48 SIDELINES AUGUST 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Katharine Knauz
What does it mean to be a success?
Do you have to win trophies, titles or
prize money? Does it mean recognition
on a national or international stage? To
take a truly inspirational glimpse into
what success means, we look no further
than Beth Perkins, recent competitor at
the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in
Lexington, Kentucky, and a superstar in
her own right.
Beth is no stranger to the top levels of
competition. She earned her Pinque coat
when she was 18-years-old during the
1974 World Games in England, placing
sixth individually. In 1975, she placed fifth
individually at the Pan American Games.
Even before competing internationally,
Beth was reaching impressive goals in the
horse world. At 16, she earned her Pony
Club A-Rating, making her one of the
youngest A-Rated Pony Club members in
U.S. history.
On top of all of these professional
achievements, Beth fought breast cancer
in 2000 and came out on top. Instead
of letting the disease bring her down,
Beth created the Beth Perkins Equestrian Foundation to help
equestrians and their families suffering from physical and financial
hardships. Now, at 57 years young, Beth tackled the Kentucky
Rolex, a four-star event, for the second year in a row with her
equine partner, Sal Dali.
Sal and Beth’s partnership started eight years ago when Cynthia
Barclay, Sal’s owner, attended a clinic that Beth was teaching.
Beth had ridden Sal’s full brother, Don’t Dali, to the upper levels,
so Cynthia knew Beth would be the perfect rider to take her horse
to his full potential. From there, the off-the-track-Thoroughbred
and Beth started their eventing career together.
As a team, Beth and Cynthia
work hard to contribute to the
expenses of keeping Sal in peak
health and training condition at
Beth’s barn, Hobby Horse Farm,
near Tryon, North Carolina. When
Beth and Sal decided to head to
Kentucky for the Rolex, the local
community and businesses were
eager to help contribute to their
hometown team.
Moxie Equestrian, Tryon House
and Still Creek Farm, businesses
in the Tryon area, stepped up to
help Beth and Sal. Tryon House is
a local business and the keeper of
the equine symbol of Tryon, Morris
the black and white toy horse on
wheels. A life-sized Morris serves
as a billboard for equine events
happening around town and a
symbol for the entire Tryon equine
community. In support of Beth and
Sal, Moxie Equestrian and Tryon
House embroidered Morris onto
Beth’s saddle pads and coolers, so
that the two could carry the spirit
of the Tryon community with them
around Rolex.
Still Creek Farm, where Beth received instructions from Holli
Adams for her stadium jumping, contributed to the team as well.
Beth commented that the community support gave her a “good
feeling, like having back up,” and a “warm and fuzzy” feeling
during competition. Beth knew that she had quite a team at home
rooting for her.
At Rolex, Beth and Sal’s trip around the cross-country course
resulted in no jumping penalties and 19.2 time faults, a testament
to Beth’s experience as a rider and Sal’s ability as a jumper. On
her time faults, Beth laughed, “I could have let him go faster, but I
wasn’t sure that I would be able to rein
him in again!”
One of Beth’s biggest assets going
into competitions is the fact that
she has been a competitor at the
international level since she was a
teenager. She said she can now focus
her attention on her horse and can,
“be serious without being too serious.”
When asked what her “win-all, end-
all” achievement would be, Beth said
as long as she can keep learning and
improving and as long as it still makes
sense she will keep riding. As for Sal,
she says that good event horses just
want to keep going, especially ones
that love cross-country as much as
Sal. For now, Sal is on a well-deserved
vacation with full turnout at Beth’s farm.
Are they looking at Rolex next year? Of
course!
Beth and Sal Dali with their Morris-themed tack for
Rolex.
Photo by Nathan Stancliff
e
Eventing
Beth Perkins: It Takes AVillage
Beth and the River Valley Pony Club after a Q&A session about her trip to Rolex.
Photo by Nathan Stancliff
