Sweetwater Stables Trainers

Meet the Team

We take pride in the quality of care we provide for our horses. Our team provides a custom training program for you and your horse. We focus on having a family atmosphere at our barn that includes many team-building days and parties.

Lucy Alabaster - Head Trainer

Lucy

Lucy Alabaster

Lucy is the owner and head trainer at Sweetwater Stables. She was born into a “horsey” family in Minnesota, and learned to ride from her mother, Pat Bemis, who owned and operated Willow Creek Farms. She horse showed in the Midwest through her junior career before moving to Arizona in 1979. She worked as an assistant trainer for a number of well-known trainers in the southwest before starting her own business, Sweetwater Stables in 1983. Lucy has brought her students up through the ranks in local, zone, and national standings over the years with students qualifying and successfully showing in Young Rider’s, Pony Finals, and Junior Hunter Finals. Lucy has received the Shelby Shank Trainer of the Year Award twice and in 2007 she won the USHJA Zone 8 Trainer Award. Lucy is currently pursuing her “R” judging license and is a “r” USEF licensed judge in Hunters and Equitation. She is currently judging horse shows across the country and is accepting more assignments.

Bailey Fuller - Assistant Trainer

Bailey

Bailey Fuller

Bailey Fuller has been a professional for nearly a decade, bringing enthusiasm and passion to her daily teaching and riding. Before becoming a professional, Bailey was a working student for many years in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She worked as a groom both at home, and on the show circuit, all the while showing her own horses. Bailey has been successful in both the hunter and jumper rings since going pro, competing in many hunter derbies, and winning Regional Grand Prix’s on her current horse, Quick Step.

Bailey’s philosophy on riding is based on meeting a horse where they’re at, and riding them in the style they want to go; not fitting them into a box of one riding style.

While Bailey enjoys riding and showing, her passion lies in teaching. Previously majoring in studio art in College at George Fox University, she brings a creative outlook on her lessons and her weekly course setting. She is constantly striving to adapt her teaching style according to a student’s way of learning. Helping student’s achieve their goals on horseback and in the barn is integral in Bailey’s training.

Stella Grippe - Assistant Trainer

Bailey

Stella Grippe

Stella is an assistant trainer at Sweetwater Stables. She is an Arizona native and has been competing on the west coast for 9 years. Primarily showing in the equitation in her junior years, she has accumulated multiple awards for her time competing. She was USHJA Equitation Zone Champion in 2019, and qualified for Maclay Regionals aboard catch rides. Stella catch rode for most of her junior career, and her experience with IEA and IHSA as a team captain and National Final competitor has allowed her to ride many types of horses. In addition to this, she has experience managing a therapeutic riding program as a PATH certified instructor. Stella graduated from ASU with a degree in Neuroscience and has been working at Sweetwater Stables since April of 2023, electing to pursue her passion with horses and teaching.

Testimonials

Cannot say enough about the trainers and staff at Sweetwater! We have been riding here for almost four years and they have successfully helped my teenage daughter in all aspects of her riding, including purchasing her first horse! We have a fun, tight nit family atmosphere and enjoy spending time together both at the barn and away from it. I woulnd't entrust my daughter or our horse with anyone else. Thank you Lucy and Bailey!
- Carrie Bell
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