Steve Wolgemuth
If you were an American dressage enthusiast in the early 90’s, “Steve Wolgemuth” needs no introduction. One of the first Americans to earn the USDF Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals, Steve was named to the USET’s “Developing Horse Long List” in 1992. In 1993, Steve was one the country's top ranked dressage FEI riders.
Steve traveled nationally giving clinics, competed in Florida in the winter, and together with his family, managed their dressage training and breeding facility, Graemont Farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
During his 20 year career as a dressage professional, Steve was able to ride under some of the world’s top trainers and participate in nearly every aspect of the industry as a dressage professional: competing, training, teaching, speaking, sales, and breeding.
From Grand Prix Dressage Rider to Importer
By 2000, Steve developed a full-time importing business to help American dressage riders find special horses. Unlike most at the time, Steve was a buyer’s agent, helping shoppers navigate the European market. He fully retired from riding and training (due to health reasons) which gave him the advantage he needed to build the most active and successful dressage horse agency in the US by 2002.
Because Steve was shopping in Europe nearly every month for the better part of 10 years he gained a solid advantage over other professionals making one or two trips a year.
“After I established myself in Europe as someone bringing customers every month, I felt an enormous support from the European community in helping me find great horses and looking out for my interests,” says Wolgemuth.
His background as a Grand Prix rider, together with the many hours spent horse shopping throughout Western Europe helped Steve develop an eye for horses that would not only be successful, but also ones that would be a good fit for their riders.
Customers found Steve by word of mouth from other happy customers, through his digital marketing efforts (Search engine optimization, conversional optimization, content marketing, and email marketing). Steve agreed to write a few articles as a contributing editor for Dressage Today Magazine while also distributing a monthly email newsletter about what he had seen on his recent trips to Europe.
A Winning Partnership
Having worked with a variety of agents in Holland, Germany and Denmark, Steve soon chose to have an exclusive partnership with Reesink Horses.
“I chose to work exclusively with Eugene and Annebeth Reesink because they shared the same values as I did, putting the client’s satisfaction first. Annebeth and I had very compatible training systems as well so it was so easy to have conversations about horses we tried for clients. Even more, the Reesink’s were ahead of other European sellers in understanding the American market for amateur riders," says Wolgemuth.
The success of that partnership will be long remembered for the impact they had on American Dressage. In 2002, Steve was enlisted to find a horse for Laura Graves, and he found Verdades. In 2006, Eugene Reesink sold Ravel to Steffen Peters. Other trainers, Volker Brommann, Michael Barrisone, Sue Blinks, and later, Alison Brock, along with many other trainers connected with Reesink to do business.
Steve Started Another Company
By 2006, the US Dollar/Euro exchange grew so unfavorable to Americans that it brought the importing business to a square halt. It was at that time Steve leaned into his digital marketing savvy and began focusing entirely on digital marketing, hired a small team, and began serving other businesses through his start-up, YDOP, with the motto “Your dream, our project.” By 2017 Steve was awarded the prestigious, Small Business Person of the Year Award, recognizing his accomplishments among 15,000 business people in Central Pennsylvania, just one year after being named a finalist Entrepreneur of the Year by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. In 2018, Steve was named Alumnus of the Year from his alma mater, Lancaster Bible College where he served as a Trustee and marketing advisor to the institution’s leadership team.
In 2019, Steve’s company, YDOP, was recognized internationally by Horizon Awards for its fine work in digital marketing putting it on a very distinguished list of Agencies. That same year, YDOP was named Readers choice for both marketing firm and web design firm. Under Steve’s leadership, YDOP developed and registered the national trademark for “Near-user Marketing ®.” In 2020, Steve published, “The Crucial 12, Powerful Insights for Marketing Leadership.” The book was awarded the internationally coveted Axiom Award Gold Medal in the (#18) Marketing category.
Steve sold YDOP at the end of 2023 and retired, but only for one day.
One Day Of Retirement
“One day after I announced my retirement, my friend Eugene Reesink called and asked me to come back to work for him as US representative for Reesink Horses," says Wolgemuth.
Few Americans have the depth of knowledge, years of experience, and list of success stories for helping American dressage riders find and pick special dressage horses in Europe. Today in his "retirement," Steve travels to Europe regularly, invests in top young horses, and helps other qualified professionals to develop this aspect of their dressage businesses. He organizes trips for dressage horse investors to enjoy European equestrian events, opportunities that are both fun and educational. He accepts a limited number of buyers each year for sourcing top caliber dressage horses.
Advice From Steve
"My advice is that USA dressage professionals should focus more on their future line-up of horses. Most don't have plans or they don't have good plans. Most haven't spent nearly enough time in their professional careers getting good at selecting great horses or developing this aspect of their skill-set. Some have anecdotal knowledge of bloodlines but many trainers end up with horses that are projects. Many feel trapped with a mediocre horse because of financial constraints. Is it any wonder that even at our best shows in the USA, most of the rides are disappointing compared to shows at Europe. It makes me sad having seen so many very talented USA riders waste years of their careers riding horses that will never make their dreams come true. It is my passion to help more of our USA riders stay competitive on the world stage by providing the resources they need to keep a string of International prospects coming along under their training."