Fritz & Claudine Kundrun
Founders
Equine Welfare Society is the brainchild of Claudine Kundrun with the enthusiastic support and encouragement of her husband Fritz.
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Fritz and Claudine are well known in International Dressage circles. They owned Flim-Flam, bronze medal winner at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and silver medallist in Jerez, Spain, at the World Championships in 2002, under Susan Blinks, and most recently Rosevelt, with rider Alison Brock, earned a second bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. They are avid USET sponsors.
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Claudine and Fritz have both grown up with horses. Claudine was born and raised in the town of Chantilly, France, a major racing and training center for race horses, as well as jumpers. She moved to the US in 1978 and continued riding there (and still does, every day) Admitting that, coming from a privileged horse area, she was quite “unaware” of horse welfare issues, she one day received a leaflet from a rescue in the Chicago area and sent them a few dollars..”It never left my mind after that", she says.
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Then, several years after becoming Mrs. Kundrun, and moving to a large farm in Virginia, she decided to start the “Equine Welfare Society”, so named by Fritz who offered full support. After trials and tribulations, EWS was re-organized into what it is today thanks to the outstanding work of Director Erica Stevens, herself a very experienced horsewoman, and the very talented trainer and rider Chanda Boylen.
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The Kundruns truly enjoy following the work of EWS and never miss the arrival of a new project joining the herd. Every adoption is cause for celebration. In the future, they look forward to hosting numerous education programs and events to support good equine welfare practices.
Chanda Boylen
Trainer
Chanda Boylen started her riding career under the careful teaching of her godfather, Show Hunter Hall of Fame and Showjumping Hall of Fame rider/trainer Dave Kelley. Throughout her junior years, Chanda competed at the top levels of the sport in the pony hunters, junior hunters, and junior jumpers, earning awards at Devon and Indoors. Coached during this time mainly by Rodney Bross, trainer of Elaine and Chanda Boylen's famous Rox Dene, "Hunter of the Century", she also received equitation and jumper training from Sue Ashe, Elizabeth Solter, Jay Matter, and Ian Silitch.
Chanda graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2003 with a BA in English. During her years at school she continued competing as an amateur; starting homebreds and bringing them along from the pregreens to the A/O, and showing jumpers to the 1.45m. Upon graduating she moved to Keswick, VA to ride with Tommy Serio, Larry Glefke, and Kelley Farmer for additional training before becoming a professional in 2008.
Chanda currently has a varied business, starting young horses and ponies, training hunters and jumpers, riding and coaching at both local and A rated shows, and teaching riders of every level. She is a member of both the Keswick Hunt Club and the Farmington Hunt Club and enjoys bringing along new hunt horses for clients and sales, as well as taking her young students foxhunting.
The EWS Team
Erica Stevens
Director
Erica Stevens brings a wide variety of experiences to the Equine Welfare Society. Her entry into the horse world came while studying for a doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology. It was a this time that she purchased her first horse and began part-time managing a mixed-discipling boarding barn while not in the laboratory. This experience grew into managing AliBoo Farm, a leading US breeder of top hunters and jumpers.
While showing her AngloArabian, Erica was approached by Liz and David Bentley of IIB Farms and invited to work with their team producing many national and international Arabian horse champions. By this time Erica’s passion for working with horses superseded her desire to remain a research scientist and after hearing countless antidotes about horrible retirement boarding situations from her peers in the Chicagoland area, Erica was inspired to open a full-care boarding business for horses no longer working or on lay-up.
Interested in expanding her skill set, Erica took on the position of international show groom for Courtney King Dye and was responsible for two Olympic dressage horses Idocus and Mythilus. After returning from Europe, Erica joined Betsy Steiner’s team in Wellington, Florida and subsequently the Kundrun's Deermeadow Farm.
Erica has competed in dressage, endurance, Arabian hunter pleasure and hunters in the Mid-West, Wellington and on the East Coast. She currently foxhunts with Keswick and Farmington Hunt Clubs and is working on completing her USDF medals. In addition to her domestic equine experience, Erica has ridden or worked with horses in Canada, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Guatemala, Holland, Peru, South Africa, and Spain.
Recently, Erica completed a Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis on the disciplines of psychology and communication. Every experience brings new knowledge, perspective and understanding to her work at Equine Welfare Society.
Tiffany Snell, DVM
Veterinarian
Dr. Snell joined the Old Dominion Equine Associates team in 2010. Hailing from Northern California, Tiffany graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2004 with a BS in cellular biology and from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2010 with an equine emphasis.
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Tiffany’s veterinary focuses include chiropractic, acupuncture, and field surgery. In her spare time, you will probably find Tiffany riding a horse; in the hunt field whipping in for Farmington Hunt Club, or competing with her thoroughbreds, Fig and Firebee.
Benjamin Ruhlman
Farrier
A lifelong horseman, Ben’s interest in an equine career was piqued in secondary school when a close friend encouraged him to pursue farrier school. Taking that advice, Ben graduated from Danny Ward Horseshoeing School in 2004, and has worked with a variety of horses from Thoroughbred actively racing, hunt horses, dressage horses, to show hunters and jumpers.
Ben enjoys cultivating longterm relationships with the horses he cares for and prides himself on being able to collaborate with owners and veterinarians to create individualized care plans. Ben keeps abreast of new technology and theories. When not on the road, he spends time with his family and has a successful cattle breeding operation. He can always be counted on for conscientious care and witty banter.