Lynda Palmer - 2022 Gifted Memorial Fund for Adult Amateurs Grant Recipient

Photo by Terri Miller

I was awarded $1,500 from TDF’s Gifted Memorial Fund for Adult Amateurs in 2022. I used it to take lessons with Sarah Lockman Tubman. I was so lucky to have not only gotten the grant but to be able to train with Sarah before she moved full-time to Florida. Sarah’s training helped me accomplish an item on my dressage bucket list, to have the courage to show my 4th Level freestyle in front of over 100 people at the “Red, White, and Blue Musical Freestyle” at Flintridge.  

Thanks to my training with Sarah in 2022, I qualified for and competed with my 4th Level freestyle at the 2022 California Dressage Society and USDF Region 7 Championships with scores in the high 60s. I felt confident I would not embarrass myself in front of an audience. I signed up to compete at the “Red, White, and Blue Musical Freestyle” at Flintridge Dressage in May 2023. This was a dinner event with the freestyles as the entertainment. My friends and I have enjoyed watching this competition many times and have even dragged our husbands for a “date night.” I have always dreamed of being a competitor and finally, I felt confident enough to do it.   

It was such a memorable experience. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous. I was first to go and before me was Traveler, the Trojan horse from USC, galloping around the arena with the rider holding a giant American flag and the national anthem blasting over the speakers. My horse, Kiki, was a little excited but once we went in and our music started, we got in the grove. We were having a great round. One of my last movements was a collected canter, then extended canter across the diagonal from H to F. This was one of our signature moves and the music matches the move perfectly. I came around the corner and Kiki exploded into an extended canter right at the music crescendo. 

The audience was so pleased that they started whooping and applauding. I was so focused on what I was doing, I did not hear them. But Kiki did. All of a sudden, her head was between her knees and she busted out her own moves, just as we were coming to F and needed to do a flying change. That made the audience laugh and clap louder. The good news is that I stayed on and recovered, but I did get a little discombobulated at the end. My ride was not perfect, but it was so memorable. I can’t help but smile every time I think about it. I think Kiki had as much fun as I did. That experience will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life.