Team #779 Gretchen Stearns and Johnny
Team #779: Gretchen Stearns and Johnny
From: Claverack, New York
Ages: 79 & 22
Combined Age: 101
Test: Third Level Test 3
When I was five years old, I rode a horse for the first time. I was in heaven. By age 12, I had competed as a Pony Club “B” rider, show jumped, and fox hunted on borrowed horses. Then I was given a big Thoroughbred timber racer with whom I did two summers in Vermont at a camp and three-day events. (Denny Emerson was a fellow camper. Such a nice guy.)
I left horses behind when I went to college, then medical school, training, teaching, practicing, and having my children. When my daughter turned five, she wanted to ride, so I was drawn back. Within five years, we had three horses in our front yard pastures, and I couldn’t believe I had ever given it up!
As the field of medicine became a job instead of a profession, I decided to retire early. I eventually gave up jumping and have done dressage (a never-ending process) for the last twenty years or so. The best drug for the heart, mind, and soul!
I earned my USDF bronze medal and then stopped showing. I have had many horses who have been great teachers, and I have been lucky to have many good coaches, but Emily Wyman at Apple Hill Dressage is the best: patient, demanding but encouraging. Once again, I was blessed with a borrowed horse, owned by Giulia Cohen, with whom to do my Century Club ride!
I am so grateful to have lived this long and still be able to ride several days a week.
