Margaret (Peggy) Stout and Ilion

Team #91

Peggy and Ilion perform their Century Club test

I was your typical horse-crazy child and rode every horse and pony I could.  When I was a teenager I nagged my parents to send me to a school in Arizona where the riding was as important (to me) as the grades.

College and marriage followed and five children.  But there was no way to continue a horse life and raise a family.

Finally when my youngest was finishing high school I decided I had the time and the money and I bought my first horse and took my first jumping lessons..over 30 years ago.

For many years I showed a lovely gray Thoroughbred hunter named Equity (Robbie) at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

My husband, Bill Stout, was a newsman at CBS. We were in the process of buying a weekend house in Montecito, California, when he suddenly passed away.  So Robbie and I and various dogs and cats moved to Montecito.  There was a wonderful trail system around my house and I could get to the beach in a few minutes.  I learned to trailer and joined the Santa Ynez Hunt.  I also rode on over-night treks with a lady’s group called The Sage Hens.

I might add that along the way I acquired a mini burro, a goat, a Vietnamese pig, and a pony that I learned to drive. Pretty much a dream come true for an animal lover.

But the lure of children and grandchildren in Los Angeles..so near and yet so far..became too much and I moved back.  Robbie was getting a  bit long in the tooth and I retired him to a peaceful life in Santa Ynez.

What to do now?  In my sixties, mindful that “mature” bones break. I didn’t want to take chances on a young hunter.  So I started dressage training with Jaye Cherry, who found me a big, chestnut Dutch Warm Blood named Ilion (Billy). I have been lessoning for 13 years and feel I have just scratched the surface.  Billy is 21 and I am 82.  We are healthy and I ride 4 or 5 days a week.

My test for the Century Club was at a show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center on August 27th.  My class time was 3:41 p.m. and the temperature was 103 degrees.  The judge's comments were a lot about needing to "move forward" whereas I felt lucky Billy and I managed to keep breathing!

				Peggy as a youngster