Ellen Schuthof-Lesmeister trained at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez, Spain, and currently studies with Portuguese masters Francisco Bessa de Carvalho (rider and trainer at the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art) and Pedro Baptista de Almeida. She studied intensely for over two years with Danish Baroque trainer Bent Branderup, a specialist in the methods of de la Guérinière and Pluvinel and renowned as a master of in-hand work. Schuthof-Lesmeister and her husband own and operate Stal Paradiso, a training facility in the verdant country near Amsterdam.

Kip Mistral grew up riding bareback and Western in the deserts of Phoenix and on mountain cattle ranches in Montana before discovering classical equitation. She holds an MA in English, has taught composition and technical writing at the college level, and written over 80 articles for equine publications in the past several years. Mistral resides with her pure Spanish stallion.