Valerie Clairmont and Presley (NH)
Team #945: Valerie Clairmont and Presley
From: Loudon, New Hampshire
Ages: 74 & 26
Combined Ages: 100
Test: Training Level Test 3
I’m just another lifelong horsey girl. As a little girl, I dreamed of having my own horse. I played with models, watched the horses in the fields driving by until they disappeared from view, and wondered what magical creatures were attached to the tails hanging out of the back of the horse trailer ahead of me. I got my own horse when I was 15 and had my first professional instruction when I was 19. I have ridden recreationally and in competitions and have gained the best friends of my life in the horse community. The horses I have ridden were young, middle-aged, old, green, school masters, dragons, and unicorns. But they have all taught me something and touched my soul.
Presley is one of those unicorns. He spent the first three years of his life on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. He came to New Hampshire to become another “horsey girl’s” heart horse. She and he grew together and competed in eventing and dressage through Second Level. In his teens, Presley began teaching others to ride, becoming a lesson horse because he is kind and talented. He and I became partners after both my hips required replacement last year. I needed a safe, comfortable horse to return to riding with, and that is Presley. My Century Club ride is to celebrate all those in the horse community, both two and four-legged, who have enriched my life.
