Team #540 Cherie Hibbs and Ricochet
Photo provided by Toni Lotz
Team #540: Cherie Hibbs and Ricochet
Ages: 79 & 22
Combined Age: 101
I was asked to provide a biography for publication with the successful The Dressage Foundation Century Club ride. I thought about what to write. I decided that rather than describe all the history of my riding, I would rather try to describe the joy when I discovered the bond between a rider and her horse is the most important part of the enjoyment of riding dressage. With that here is when and how that occurred.
On March 25, 2016, I did my first TDF Century Club ride on my Quarter Horse, “Twister," registered name, “Par Bar Twist." Eleven days later, April 5, he coliced and was taken for surgery where he died in recovery. On April 12, my coach Laurie MacDonald took me to see a horse that she had seen. She wanted me to just try to get used to riding a different horse. I had been riding Twister for ten years in both western and dressage. When I first saw Ricochet, my reaction was that she was too big and a mare. She was a 16-hand big bay mare, which was not what I wanted. I thought why not ride her and see how she felt. I rode her and was comfortable with her, although I was not used to big movements that were very unlike my Quarter Horse.
On the way home Laurie told me Ricochet was for sale and was a Fourth Level dressage horse and a schoolmaster, which was just what I wanted. I kept thinking about her and went back to ride her several times each time feeling more like she was the right one for me. After the last ride, I told my husband I wanted her, and he said that is good because I just bought her for you.
I decided that I would call her "Shea” and Stacey Carpenter and I brought her home to 4-C Stables. She was put into Twister’s old stall. The following week I had my first lesson on her with my coach Laurie MacDonald. With each lesson, I felt more confident in my ability to ride my big bay mare and came to trust that she would take care of me. In all the time I have owned her, I have been the only one to ride her, and we have become to trust each other completely.
When Covid-19 hit, I found that I could do my TDF Century Club ride at my home stable. That helped me decide to do a second Century Club ride. Somehow 2020 passed and I began to think it would never happen but with 2021 coming to an end I felt that it was time. On December 3, at 4-C Stables in Ovilla, Texas, I did my second Century Club ride with coach Laurie MacDonald, judge Becky Brown, friend Toni Lotz, who photographed my ride, and with the help of Stacey Carpenter, Ryan Metcalf, and the 4-C crew. We chose to do the test Intro Level, Test B.
A big thank you to Stacey, Ryan, and the crew for making the dressage arena perfectly prepared and doing all they did to make the day possible. Thank you to my coach Laurie for not giving up on me and to Becky Brown for so graciously agreeing to be my judge. Thanks also to Toni for the beautiful photographs and my husband Doug who bought Shea because he understood my passion for dressage. And lastly thank you, Shea, my big bay Hanoverian mare, for always taking such good care of me. I wouldn’t trade you for a million dollars.
Cherie and Shea completed Intro Level, Test B, on December 3, 2021, for their Century Club membership.
Photo provided by Toni Lotz
