John Mason is a trainer and instructor licensed by the German Riding Federation as well as a USDF Bronze and Silver medalist and centerlinescores.com 4-star rated rider. He has brought horses up the levels to the FEI.
John began riding at the age of 4 and continued throughout his childhood, finding dressage at 16 when he bought Gdansk from Richard Howard of Austin, Texas. With Richards’s help, John and Gdansk went from 2nd Level to winning their first Intermediaire I and, in 2009, they joined the NAJRYC Young Rider Team.
After high school, John was accepted into the prestigious “Bereiter” program with Johan Zagers in Düsseldorf, Germany. Following three years of apprenticeship, John took his final exams in Warendorf, Germany, home of the German Riding School and National Equestrian Federation.
In 2013, John returned to Texas as head trainer at Paul Kathen’s Tex-Over Farms in Conroe. John remains at Tex-Over Farms, and is business partners with Mary Nuttall, owner of Southernwood Farms in Magnolia, Texas.
He has won numerous local, regional, and national awards. He has been Houston Dressage Society’s Open Rider High Point Champion in several levels each year since returning to Texas, and has won several USDF Region 9 and Southwest Dressage Championships Grand Champion and Reserve Champion awards from Training Level through I-1.
John regularly clinics with Carole Grant, Tom Noone, Dinah Babcock, and Conrad Schumacher and has worked with other top clinicians, including former 5* judge Volker Moritz and the former head trainer of the German Riding School and dressage master, Hans Biss.
John’s focus is clear: To train horses and their riders in the classical German art of dressage in a way that is competitive for the modern sport, while maintaining a happy and healthy horse and rider. Being able to enjoy the sport and grow together in partnership with horses is, and always will be, the most important aspect of John's training.
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John Mason Dressage Brings Germany to Texas