Team #723 Sherry DeVries Pawlenko and Playtime
Team #723: Sherry DeVries Pawlenko and Playtime
From: Durham, North Carolina
Ages: 67.5 & 32.5
Combined Age: 100
Test: Introductory Level Test B
Date: November 17, 2023
PLAYTIME and SHERRY – A LIFETIME OF LOVE
Twenty-six years ago, I was taking dressage lessons with Natalie P. Lamping, a fantastic trainer, teacher, and judge. I had finally paid off all my college school loans and thought I could get my own horse at last, after riding a variety of share-boards over the years. I didn’t have a lot of money but could stay on a horse fairly well so I thought I would get an off-track Thoroughbred (OTTB). Natalie said her brother Mykola had a horse he was selling. He was a pretty dark bay, seven-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, with good gaits, and on the HOT side! Natalie arranged for me to try him for a month. Playtime and I clicked. I could feel the anxiety he must have gained from his years on the track. He had 19 starts, which I learned of later when I got his Jockey Club papers, under the registered name “Jurassic Genes. Mykola had given him a great training restart when he rescued him from an off-track dealer at age five and with care and patience, he was a fun ride. I decided to go all in and buy Playtime! Well…. what started as long phone calls with Mykola before we got together to sign the purchase papers, then turned into him asking me out for a date! (I don’t know who was more handsome, Mykola or Playtime LOL). Long story short, I fell in love head over heels with horse and man! I continued lessons and training with both Natalie and Mykola and had fun showing Playtime. A couple of years later we married and moved to North Carolina for new jobs.
Over the last 26 years, Playtime has had his ups and downs with injuries and some health challenges in his golden years, but he has always been the sweetest horse with a heart of gold. At 32.5 years old, he still loves to go for walk-trot hacks every week, can still pop a “wheelie” on a windy day, and loved building back up for his Century Club ride. His cute ears were forward the whole way. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Natalie who flew in special to judge our ride, and Mykola, my dear husband who has also been Playtime’s farrier and kept him sound all these years. Many thanks also to the Suffern and Larsen families of Hope Farm at Cedar Fork Creek for their wonderful boarding care of Playtime these past 21 years. Thanks also to Neuse River Equine and vets Drs. Bob and Jim Meyer for all their great care, and to SmartPak and Equioxx that have helped keep Playtime going as he grew older.
Playtime and I are so honored and over the moon to have accomplished our Century Club ride! Thank you to The Dressage Foundation for recognizing the special gifts that older horses bring to our lives.
