United States Eventing Association

USEA Owner of the Month: Major Kelly Dobert

In 2011, Major Kelly Dobert won the Area II Beginner Novice Championship as well as the USEA Beginner Novice Adult Rider and Beginner Novice Adult Amateur Rider year-end awards. She was nominated as a USEA Owner of the Month, and a portion of her interview was published in the November/December issue of Eventing USA. We could not fit all of her great stories in the magazine, so her interview in its entirety is available below. Enjoy!

1. How did you begin riding and eventing? How did you find your horse, Austin Miller?

I started out as young as I can remember only ever wanting two things for Christmas: a pony and a Speak & Spell. I think I got the Speak & Spell when I was five but still had to keep asking for the pony. It so happened that when I was six, my neighbor across the street, who was a year older than me, started taking riding lessons at a farm about a half-hour away. We talked her mom into talking my mom into letting me take just one lesson. We went to the barn to check the place out and sign me up. While my mom was talking to the instructor, I was off looking through all the stalls at all the horses. The one that caught my eye the most was a little foal that was in his mother’s foaling stall. I remember petting his soft muzzle when his dam bit me in the leg so hard I screamed. I quickly had to silence that and wipe away the tears and pretend everything was ok. I couldn’t let my mom see my leg for over a month because if she had seen how horrible the bruise was she would never let me actually take a lesson. I can still remember that first lesson horse’s name, Tiffany. That was the beginning of the end, as they say.

I continued taking lessons. I then joined a 4-H horse club (before I was really old enough, as there were no Cloverbuds at the time). Also at six, I attended my first horse show and got to ride in the lead line class where I won my very first yellow ribbon on a little pony named Keen, and I couldn’t have been more pleased! I guess it was then that I knew I wanted to compete horses as much as I could. 4-H eventually led to my mom and stepdad being given a free rescue pony, which they brought home in the back of a metal van. They also built a little one-stall barn with hay storage on the back and put up a little paddock on our little 1.3 acre suburban house. They brought me out back with a blindfold to surprise me with my pony. I was eight. He was a skin-and-bone, 20-something, 12.1hh Welsh with the registered name of Southland’s Marius. Since I got to have the pony, my mom decided to let my little brother give him his barn name, Gemini. He and three out of four other horses had survived being starved when their elderly owner’s son took the grain money every month and partied with it.

We didn’t have a saddle at first, and it was painful every time I rode him (after all it was like riding the skinny edge of a 2×4). Eventually, when we got a saddle, I was able to ride him at 4-H horse shows. I remember they did not have walk/trot classes at my first show so when the announcer called for canter, I would stand at the center of the ring and wait. This was very often preceded by me running over the judge if she wasn’t quick enough to move out of the way! They had a Jack Benny Class where my mom rode my pony and won a green ribbon and a lollipop. She tried to give me the ribbon since I didn’t win anything that day. I refused it since I did not earn it. My stepdad wanted to know why I would bother to show horses if I couldn’t even win a ribbon. I just enjoyed the experience, and I knew if I kept at it, I eventually would earn some actual ribbons of my own. I had won third at lead line my first time out, after all.

I continued riding and competing English in 4-H, and I did the county fairs and all the local 4-H shows. I started jumping little stuff when I was about ten or so. When I was about 12, I did a Knockdown and Out Class at a local gymkhana (where I used a Western saddle but still my English bridle and Kimberwick). By then, I had a younger pony, Fire, and we jumped every time up to about 3′ when the saddle horn knocked the wind out of me. When we came back for the 3’3" I had a couple refusals. I still hadn’t caught my breath enough, and I was the one who pulled him away both times. From then on I never jumped in a Western saddle again.

When I was in high school, I was a working student at a couple different barns and got to ride some really nice horses. Sometimes I would even hack down the road to the local hunt horse shows. It was great fun, and it was neat to be able to do that all by myself without any help from parents or anyone since I didn’t have to get trailered all the time.

When I graduated high school, I went to the United States Military Academy at West Point. I also tried out for the Army Equestrian Team. I made the team every year and was even a co-captain my senior year. We competed in Hunt Seat Equitation in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, and I made it to Regionals every year and won sixth at Zonals one year. West Point certainly was not easy, but I never would have even considered it had they not had the Equestrian Team. Our team also has an extremely high rate of members staying in the Army for a full career rather than getting out after their first obligation. There seems to still be a connection for military horsemanship in our team. We even got to visit the U.S. Equestrian Team headquarters at Gladstone and sit in the judge’s box during a big dressage festival. We got to meet and talk with retired Captain John (Jack) Fritz, retired Major General Jonathan Burton, and others that shared our military and horse connections. I even won the Colonel Donald Thackeray Award before his death.

After graduating from West Point, my first permanent duty station was Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where they held two recognized horse trials every year. The first time I showed up, I was glad I hadn’t brought my new horse along to compete. I learned that horse trials required entry forms be mailed in well in advance! But I knew after watching that it was definitely something I wanted to take part in in the very near future. I did my first event at a North Carolina Dressage & Combined Training Association schooling horse trials at Maiden where all the cross-country jumps were optional. In my first ever dressage test, my horse, Last Chance, did not pick up his left lead canter right away so I circled around and got him to do it correctly at the letter. Little did I know I would get an error for going off course with that extra circle! We did not jump one of the cross-country jumps as it was a bit big (for us at the time) and after quite a downhill, and we had never jumped anything quite so solid before. It was optional anyways, so it didn’t matter. Stadium jumping was a blast, though, and we finished double-clear.

After the first event, I was hooked, and I began to really study the rules and begin schooling for the phases – well, the jumping ones, at first. Fort Bragg became my training grounds, and that is where, in 1999, I did my first recognized event at Beginner Novice on my current competition horse, Austin Miller. Eventually, I even competed for judge BG (Ret.) Burton and was able to give the actual military salute after my dressage test. I believe Fort Bragg was also my first training level event in 2000 on Laurel, a 15.1 Anglo-Arab mare I free leased.

I did only local events near Southern Pines and Fort Bragg for quite a while, and when I started being successful there, I ventured out to other areas of the state like the Thoroughbred Training Center in Mocksville, three hours west of me. Eventually, I felt I was competing successfully enough at the state level that I should branch out to the East Coast and so, travelling as far north as Pennsylvania and as far south as Georgia to school and compete. Also, as luck would have it, I qualified for the American Eventing Championships but always had to answer the call of duty instead. I took my horses (and my two dogs) with me to Fort Lee, Virginia and then Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While in the Midwest, I competed in Missouri and Illinois. I even brought my foxhunter, Savannah V, along with me since there was no one to feed her while I was gone (I was doing self-care board in the historic Fort Leavenworth Stables where about five prisoners served as trustees and fed and cleaned stalls). Since she was coming anyways, I decided to enter her in Beginner Novice, and she was a superstar. She never had a cross-country fault through Novice, or a Stadium refusal through Training in five years of competing her.

When I arrived at Fort Bragg, I had just bought my first horse on my own, Last Chance. At first, he was stabled on post and was in quarantine (standard procedure for all new horses on military bases) during the time a local horse show was being held there. One of the women who worked at the stables, who at the time was the wife of a Military Policeman, was sad that she had a nice young horse to ride but had to work during the show. While we were commiserating, she graciously suggested that I show her horse, Austin. I was not new to catch riding, so I jumped at the chance, not even knowing what I was in for. That gave me exactly three days to ride him at the farm where he had just been moved to, off post.

The first day, I rode him only on the flat, and he seemed really nice but green. The second day, we jumped a few small show jumps. He seemed willing enough and quite forward. The third day, we jumped a few coops and logs that were in pasture fence lines or down in the woods. I think we both had a blast! So at the show, we won many blue ribbons and a couple others. We didn’t win our hunter over fences, because he was just too fast over those little cross rails. After one of the flat classes, though, the judge asked me if I came to steal the show. I laughed. I thought about telling him I had only ridden Austin for three days but he was on to the next rider before I could. “Austin Powers,” they called him on the public address system. He was for sale, and all I could think was that maybe I should buy him. The problem was that I had just spent all the money I had on Last Chance.

A couple months later, I was on the hunt for my cheap young project horse and learned that Austin was available, but for a lot more than I could come up with. After another month of trying project horses that were somehow also too much money, I decided I might as well take a look at Austin. Long story short, he changed hands about two or three times in three months, and of course his price went up at each turn. Finally, I thought about getting a loan to purchase a horse, since I couldn’t seem to find anything in my meager price range. When I finally found him and went to try him out, I did not recognize him at all, physically or his mental state. He not only lost weight, but was seemingly suffering from what I call “his life experiences.” He was afraid of everything; he was head shy beyond belief, scared to have someone on his back, and just tried to run away from any pressure of the leg or hand. He also didn’t seem to want to jump anything anymore either. When I got back in the car with my friend, I literally cried. He was not at all the same horse. He just couldn’t possibly be. He was a worse project than any of the advertised projects I had been looking at. I passed on him and continued looking at other project horses.

Then one day, after trying a particularly expensive project horse, I thought, maybe I should give Austin a chance. After all, no one else seemed to be able to ride him, and I was the only one who knew what he had been like and what his potential was. So, I called back up to see him, and he had been sold another time. The new owner wanted more money but was willing to take payments! If only I had thought about that when he was originally for sale! I never even thought you could buy a horse on payments. I put some money down and gave a little more when we picked him up. It also took us a long, long time to get him loaded into the trailer, something that had not been an issue when I had shown him. I made a few more payments and then got the Jockey Club papers that showed I was the new owner of Austin Miller, born in Pennsylvania. What a horrible name. Do you know how many times I have been to horse shows where I have been ridden by my horse? At least, that is how the announcers called it. I do not believe in changing names, so it stuck. And then a few years later, I received a great Christmas present that said I was the owner of a great-grandson of Secretariat! A family friend who did his pedigree research gave me this wonderful gift.

2. Although eventing has its roots in the cavalry, it is unusual to see a rider in military uniform. What is that like?

This is not the first uniform I have worn while competing astride a horse. As a member of the Army Equestrian Team as a West Point Cadet, we designed our very own modified Dress Grey uniform for sanctioned competition. Recently, I was back at West Point as an Officer in Charge of the team, and although they have added a few more of the uniforms, I am certain that at least one of those coats and breeches were issued to a Cadet Private Dobert. While that approval process took only a few months, what I now wear now took about three years to get approved. Since 2001, when I compete at the national level I wear a modified Class A Uniform in dressage and stadium jumping. For schooling shows, I wear the hunt coat or polo, as is appropriate. Not only the Army but the USCTA had to approve it. At the time, I competed in a beret in dressage. I still keep saying I should wear my body armor vest and ballistic helmet on cross-country, but it really is not approved for equestrian use. Go figure! I have since seen a camouflage event vest and event helmet cover worn by a retired Air Force Noncommissioned Officer who is also an event photographer, and I have reconsidered my options.

I always think that the Army Recruiting Command should sponsor me, and I’ll wear the Army Strong Colors and Star. They sponsor NASCAR and bull riders, so why not an Active Duty event rider, too? They sure would get a lot of good press, eh? Especially since I have started wearing cameras. I moved the helmet cam to my chest as it was too heavy on my head, and I wear I-Kam sunglasses that capture the same angle as I see.

Actually, when I first started wearing the uniform, it took a while to find actual cavalry breeches that fit me. The ones I found actually lace up at the leg and flare out at the hips. There were no women cavalry officers so the fly does open the wrong direction, but that doesn’t matter much anymore as the material was also not made to be washed regularly in modern day washing machines, and it has shrunk quite a bit. I still keep them in my trailer though; I just can’t seem to take them out. Wearing the uniform is a bit more work than just a hunt coat and stock tie, but I am proud to wear it and proud of the intertwined history of both horses and the Army. Often when people comment about my uniform I am the first one to inform them that it is the true history of our sport! Maybe we should include a written test as part of the three-day event, one that might include a history question or two.

3. Do you feel a unique connection with eventing as a member of the armed forces?

Very much so. And I am glad to be able to share the military side with the eventing community as well as the eventing side with the military community. One time my Brigade Commander held a mandatory military function (a Hail & Farewell party) at the Fort Bragg Horse Trials where I was competing Laurel and Austin Miller. It was so neat to be able to share both huge parts of my life with the other. It is also why, when possible, I organize a USEA Schooling Activity called Sunny Sands Horse Events at whatever military post I am stationed at. It promotes the intertwined history that is unique. Few eventers today even realize that before it was called “Eventing” it was called “The Military.” And in today’s current operating environment, horses and horsemanship are not extinct. Several Soldiers have had to learn to ride as another mode of transportation where vehicles have little to no access.

4. How do you balance your horse habit with your work? Which came first in your life, horses or the Army?

Well, some might say I don’t quite balance them! While horses and my horse habit definitely came first in my life, as an Active Duty Soldier, I put my duty first. It is amazing how many people in the horse world assume that I ride as my job in the Army since I compete in uniform. That would certainly be my dream job, although that is far from reality! Generally, I must take leave or use limited free time to enjoy my horses and competing.

While in command from 2004 – 2006, I gave up competing completely. I regret pushing my mare up to Training the weekend before I took command, but I knew it was the one and only time I would be able to compete her at that level so I gave it a try. Sadly, we were eliminated at a vertical fence toward the end of the very hilly cross-country course because she was just not in good enough condition. I had been conducting change of command inventories for the entire month leading up to that and did not have time to keep her fit. While in command, I became a subscribing member of the closest hunt, Reedy Creek Hounds. During foxhunting season, I hunted on Savannah every Sunday. I also gave lessons to some people on post. Occasionally, on a long weekend with a training holiday, I would trail ride in the Petersburg Battlefield. It adjoined Fort Lee, Virginia, the post where I worked and stabled my horses. By that time, Austin was in semi-retirement since a couple years earlier he started getting eliminated at Training and then at Novice. I just let him be a pasture ornament for almost seven years, pulling him out only to foxhunt if Savannah was having a bad day or needed the rest. I started him back at Beginner Novice this year because Savannah is done eventing and wishes only to jump with the hounds. I event like crazy when I can because I know there are many stretches of time where I won’t even see a horse, let alone attend an event. While on deployments, I always try to befriend the military working dogs and their handlers, as not having that constant animal companionship that I am used to takes a unique toll on me. I hope to retire from the Army in the not too distant future and look forward to the day when I do not have to plan my event season around deployments, especially since deployments are not always scheduled in advance.

5. I’ve been told you are deploying to Kuwait in December. Can you talk about your responsibilities overseas? How long will you be gone?

Sure, I am currently scheduled to deploy again in December. I am a logistics officer with the 1^st Sustainment Command (Theater) where our mission is to support the military draw-down in Iraq while providing supplies and logistical support to our service members there and in Afghanistan as we continue to support Operation Enduring Freedom. My specialty is as a Mortuary Affairs Officer, and I will also serve as the Branch Chief for the Supply & Service Branch of the Support Operations Section. I expect to be gone anywhere from six months to a year.

6. What will happen with Austin Miller while you are away?

Well, I had planned to turn him out to pasture with Savannah and let them enjoy some North Carolina grazing, but I am reconsidering that now. At the Adult Team Challenge, Carol Kozlowski was the coach for the Area II Adult Riders. She suggested that based on his age (he is now 19) and the fact that I may possibly compete him in a Classic Format Training Three-Day Event sometime in the near future, I am trying to find someone who would be willing to just hack him around while I am gone. It would be good for him to stay somewhat active by hacking out regularly without the stresses of jumping, traveling and competing. Having been qualified for the AEC, I have held national contests in the past to free lease out my horses during extended deployments. People wrote essays, provided references, and tried them out before I made the final determination on where they went. But of course, the backup plan is always for them to go back to the pasture in North Carolina if something doesn’t work out. I guess I should consider doing that again, although I really do not want them competed this time. Austin has limited competitions left in him and is not an easy horse to compete (he is still very, very fast), and he often seems to be a one-person horse. We know each other so well. Plus, I want to save his legs for our time together, hopefully coming out on the positive end of a T3DE if it works out with Uncle Sam’s schedule.

7. How would you compare riding on the Army Equestrian Team and riding at the Adult Team Challenge?

Riding on the Army Equestrian Team was a four-year experience (although it continues whenever I compete in an IHSA Alumni class). This allowed for a stronger team relationship since we lived, worked, and competed together for that length of time. The ATC might be a four-day experience if you consider the travel time. This is actually the third year I have done the ATC, first in 2000 at FENCE in Tryon with the team name “Obsessed” and second in 2001 at the Virginia Horse Park with the team name “Addicted.” It was quite different this year in that I believe the Area Adult Rider Program Coordinators put together our team. None of us knew each other well. I went as a fourth member of an Area III team, and I think several of the teams were put together that way. Since I just got back to Area II in July (after leaving competition here in 2004), I don’t really know a lot of the new people, and it was great to be introduced that way. Thank you so much to The Chronicle of the Horse for sponsoring it every time!!!

8. Congratulations on winning the division at Tryon! How would describe the weekend? How did your team do? What was your team name and how did you choose it?

Thanks so much! The best thing about the weekend was probably having a coach. Carol was wonderful, and I must thank her for helping us get a personal record 33.5 in dressage. In just a 45-minute lesson on Friday she was able to assess and influence us toward better work and results, in the warm-up and in the ring. She quickly saw that I was not asking enough of Austin. Since he is getting older, I was not asking him to be as round, and she got me to just ask a half a notch more with great results. Our team came out on top as well! We did start out with a full team so had the advantage over our competitors with no drop score. Our team ended up being “Beginner Novice Team 1,” but I think there were several emails exchanged about it being “3 Jacks and a Queen” since it was supposed to be three geldings and a mare. Sadly, I was too busy to even respond to all the emails, as it was fun learning about my ATC teammates before we arrived.

9. What are your long-term eventing goals?

Long term goals include competing at the Preliminary level, P3DE and one-star events as well as becoming a licensed Eventing Technical Delegate. However, all along the way I want to improve and have fun on whatever horse I am on and at whatever level, enjoy the time in the saddle, and be safe to go out and do it again another day.

10. What is the most fun you’ve ever had on horseback?

My goodness, there are so many! I have truly been blessed with being able to take part in many, many different equine activities. When people ask me what discipline I ride, I tell them, “A little bit of everything and a lot of Eventing!” 1.Riding and competing on the Army Equestrian Team, both as a Cadet in Hunt Seat and as an Alumni in both Hunt Seat and Stock Seat; 2.Foxhunting and earning my colors with the Fort Leavenworth Hunt, especially as a member of the 40mph Club; 3.Trail riding for hours each afternoon during Voluntary Summer School at West Point; 4.Jumping the cannons at the Frontier Army Museum at Fort Leavenworth; 5.Jockeying my horses in charity races against fit polo ponies, and winning the first lap on Austin Miller; 6.Riding in the Cadet Mess Hall during the huge spirit dinner that leads up to the Army Navy Football Game; 7.Riding Austin Miller in the Atrium during a Health and Welfare Inspection of my Soldiers’ barracks rooms; 8.Riding Savannah through the drive thru at Taco Bell and ordering a combo; 9.Galloping in a field on a friend’s stallion with just a halter and lead; 10.Hacking and galloping around the Walthour-Moss Foundation for hours on end; Riding Austin in the Atlantic Ocean; Swimming my horses in a pond; Participating in holiday parades at various military bases; Ponying my horses with my dogs following along on trail rides and gallops in the Petersburg Battlefield; Catching loose horses at events and hunts; Herding my ducks with my pony as a kid; Chasing cows for the headers at Team Ropings with my old warmblood in a Kimberwick; Flipping my brother into the snow on a sled attached to my pony with a harness made of baling twine and a western cinch; Jumping my mom’s horse bareback, sitting backwards, in a bikini and bare feet; Bringing my donkey up the stairs into the living room to watch TV; Catch riding at the Crabbet Arabian Festival and winning an Open Western Pleasure class with my English helmet on; Taking my friend’s Appaloosa western pleasure horse in a Maiden horse trial when my horse went lame and finishing on our dressage score; Hacking to a local horse show all by myself; Jumping my first four-foot fence, especially since I was on a jumper pony that was supposed to be only flatting that day; Jumping a line of gymnastics with no hands or stirrups; Getting back on after breaking my wrists; Jumping the same jump that had indirectly caused a broken collarbone several months before; Jumping three abreast at various FLH hunts; Jumping two abreast for the first time at an FLH Opening Hunt ON post; Competing a beautiful draft mare in Intro dressage with a full size girth on a long billet dressage saddle; Riding in the County Fair in the Costume Class in my cousin’s wedding dress bareback aside and my mom playing the part of the “groom;” Playing polocrosse as an adult to help round out the Pony Club Team so they could practice; Competing in a Trail Trial for the first time with fellow military horse friends; Giving “pony rides” to the kids at unit Organizational Days; Riding bareback with my little nieces; Riding around the new neighborhood after I moved, and later having people remember me as the girl who rides her horse all over town (both as a kid and as an adult); and of course, any time spent jumping out on cross-country, whether competing or schooling.

Thanks, Kelly, for your service to our country. We’ll see you stateside again soon.