Team #590 Suzann Bobley and Fargo

Team #590: Suzann Bobley and Fargo
From: Schuylerville, New York
Ages: 84 & 23
Combined Age: 107
Test: Introductory Level Test A
Date: September 18, 2022

I cannot recall an exact date when I fell in love with animals, and horses in particular.  My parents took me to a riding stable where they rented horses, and they sent me to horse riding camps, but all I ever wanted was a horse of my own.  It wasn’t until I was married that my dream came true!

In the 1960s, when dressage came to the North Shore of Long Island, New York, I was in my 20s.  It was when I took serious riding lessons.  A group of us, with our teacher, started Long Island Dressage and Combined Training Association.  We went to shows and had fun.  I had a beautiful Arabian horse named Azakoia, who taught me a lot.

The years went by, and I got involved in Thoroughbred racing, so my riding consisted of trying to make riding horses out of my retired racehorses. As I got older, I stopped riding and got my horse fix by being involved with my racing and retired Thoroughbreds.

Eventually, we built a farm in Saratoga Springs, New York, and I concentrated on taking care of all the racehorses that we owned when they came off the track.  We stopped racing in 2016.  I now have all my retired racehorses living out their days on my farm.

When I turned 80, my friend Laurie Scott got me a 20-year-old retired pony hunter named Good Heavens, who we call Amy, and I got back into riding again.

I heard about The Dressage Foundation's Century Club from another good friend, Mary Anne Kocon, and decided to try the test with my pony, Amy. Unfortunately, Amy’s age caught up with her and she was not going to be able to partner with me. Again, my friend Laurie came through, loaning me her 23-year-old retired show jumper, Fargo.

I could not have found a better horse to do this test on. Fargo has an enormous show record in the jumpers, competing in Grand Prix jumping classes and many speed classes. Fortunately, now that he’s older, Fargo has slowed down quite a bit and has become a specialist at teaching young riders how to navigate jumping courses. High-level show jumpers are taught a great deal of dressage to make them adjustable and ridable between the jumps, so he knows how to do anything I may ask of in my test.

I loved preparing for this day and want to thank all my friends for the love and support that they have given me.