Lynda Fox and Paladin (VA)
Team #1063: Lynda Fox and Paladin
From: Lexington, Virginia
Ages 79 & 21
Combined Age: 100
Test: Training Level Test 2
When I bought Paladin in 2012, I was already a little old lady: an intense, recently retired, small-animal veterinarian with very little riding experience. Paladin was a big, young, laid-back, Oldenburg gelding with a solid background in hunter/jumper and dressage skills. While our trainer gave us dressage lessons and took us to shows, Paladin gave me much appreciated tranquility lessons. We lived near the ocean in South Carolina, and our favorite thrill was to get out very early once a month and canter up and down the beach.
When we moved to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, we focused on jumping, and we loved cantering up hills at hunter pace events. Now we’re both old and somewhat arthritic, and content to leisurely walk the wooded trails surrounding our barn and to do a bit of trotting and cantering in the ring. I got a shiny new hip, and Paladin gets joint injections, so we’re able to keep going thanks to the marvels of modern medicine.
We aren’t nearly as supple as we used to be, but we did all right on our Century Club ride. Thanks to our trainer, Billie Rae Croll, we were able to do it at Paladin’s home arena. Paladin is the best equine partner I could hope for, and I always try to be the best possible human partner for him.
