for 2014.

Sundi Funday, a 2012 bay gelding by A Good Machine, was the 2014 Reichert Celebration 2-Year-Old Sales Stakes Reserve Champion and placed fourth in the Reichert Color Classic; Intermediate Open 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure Champion; and Top 15 in both the Limited Non-Pro and Open 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the 2014 Congress.

In 2014 Jamie and his dad, Jack Zuidema Jr., purchased Hotroddin On Sundi from Jamie’s longtime client, Charlene Pippenger. At the time the Pippingers owned two of the mare’s (embryo) foals by VS Code Red – Six Ways From Sundi and Gettin My Sundis On – and they were purchased as well. When the two Code Red foals arrived in Iowa Jamie says he put them out together and the first time he saw Gettin My Sundis On (Raina) loping in the field, he knew he wanted to save her for a Masters contender.

“She has a very easy-going demeanor on the ground and loves affection and to be scratched and rubbed more so than any other horse in our barn. Sometimes we forget that she is a 2-year-old because she is so quiet and easy going.”

Jamie started riding Raina in February and has been letting her progress at her own pace.

Hotroddin On Sundi

“She possesses so much natural talent that I let her tell me when it is time to go on to the next step,” he explains. “I don’t have to push her as hard as some of the others because it all comes so easy to her.”

Raina is now owned in partnership between Jack Zuidema and Jamie’s long time client, Annie Gravett, of Sussex, England.

The other VS Code Red, Six Ways From Sundi, a sorrel mare, was purchased by Jamie’s clients, the Rice family, of Grimes, Iowa. When Liz Rice saw her loping across the pasture, she knew immediately she wanted her to be her next 2-year-old prospect. And they are off to a great start. At the NSBA World Show last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Liz and Six Ways From Sundi finished in the Top 10 in the Non-Pro 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure and Jamie finished in the Top 5 in the Open 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure.

Hotroddin On Sundi now resides at Jack and Faye Zuidema’s Cedar Lane Farms in Alachua, Florida. There she is bred and her foals spend the beginning of their lives. There two additional Hodroddin On Sundi foals have been born, Sundi Best, a 2014 red roan gelding by Zippos Mr Good Bar and a 2015 Good Bar filly.

“It’s really nice to be able to work with my family in this capacity and I feel lucky to have Sundi as a broodmare,” Jamie says. “I have always had a strong connection with her and I really enjoy training her offspring. A great part of my success as a trainer is because of her and her babies”

Sundi Funday

Family has always been important to Jamie. He and his older brothers, Tim and Bill, grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and their entire family was heavily involved in showing Appaloosa horses. After a brief hiatus from horses Jamie started getting involved again in 1996 and worked for Stanley Ryan, as well as for his brother, Tim, before accepting a position in Arizona, where he was introduced to Jerry Stanford. They became fast friends and Stanford served as Jamie’s mentor. It was through Stanford that he got an assistant trainer position for Shane Dowdy. He spent several years working for Dowdy and says he learned a lot.

Eventually Jamie was ready to start up his own training business. He began working at a facility in Waterloo, Indiana, but soon missed his family so he took his clients’ horses to Florida and went to work with his brother, Tim, and his wife, Katy Jo.

Then in 2010, while riding colts at his brother’s facility Jamie was involved in a riding accident that resulted in a broken back. In the hospital Jamie was not sure if he would ever be able to ride again. He spent six months on bed rest followed by numerous hours of physical therapy.

Trey Rice & Sundai Nite Invite

Hospital bills racked up quickly as he was uninsured during the time of the accident. Thankfully, Jamie explains, the NSBA Foundation Trainers Crisis Fund helped alleviate some of the financial burden.

“I know firsthand what a critical role the Crisis Fund can play in a time of need and I encourage everyone to support such a vital program in the training community,” he says.

While he was unable to ride, Jamie sent his clients and their horses to good friend, Pat Heeley. Pat and his wife, Sara, own and operate Heeley Pleasure Horses in Van Meter, Iowa, and Pat is the trainer for Sara’s mother, Susan Knapp.

When he was ready to start riding again, Pat suggested Jamie come work at his facility. It is there that Jamie met his girlfriend, Anna Terry, who is Sara Heeley’s sister.

“After we began our relationship we decided it would be a good time for Jamie to go back out on his own,” Anna explains. “We knew that building our relationship and our own business would be hard work and rewarding at the same time.   We decided early on that, no matter what, our relationship comes first.”

Jamie and Anna remain focused on the foundation of their relationship, and in making sure that Jamie’s daughter, Josie, from a previous marriage, is well adjusted to their new lifestyle.

“Josie lives in Ohio with her mother but we work hard to make sure we get to have her as much as possible,” Jamie says.

Jamie got his new business started with just a few horses and clients. He rented a heated barn with six stalls from the Rice family. The first order of business after starting back out on his own was health insurance.

“In this line of work you never know what will happen,” Jamie says. “I decided I wanted fewer horses in my program. I try to not take things for granted and appreciate all that I have. I try to keep how I train at home the same as how I train at a show. Its important to trust your preparation and not second guess everything when you get to a show.”

Eventually Jamie outgrew his location and, with the help of Bill and Susan Knapp, moved into a new 18-stall facility in Cumming, Iowa. The facility has an indoor arena, viewing room and office, turnouts, pastures and outdoor riding space.

Jamie’s program focuses on Western Pleasure futurity horses and putting together a good Amateur program. Many of the horses in the program have been bred by Zuidema’s clients.

Sean and Carey Cunningham, of Indianola, Iowa, own Ms Machine, a 2006 sorrel mare by A Good Machine and out of Ms Zip Bar (by Zippo Pine Bar). Ms Machine and Jay Starnes were Reserve Congress Champions in Green Western Pleasure in 2009. Last year the Cunninghams sent Ms Machine’s first foal, a 2012 gelding named Im The Dude, by Lazy Loper, to Jamie to start. In October Jamie rode him to a seventh place finish in the Couglin Limited 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the Congress. And this year he is riding a 2013 mare out of Ms Machine and by Certain Potential. They will make their debut in the Coughlin 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the Congress this year.

“My goal is to have a small and select group of horses in my training program,” Jamie says. “I think quality is more important than quantity and so I try not to have more than 15 horses in training at one time.”

With Anna’s encouragement Jamie is also working on taking classes toward a college degree.

“Education is important and in this industry nothing is certain,” he says. “If I were to get hurt again and not able to ride I would want to have security and provide for my family. At the moment though, I’m focused on building a successful training business and looking forward to growing and evolving as a trainer.”