3 members of the committee inspect the stallions in addition to a representative of the Trakehner Verband who carries 2 votes
1 member of the committee inspects the mares
ATA Inspection Committee Profile
November 2004
Darren Chiacchia
Darren Chiacchia is a member of the United States Equestrian Team and is the Bronze Medal winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics in Eventing. Darren accomplished this with the Trakehner stallion Windfall owned by Dr. Timothy Holekamp. Mr. Chiacchia is also the Gold Medalist at the Pan American Games in 2003 with Windfall. He owns and operates Independence Farm in Springville, New York and is an accomplished clinician in all Olympic disciplines conducting numerous clinics across the country. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees and numerous committees including the Inspection Committee for the last 6 years.
Dr. Sam Eidt (Ite)
Dr. Eidt has been a licensed veterinarian for over 35 years and operates the Huntsville Animal Clinic in Huntsville, Alabama. He has been an ATA member for 25 years. He has been a member of the Inspection Committee since 1990 and will serve as chairman of the Inspection Committee beginning in 2007. Sam is the immediate past President of the American Trakehner Association. He and his wife Lucia stood the stallion Garibaldi by Consul for a number of years in Toney, Alabama. Dr. Eidt has presented a number of sessions on the laws of genetics, horse health and horse conformation at the ATA's annual meetings over the years.
Rhea Gibble
Rhea Gibble is an accomplished FEI dressage rider. She has also been very successful with both hunters and jumpers in her riding career. Her success has been almost exclusively with Trakehner horses and she's won, as rider, more than 12 ATA Horse of the Year Awards, the Foerderverein Award and the Gerda Friedrichs Award. Ms. Gibble is the Comptroller of the
Pender Veterinary Centre. Ltd
in Fairfax, Virginia, and resides in Middleburg, Virginia. She has been an ATA inspector for 5 years . She has been a member of the ATA for 30 years. Her riding experience and skill in inspecting has been an asset to the Inspection team. She is the daughter of ATA distinguished member, Helen Gibble.
Brad Kerbs
Mr. Kerbs is the President of the ATA, has been a member of the Inspection Committee since 1990 and served as chairman of the Inspection Committee from 2000 - 2006. He is former President & CEO of Purina Mills in St. Louis and is currently Chairman of the Board of Burke Industries of San Jose, California. He resides in Eureka, Missouri where he and his wife Suzy have a small Trakehner stable. His wife is an upper level dressage rider. He is a member of the Trakehner Verband and also judged the Champion mare show in Neumünster, Germany in 2001. He lived in Europe for 6 years and has scored and judged over 6,000 warmblood horses since 1988. He has been a member of the ATA for 26 years.
Henry Schurink
Henry Schurink of Shaftsbury, Vermont is a Charter Member of the ATA. He was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to the United States in 1952. An original member of the Inspection Committee, Mr. Schurink has been an active Trakehner breeder for 35 years. His Shaftsbury Farm hosted dozens of dressage and events over the years and his wife Janet is a successful upper level dressage rider. During his involvement with the ATA, he has imported more than 125 Trakehner horses over the last 30 years. His entire family including grandchildren are active in horse sports.
Larry Thornton
Larry is a past President of the former North American Trakehner Association prior to its merging with the ATA. He also was a member of the NATA inspection committee. He is a retired civil engineer with the Ministry of Transportation with the government of British Columbia, Canada. He resides in Victoria, Canada where he raises Trakehner horses with his wife Lola. Their sons are accomplished equestrians and compete at the higher levels in Canadian equestrian competitions.
Dr. Neal Westgerdes
Dr. Westgerdes has been an ATA member for 19 years and is the newest member of the ATA Inspection Committee. He is a licensed veterinarian and leads the Food Safety Inspection Service for the US Department of Agriculture and is based in Alameda, California. Neal was honored to be chosen by the Trakehner Verband to judge the champion mare show in Neumünster at the Hengstkörung in October of 2003.
Terry Williams
Terry Williams owns and operates with his wife Sue, Williamsburg Farm in Middleport, New York. Mr. Williams has been an officer and Charter Member of the ATA. He and his wife are probably best known for competing the Olympic Gold and Silver Medal winning Trakehner stallion, Abdullah. This Trakehner stallion may well have been the best jumping horse of the last century winning not only at the 1984 Olympics, the World Championship in Aachen, Germany and the Volvo World Cup in Berlin during his career. Mr. Williams also operates, Chestnut Ridge, a training facility also in New York.
