Team #855 Sally Truss and Khalage
Team #855: Sally Truss and Khalage
From: Camden, South Carolina
Ages: 74 & 27
Combined Age: 101
Test: Training Level Test 2
What an opportunity! Thanks to all who make this possible
It has always been about the horses, the life lessons they taught me, and the kindness I have tried to show in return.
My first pony, Dusky, (bought with the proceeds of orphan pigs I fed and sold) I raised, broke, and trained. In rural Nebraska I rode him daily to the local two room school. Later, after moving to Texas, my home-grown pony took me to the show ring as a hunter, and speedy jumper. When age permitted, influenced by Walt Disney, and “The Horsemasters,” I attened riding school in England at Porlock Vale. I returned to Dallas Fort Worth in 1969 to start my lesson and boarding business, which thrived into the eighties. A later stint in Western Canada, affored me the opportunity to compete successfully on my horses at Spruce Meadows, a great experience.
I moved to South Carolina in ‘86 and campaigned my homegrown and rescue horses from Florida to New York. I managed to qualify all three for the Adult Jumper League Finals at Harrisburg and Washington.
South Carolina is home, the home bred and “throw away” horses still provide daily rewards. I actively fox hunt both sidesaddle and astride, enjoy the challenge of pounding a polo ball around the pasture, and constantly work on finding what the various horses excel at. This appears to be my destiny, as I say, “I will never be good enough to quit.”
The Arabian gelding I rode for my Century Club ride came to me old, unhappy, and resistant. He blossomed into a joyful character, who has more than rewared me for the slow time spent changing his outlook on life and people.
Never ever “write off” the old horses and old riders – there is a wealth of joy and talent in the “unlikely and the unwanted.”
