United States Eventing Association

USEA Member Story #2

This is the second entry in the USEA’s Member Story Series. Help us reach our goal of over 300 stories – email your story to [email protected].

My name is Susan Boquist. I live near Boston, Massachusetts. I am an adult amateur and support my riding habit by working as a principal programmer for clinical drug trials. It is as boring as it sounds and helps explain my passion for high-adrenaline sports. But if you look in your medicine cabinet, there is probably at least one item in there for which I was involved in the approval process. I have had an affinity for horses my entire life.

When I was about six years old, a friend’s mother put me on her grey show horse and lead me around a field. I clutched the horse’s mane, blinded by the sunlight reflecting off of it, with my long party dress bunched up over the withers, and a huge grin on my face. It was truly magical. But I was the only person in my family interested in horses and despite extensive begging I did not get my own pony. I spent a lot of time in the basement on my father’s old rocking horse. It was a grey carved out of wood with real hair for the mane and tail and I wished he would come alive. When I was eleven I did get to go to camp at Road’s End Farm and start to learn how to ride. By the time I was in high school I had ridden every horse on the farm. My junior year, I took some lessons during the winter near home and started to learn how to jump.

Then I headed off to Mount Holyoke College where I was able to take riding for gym class. The IHSA team coach took note of me mid-semester and asked me to join some special lessons he was teaching which turned into an invitation to compete with the team at a show in February. A horse show! I had never been to one of those before. A dash home on the weekend for a trip to the second-hand tack store provided me with most of what I needed for clothes. I do remember though that as I was starting to dress at the show, the captain took one look and suddenly I was surrounded by the entire team, everyone cleaning, tucking, folding and lending until I was presentable. They put me on the horse and sent me into the ring. I followed instructions and lined up at the end. The whole team was facing me with huge grins. I won the class! The fourth show of my life I competed at IHSA Nationals. I graduated with a trunk full of ribbons and lots of memories from two and a half years of competing.

I made a decision that I was going to work to ride, rather than try to do the opposite. I did not have the money or experience to go the hunter/jumper route. I had vaguely heard of Eventing but my impression was that they were “real” riders and doing it took a level of horse care, riding knowledge and grit that I was no where near yet. Maybe some day I would get there.

So off to work I went, trying to fit in riding where I could. I exercised a few horses here and there for various people. For a number of years I took weekly lessons at a local boarding school in the evening. Then one day I stumbled upon Verrill Farm. The first person I met there had gone to Mount Holyoke and there were some other alums there AND it was primarily an Eventing barn. Alyce the trainer, after hearing of my Mount Holyoke connection, immediately added me to her lesson schedule and gave me a project horse to ride as much as I wanted. I was in heaven. I didn’t have enough money to do anything more than that for a number of years but one thing lead to another and in 1999, I found myself on Savoy (an experienced campaigner leased from Alyce) at my first ever Event. He took care of me for the Dressage test (I was so-o-o nervous). Stadium was next and easy, since I was used to it. Then we headed out on X-C and after two sedate fences, he decided to show me what Eventing is all about and kicked up to a Preliminary+ pace. We finished with the fastest time on course and I was totally hooked! We had a fantastic Beginner Novice season.

The following year, with a bit of a financial boost from my ever patient and long suffering, non-riding husband, I bought my first horse. Yes, he was a large, grey gelding. I named him Indefatigable (Indie), which many announcers had trouble with, except for one Brit who seemed to relish repeating the name over and over with a flourish. Indie came to me out of shape and lacking confidence. I learned a lot working with him and we definitely had a lot of tough days. But by 2003, we won the Area 1 Novice Championships and were ranked third on the National leader board. We competed together at the first AEC in 2004. That was the last time he went cross-country. I listened when he started to tell me that it was getting to be a bit much for him. He is now with a family that loves him and at the age of 22 is still raking in ribbons at hunter shows.

My next horse, Athena, was very young but a total cross-country machine, when I could get her out there. She also taught me a lot. Mostly patience. We did not have a good fit personality wise but I did manage to campaign her successfully up to Novice. What turned out to be our last cross-country together was absolutely foot perfect and we won the event handily, leading from start to finish. She is now with a lovely young woman who loves her as much as I do and they are successful together.

My current horse Class Act (Classy) came next. She is currently 19 going on 10 and continues to amaze me. She is an OTTB, who had four foals after a short but successful racing career. My trainer found her at a horse show in Connecticut, jumping out of her skin under a rider who was totally over mounted. Alyce managed to bring her home, where Classy was used in the barn lesson program and was owned by an older woman who wanted to do Dressage only. I took Classy out in the woods once in awhile for her. Classy would jump the tiniest sticks and seemed to like it out there. I thought to myself that she should be Eventing but didn’t say anything since she was someone else’s horse. When the woman wanted to cut back on her riding, Alyce had one of the girls see if Classy would Event. She did NOT like water but completed her first two competitions at two of the hardest events in Area 1, at Novice, totally bypassing BN. They quickly moved up to Training level. When Classy was offered to me to lease, I immediately said yes. Our first time out was at the same place I had last been with Athena for our halcyon run. Somehow Classy and I managed to show up without either of us having schooled X-C in about five months and not even together and a bit out of shape. Dressage was, um, interesting. Classy went through the test as if she was heading to the starting gate at the track. It was officially the worst dressage score I have ever received. Stadium was a breeze (Regarding jumping, Alyce once said, “She knows more about that than both of us combined!”). We finished cross-country but just barely. Just about everything that could go wrong did, including Classy losing a shoe. I thought to myself, nowhere to go but up. I was wrong. At the next event we got eliminated and it was the last event of the season. Over the winter, I did a lot of work with Classy and bought her, which changed my mindset and gave me more freedom.

After a lot more mileage and finally some success, last season we won the Area 1 Novice Championships and took a few runs at Training level. We have also earned two gold medals at Novice. Classy still has a water problem though. She will run through it now but needs to take a long look before jumping down into it. I am working on it and hope to solve it this year. She has progressed in Dressage tremendously and usually either wins it or is high up afterwards. I do believe though that if I pointed her at a truck parked on the cross-country course she would clear it, with her knees tucked up under her chin to boot.

Here’s to a fabulous season in 2011 for us all!