Elaine Pava and Charlie (AL)
Team #1,004: Elaine Pava and Charlie
From: Birmingham, Alabama
Ages: 73 & 29
Combined Age: 102
Test: Training Level Test 1
My journey back into the equine world, after a 30-year hiatus, began with the untimely death of a friend. I was 67 years old and had often thought about riding again. I never did anything about it until his death jolted me out of the notion, I still had all the time in the world. I realized the clock was ticking! I went on a nose-to-tail trail ride at a local state park to see if I was still able to ride. To my surprise, it went fairly well. I signed up for lessons and have not looked back.
After riding at a couple of barns, I found my “home” at El Gezira and for the first time took lessons in dressage. I have been riding an older school horse, Charlie, whom I have come to love deeply. Sadly, our barn has been sold and will close at the end of the month, but my dressage instructor, Pam Ibrahim, generously gifted him to me. I had been thinking about Charlie and I doing a Century Club ride together since last summer, when the director of the therapeutic riding program where I volunteer, rode her test. Riding the test at the barn where I began learning about the discipline of dressage just felt right. It was a wonderful way to close that chapter and now Charlie and I are looking forward to new adventures!
