Kimberly Carter Dulgeroglu

Kim attended Wofford College where she graduated with a BA in English and Art History.  Though she took a break from riding and showing while she attended college she has since come to realize that the liberal arts curriculum and a systematic study of riding are quite similar.  She believes we are all lifelong students in all our endeavors, but particularly when it comes to
the horse.  From art to literature throughout history - the horse has inspired and fueled so many masterworks.  Kim loves teaching simply because it gives her the opportunity to see riders broaden their genius and learn to feel and react in ways never before thought possible.

Kim is certified by the American Riding Instructors Association (ARIA) at the highest level currently offered with a specialization in hunt seat riding.  For five years she worked closely with Gerald Pack, retired Master of the Greenville Hounds,  to develop a system of riding that is founded in the unique style of the great American instructors of the past century along with a systematic dose of the best European traditions. 

When not at the barn (which is weird) Kim is a freelance writer for both equine and other publications and an owner and board member of Communications Service Center, Inc. founded by her grandfather, Floyd Winchester, Jr., in 1950. 

Kim spent the most amazing three years with Tommy Smith.  Tommy's one of those rare trainers who has done everything from
steeplechase to work cows.  She's only met one other trainer who comes close to communicating with the horse the way Tommy does. That trainer is Mihran - so she married him.  Visit Tommy and his horses at Flatwood Quarter Horses.

Mihran Dulgeroglu

Born in Istanbul Turkey, where he rode with his grandfather from a very young age, Mihran studied under numerous cavalry officers and show jumper Cavit Bayer.  When faced with the choice of following his father into business at his family’s galvanized steel factory, Mihran decided to continue his study of riding and to broaden his knowledge abroad.  When he came to the United States five years ago to study riding and to begin his instructor certification through the United States Dressage Federation, Mihran’s plan was to complete his dressage apprenticeship with German trainer Robert Mayer at ROMRA in Pittsburg and return to Turkey where he would open his own facility outside Istanbul. 

Soon after completing his tenure at ROMRA, Mihran found himself training show jumpers and dressage horses in Florida.  From there he studied under Gael Bourquin in Ohio – one of the rare women in this country who have worked side by side with masters from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.  He then went on to ride sale horses and fine tune his skill with German dressage clinician Alex Gerding.  By this time, Mihran was a trainer in his own right and a US citizen.  Fate found him in Tryon, NC and fortune brought him to us in the Greenville Bramblewood program where he is head trainer.

There are no shortcuts in Mihran’s riding and training philosophy.  His calendar is kept full with clinics and lessons but the true joy in his life is the horses that he keeps in training both for clients and for himself. These horses greet him each day with eager expressions, happy to begin their work.  From European imports to backyard ponies, clients are amazed at the results Mihran achieves at each step of his training program. 

 Mihran with Gerald Pack 2007

Mihran with Robert Mayer 2007

Mihran's grandfather passed along a deep love of the thoroughbred.  Mihran learned to ride on one (he thought ponies were silly until he had the privilege to train a German pony and then he met Kim who can most often be found shopping for ponies on the web.)