Gloria Beduhn and Handyman (TX)
Team #936: Gloria Beduhn and Handyman
From: Sadler, Texas
Ages: 80 & 21
Combined Ages: 101
Test: Training Level Test 1
This was my third Century Club ride. It’s hard to believe that Handy is 21 and I’m 80! Handy has been with me for 14 years and, all that time, he has been my most dependable riding horse.
Looking at Handy placidly grazing in the field or dozing in his stall, you would never believe that he was once a wild stallion running free on the Nevada desert. Now I believe he would never give up his summer fan, his winter blanket, and his twice-a-day meals to be back out in that desert. However, he does have to put up with being ridden several times a week.
Handyman came to live with me in 2011, a little more than a year after he had been shown at the 2009 Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Worth. The young man who trained him and rode him at the Makeover told me he placed well in all the preliminary competitions, but that he (the human) froze upon entering the arena with several thousand spectators in the stands. So they didn’t place in the top ten, and Handy didn’t get auctioned off at the event. Instead, he (the horse) came home and sat in the pasture until his owner needed money, and I had some.
It wasn’t a hard decision to show Handy in a Century Club ride. It has been years since I’ve shown, and several minor medical conditions had sapped my confidence. Having a horse like Handy kept me in the saddle and helped me get reasonably fit and confident again. It was my goal to ride Training Level Test 1 in The Dressage Foundation Century Club ride, and that kept me going. Many thanks to that organization for remembering us long-time riders and rewarding our efforts by sponsoring these rides.
