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Impossible to miss on the cross-country in bright orange, Sharon White, of Summit Point, WV, continues to be one of the most upbeat and cheerful humans on the face of the earth. Nothing seems to dampen her spirits: she can and will fnd several reasons for joy when rain pours on her parade. She’s incredibly optimistic about life in general, even after last year’s extremely high highs and low lows. “That pretty much sums it up,” admits Sharon, laughing. “But I feel like I had a great year. I fulflled the goal of going and competing in England and that was just amazing. I feel like I learned so much.”

She spent six weeks with Rafferty’s Rules (aka Reggie) at the training yard of Angela and Michael Tucker to prepare for the Blenheim International CCI***. Her enthusiasm for the experience leaves no doubt whatsoever that it was well worth the expense.

The words tumble out of her: “It was phenomenal, the sport is amazing there – there are so many good horses, so many great riders, and Blenheim is such a great event. I feel like we have all that here, we just don’t have the depth like over there. You can go watch 200 horses in an Advanced division and there’s not one that you don’t want to watch. That was really cool.”

Then she describes what happened after she returned to Last Frontier Farm (barn colors are bright orange and blue) and her state-side eventing and teaching life.

“Life is funny sometimes, because I really came back feeling completely inspired and I didn’t know that I needed to be inspired,” explains Sharon. “It was just really cool over there. Then – in the odd way that things work – the frst three-day I go to when I get home, my horse fips over on me and breaks my pelvis. What are you going to do?” She recalls how well Russian Roulette was doing in his frst CCI** at Fair Hill International last October (Elkton, MD.) They stood third after dressage, and she fgured she could pull up if the championship two-star cross-country proved too much.

“But he was being really super and it was just a freak thing that happened, that’s all,” says Sharon. “He didn’t see the jump. He literally ran into it and fipped over. I never

left the saddle. I’m not at all put off by it. I can’t wait to start riding again.”

Sharon isn’t off her rocker. She’s merely sharing a few of the facts of life for a full-time professional upper level eventer whose mission is partnership with a half-ton or so of ft equine athlete.

“I love what I do, period. I love riding horses; I love watching horses. I wouldn’t want to do anything else,” admits Sharon. “To go over to England, when I already felt inspired, but to feel even more inspired by the quality, the level and the depth of horsemanship and riding, it was just cool. I was thinking, gosh, we could turn Morven Park (Leesburg, VA) into something really special. “You know, just wanting our sport here in the States to be as well thought of as it is in England,” Sharon adds. “It’s a lifestyle over there. Everybody’s got a horse, so it’s part of history and life. I walked around Badminton while I was there and thought that the estate of Morven Park is equally as beautiful and the advanced cross-country is one of the best. It was cool to think of the possibilities of getting a group together and turning Morven Park into more of a Badminton event.”

By the time you read this, Sharon will know if she can park her wheelchair and start walking. She’s already working out with a personal trainer three days a week. She’s champing at the bit to get back in the saddle and compete.

“I’d love to take Rafferty’s Rules to do Rolex. I don’t know if that’s a possibility or not yet – I’ll play that by ear,” says Sharon. “He’s qualifed. It just depends on what my riding ability is. If for some reason I can’t do Rolex, I’d like to take him to Burghley.”

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