Team #649 Carlie Beisel and Siglavy Reba II

Team #649: Carlie Beisel and Siglavy Reba II
From: Emporia, Kansas
Ages: 77 & 26
Combined Age: 103
Test: Introductory Level Test A
Date: June 3, 2023

As I considered the journey that brought me to the Century Club ride, I realized that there were so many wonderful people who accompanied me at various stages of the process. First is the wonderful friend of my parents, Ethel Barrett. She convinced them that I really should have a horse, connected us to a marvelous horsewoman who had the perfect horse for me, and who became my first mentor. Mrs. Barrett also was the first person to acquaint me with the Spanish Riding School, with pictures from a trip and a book.

Evelyn Wellen, my first mentor, raised Thoroughbreds. I spent all my free time at her farm from the time I was 14 until I graduated from high school. We went to local all-around shows with two-year-olds, did bigger hunter shows, prepared horses for eventing, trail rode through the mountains, went foxhunting, and did all the care and barn work. The summer we schooled a horse to go to a national eventing championship, I learned a lot about dressage.

After college, my husband and I moved to Kansas, and then Kansas City. I had a nice young mare I started to event. As I learned more about local resources, I took her to Lincoln, Nebraska, to ride with a man named Lowell Boomer! I returned several times in the next few years. I also built a teaching and training business in Kansas City, doing hunters, jumpers, eventing, and dressage. Clinics with Karl Milolka continued.

Twenty-seven years ago, I went to Arkansas and came home with a truckload of Lipizzans. Siglavy Reba II, my wonderful partner for the Century Club ride, was born on our farm 10 months later. He competed with me as a young horse, and then family responsibilities curtailed our show career. He went back to work with his usual marvelous attitude for six weeks to prepare for our ride, and I think he really enjoyed his outing. Many of my former students came to support us for the ride, and George, as he is called in the barn, was glad to see them!

The opportunity to do this ride was one of the most fun events in my career. Thanks to The Dressage Foundation!