Team #685 Kathy Stoddard and Marumba
Team #685: Kathy Stoddard and Marumba
From: Glenmont, New York
Ages: 79 & 21
Combined Age: 100
Test: First Level Test 1
Date: August 20, 2023
We did it, and it was so much FUN! My equine partner, Marumba, and I reached the combined magic number of 100 years and completed our Century Club Ride in August 2023. We each came to the dressage discipline after various experiences in the “wonderful world of the horse.”
Marumba was foaled in New York at a local Thoroughbred farm and went to the Saratoga Yearling Sales to be sold as a potential racehorse. He was purchased and sent off with a race trainer. However relatively early on Marumba decided this was not going to be his career path. Fortunately, his owner kindly decided to retain ownership and brought Marumba back to New York to begin new training toward becoming a show ring hunter/jumper mount.
I began taking weekly riding lessons at age nine at the Boulder Brook Club in Westchester, New York. My early childhood “love of horses” has stayed with me ever since. Over the years I competed as a junior and an amateur in the equitation and hunter divisions. I started horse how judging in the 1980s and eventually became a USEF “R” rated judge in equitation and hunters. I judged for almost thirty years before retiring my license.
When my daughter was a young rider, I was involved as a District Commissioner for her Pony Club in Michigan. While in Michigan I attended the Cheff Center to learn about therapeutic horseback riding and I became certified to teach by NARAH (now known as PATH) and subsequently helped to start a therapeutic program that is still operating now some forty years later on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Additionally, I have enjoyed foxhunting with several recognized hunts across the country. Marumba and I happily went out together on Opening Day a few years ago. I even had an exceptional opportunity to take a trip to Ireland to test my bravery with those crazy Irish foxhunting lads. “Jump it or stay behind and get lost!!”
Marumba and I each have been beneficiaries of many positive and enjoyable experiences. Although I do not own Marumba I have been fortunate to ride him when my own horse was unavailable. Marumba has had excellent care throughout his life by some very special and caring people. He continues to be a generous and patient partner for me and riders at Larkin Hill, owned by Margaret Hutchison.
Many thanks to The Dressage Foundation for hosting the Century Club as a goal and an opportunity to celebrate senior horses and riders. Indeed, it has been fun and heartwarming to have so much support from family and friends.
