Marion Grady and *Edyl (aka Amir)

Team #89

Marion has been riding for 65 years. She started at the age of 5 after the war ended and after the family moved to Lingfield, Surrey, England. Her MD father left the RAF and started private practice. Her mother lost no time in getting Marion riding lessons and that was that! She got her first pony soon after and went on to more experienced ponies and competed very successfully in equitation, jumpers, and gymkana. At the age of 11/12 she was chosen to represent her Pony Club Branch, The Old Surrey and Burstow, along with two others, in the Interbranch competition for the one day event in dressage, cross country, and show jumping. In the programs Marion was listed as 13 years old because that was the minimum age to compete in this competition!

Marion’s mother was an Olympic High Diver, representing Belgium. Marion had aspirations to also compete in the Olympics. However, her father decided they should move to the USA when Marion was 12, right after the Pony Club Trials. That ended that dream but not her riding.

The family moved to Darien, Connecticut where Marion rode at the Ox Ridge Hunt Club. V. Felicia Townsend took her under her wing and found many horses for her to ride, particularly since nothing fazed Marion and she exercised many horses, sometimes before their owners rode, so that the energetic high jinks were removed first. The multiple horses she rode provided terrific experience.  George Morris also helped Marion tremendously.  She schooled, Jet, his neiece's Shetland pony, before shows.

Marion’s mother and grandmother died when she was just 16. Her father was less supportive of her riding, especially from the cost point of view, but OxRidge wouldn’t let her go. She continued to ride there until she went off to Vassar College and majored in music. She only rode on the occasional weekends when she came home. Miss T always managed to find her some rides.

After college and nearly a year in France, Belgium and England Marion married and moved to NYC with her husband Jim. There she completed a Masters Degree in Library Science at Columbia University. She worked at The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center in the Research Collections of the Recording Archives.

She and her husband built a house in Weston, CT and lived there for 10 years where they raised two children. Marion taught piano while the children were young, and rode her friend’s horse. She and her friend shared babysitting duties to make riding possible.

In 1981 Jim decided he’d had enough snow shoveling and the family moved to Irvine, CA.  [In the Olympic year of 1984 Marion’s friend, Tru, launched a language company with Marion’s help, Tru Lingua Language Systems, Inc. The company lasted for 26 years!]  With a teaching income now going (piano and English), Marion searched for a place for her children to take riding lessons. She found an English trainer in Newport Back Bay and that was where Amir came into their lives.

He had been all but abandoned by his current owner and while well fed, he was extremely scruffy. It took Marion’s daughter, Jennifer, two days to get the dirt off and un-mat his luxurious mane and tail. When Jim came to visit him Amir let out a huge Winnie from afar – and he became ours. He was not the ideal horse for a beginner to learn on because of his extremely high energy level. It meant that Mom had to ride him first – which she thoroughly enjoyed. We met the owners and got his papers from them and learned that he had been imported from Poland (The Polish National Stud) by Sheila Varian, of Varian Arabians, and that he has impeccable breeding.

Marion and Jennifer have owned Amir since he was 6 years old. He honed Jennifer’s riding skills to the point where she competed on him at the premier Arab show in Scottsdale in 1990. She won 2nd out of a class of 40 for equitation 18 and under.

*Edyl, aka Amir, sired by Gondolier, dam Energia, was bred at the Polish National Stud in 1980.  Amir epitomizes all of the best characteristics of the Arabian breed. He has immense presence. He knows when he’s in front of an audience of people and his pride is obvious.  Amir has done whatever was asked of him, from jumping in hunter classes, to dressage, trail work, and gymkhanas. The only major discipline he hasn’t participated in is racing. But given a good stretch of ground Amir and Marion have gone flying with the wind to the ecstasy of both!

Amir loves to know what is going on everywhere. If there are visitors and goings on in his aisle his nose is immediately through the bars with his eyes watching with interest as his ears stay pricked to catch the conversation.

After Scottsdale, Amir was joined by a beautiful thoroughbred hunter, Plenti Grande (aka Gaius), whom Marion successfully campaigned on the hunter/jumper circuit.

Jennifer went off to college, Marion sold Gaius but kept Amir. And the two have been having fun ever since. However there have been several traumas in their lives.

In 2008 Amir suffered a nasty suspensory injury while crossing a river on the trails. As he was returning to full work the following spring he suffered the worst time of his life – a dreadful bout of colic with surgery in the end. It turns out that his mesentery had torn and allowed the colon to twist and block everything. We went ahead with the surgery at the age of 29 because the surgeon pronounced him in such good shape. And sure enough he came through with flying colors. He did suffer a corneal ulcer that took a great deal of care but he managed that too. This was in April 2009. By Christmas Marion was riding Amir, slowly bringing him back. In Feb. 2010 husband Jim (a non rider) was helping to walk Amir when he suffered an accident. Amir went rather wild on the lead rope, as only he can, and Jim found himself airborne with a hard crash landing. It landed Jim in the hospital with 5 cracked ribs. You could tell Amir was horrified by the outcome of his shenanigans. This was not the end of the story.

In March of 2009 Marion was taking Amir out on the trails with friends. The trails run through housing estates with the need to cross streets. Just as Amir stepped into the street runners came around the corner. He spooked and his feet went right out from under him. He couldn’t regain his footing.He kept slipping. Animal control came and the fire department. Amir was lying in the street for almost an hour because nobody could figure out how to help him. Nobody had mats. However, finally someone had some blankets just when Amir decided he’d had enough and tried to get up again. This time somebody was in the right spot and stuck a blanket under his back hooves and up he went. He was led very carefully and slowly over to the dirt track and then he started walking normally.

A little aside on all this, the firemen were the same group that had come to rescue Jim after his fall 3 weeks ago. I was able to tell them that this was the horse that had caused the fall. In the end the only trauma Amir suffered was some badly bruised ribs. Karma?

In March 2010 Amir turned 30 years old and a big party was thrown in his honor. It included two very special horse cakes made for him.

In April Marion took a 3 week trip to see family in Europe. A few days after her return she suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery for 8 major coronary blockages, 3 at 99%. All went well and Marion was back in the saddle in 6 weeks and she just continues to do better. Obviously Marion and Amir have some more to accomplish together. It’s not their time to say goodbye!

It was Marion’s good friend and boss at work who told her about the Century Club and she decided that she and Amir needed another goal to shoot for. Together they are 101 years old. Marion is working full time in a new career so making it all happen was a bit challenging. The ride took place at a recognized show in San Juan Capistrano, CA after a couple of lessons to brush up. It was decided that the Introductory Level Test C would allow Amir to show what he could do without stressing too much about the arena footing and how he could handle it.

It was a wonderful ride and day. Amir rose to the occasion as Marion knew he would. An audience is all he needs to show off. They scored 62 and were thrilled by the judges comment – “well presented!!!.”

So ends another chapter in their lives. Amir, forever young at heart, will hopefully have a good number of years yet to enjoy his life. One only has to see him with ears pricked, eyes looking everywhere, to know that there is nothing more he loves than to be out and about whether visiting in the barn aisles or out on the trail.

Click here to watch Marion and Amir's Century Club ride on YouTube!

Photo Credit - Beatrice Rosenbaum	Photo Credit - Beatrice Rosenbaum
Marion and Fuzzy in 1953	Marion and Pixie