Stopek Stables

Stopek Stables' facilities include over 20 acres with 5 pastures, box stalls with rubber mats, an indoor arena, a 100' x 200' outdoor arena with wood fencing, sand footing and jumps, and a round pen with sand footing. We also have trails that go over the river (well, the creek in our case) and through the woods. Both stall and pasture boarding are available.

For your convenience, we accept Pay Pal. You may pay for lessons, training, stud fees, board, or even the purchase of a horse by using either your credit card, debit card or checking account through PayPal. If you intend to make a purchase through PayPal, please let us know and we will be happy to send you a request via email.

Please call 515-993-1809 or email with any comments or questions you may have. If you are in the Des Moines, Iowa area, please call to arrange a visit in person. We are conveniently located approximately 20 miles west of Des Moines, just off of I-80. Click here for a map of our location. If you are visiting from out of town, we will be happy to provide transportation for you from the Des Moines International Airport. For now, please enjoy your "virtual visit" to Stopek Stables!

As many of you know, Olympic Event rider Darren Chiacchia was injured on March 15, 2008 at the Red Hills Horse Trials. He was riding the preliminary cross country course aboard seven year old Baron Verdi, a Trakehner stallion owned by Tim and Cheryl Holecamp who are also the owners of Windfall II, the Trakehner stallion that Darren rode to Olympic bronze in Athens in 2004.

Many equestrians are praying for Darren and doing everything they can to help out Darren and his family. Members and friends of Trakehners International are planning an on-line auction to benefit Darren.

The fundraiser will begin concurrent with the 2008 Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event (April 24^th) and will continue through Wednesday April 30^th.The auction will be held online at www.trakehners-international.com; revenues will be paid to the Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF) and deposited into Darren’s fund. Please watch for ads in the Rolex preview issue of Chronicle of the Horse, and The Official Rolex Guide plus online ads from www.horse-canada.com and www.chronofhorse.com.

In an effort to help, Stopek Stables has donated a stallion service to our approved Trakehner stallion Prelude By Mozart and Meredith VanBenthuysen and Karen Stopek have donated a stallion service to our Welsh pony jumper stallion Kar Mar Buck. Please take advantage of this opportunity to breed to these stallions and to benefit Darren Chiacchia.

Some of our school horses and ponies are available for our Half Lease Program. Leasing a horse provides an excellent way for potential horse owners to test out what it would be like to have a horse of their own. The horses are available to be used by their lessees on the days they are not used for lessons (3-4 days per week). This would include weekends since we do not teach lessons on the weekends. Please visit our school horse page for more information and photos of available horses.

Prelude went to Texas for the 2007 ATA Convention where he won 2nd place in the Hunter Stakes and tied for 1st place in the Jumper Stakes. He was ridden by Jeff White of Whitehorse Farms in Prosper, TX. He is pictured below jumping the Puissance wall at 5'3". Stopek Stables was proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the Convention for the third year in a row!

Sculptor is one of only a handful of stallions in the world with a 100% Warmblood pedigree that is homozygous for the Tobiano Pinto gene, guaranteeing that ALL of his foals will be Pintos!

And introducing...KAR MAR BUCK