Team #753 Debra Tomajko and StoryTime
Team #753: Debra Tomajko and StoryTime
From: Branch Burg, New Jersey
Ages: 71 & 30
Combined Age: 101
Test: Third Level Test 1
I started riding in college at a dairy farm/riding school in New Jersey. I cleaned stalls in exchange for lessons. My first horse, Alexa, was off the track and very difficult to ride. Watching me get bucked off was Sunday afternoon entertainment, but she taught me to ride. I started as a hunter/jumper rider, but the late Hector Carmona inspired me to become a dressage rider.
I had always dreamed of riding the FEI levels and so as a senior citizen, I borrowed from my retirement and bought StoryTime aka Page.
Page gave meaning to the phrase “a woman with an attitude,” and I absolutely love her attitude. She may have lots of spice, but she has the biggest heart. She took me from First Level to the FEI.
We were the American Warmblood and ESDCTA Champions at Third and Fourth Level. We earned our USDF bronze medal and were one score short of the silver medal when COVID arrived.
When Page turned 25, the countdown to the Century Club ride started. As a nurse, my co-workers would ask if I was planning to retire. I laughed and said, “I can’t retire. I must keep Page in the lifestyle she has grown accustomed to living.” She gets massages, acupuncture and supplements galore.
I would not have been able to keep Page fit and healthy if not for my trainer Carolyn Laurent, Dr. Nicole Jochec, and her personal massage therapist Karin Quayle.
It was exciting to do the Century Club ride, but it was also a bittersweet day as it would be the last time I would take my partner and best friend of 18 years down centerline. Page has now earned a royal retirement.
