Team #691 Sarah Asby and Imnaha

Photo by Mary Cornelius

Team #691: Sarah Asby and Imnaha
From: Lake Oswego, Oregon
Ages: 81 & 19
Combined Age: 100
Test: Training Level Test 1
Date: September 8, 2023

On a sunny Oregon Friday in September, I rode my horse Imnaha (AKA Immy) down the centerline and completed a Century Club ride on her. This was a special ride because I bred and have raised her since she was born. Imnaha is out of a well-known Oldenburg stallion in the northwest named Ideal. To get the breeding, I worked two and half years at the barn where he lived, mostly feeding horses at night, to earn the equivalent of the stud fee. To be able to do my Century Club ride on her 20 years after I finished tossing hay was something I never thought of at the time. 

Immy had a past career as a hunter/jumper. She has competed in open jumper shows as a jumper, as well as a hunter in Arabian breed shows. Only recently has she been transitioned to competing in dressage. The Century Club ride was her sixth time being shown in a dressage court and she adjusted fine. One career highlight that I had riding her was at the Arabian Horse Association Sporthorse National Show in Nampa, Idaho, several years ago when we were reserve champions in the Amateur Half-Arabian Hunter Hack championship class. 

I feel very fortunate to still be able to ride Immy and my other horse. Six years ago, I had open heart surgery to correct a defective mitral valve. The repair gave me renewed stamina and I like to joke that the repair took five years off my life. 

I would like to thank the Oregon Dressage Society for making my Century Club ride extra special for me. Also, Bill Burke for his insightful coaching and encouragement. And of course, my family for allowing me to spend so much time at the “barn.”