FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2014 23
of her own in the pipeline most of the time. Occasional off-farm
lessons and clinics round out her portfolio.
In 2013, Judy had three students compete at the National
Dressage Finals: Carolyn Kotila with Leonardo, Adult
Amateur Grand Prix; Chris Graye with Samurei, Adult Amateur
Intermediaire-2; and Barbara Butman with Falkland Dragonfly,
Adult Amateur Intermediaire-2. Another student Nancy Bryant and
her horse Handsel were the 2013 Michigan Dressage Association
Champions at Third Level and debuted at Fourth Level.
Judy’s had success with the two horses so far that Jan has
helped her pick out. The first horse was Rakker, an imported
Dutch Warmblood gelding by Gribaldi (the sire of Moorland’s
Totilas) and out of a mare by Saros. She and Rakker showed
through grand prix and earned a number of USDF Region 2 Year-
End Championships at Intermediaire and Grand Prix and finished
in the top 12 nationally at Intermediaire in 2011 and the top nine in
2010. He is retired from competition now, but some of her students
ride him occasionally.
Her current FEI horse is a German Hanoverian mare named
Benise (by Breitling W, out of Rubina by Rubenstein I). In 2013,
she and Benise were USDF Region 1 Champions at Prix St.
Georges and seventh in the nation. They also competed at the
inaugural U.S. National Dressage Championships in Kentucky
where they won one Open Prix St. Georges class and finished fifth
in the other. Jan also helped her find her recently imported four-
year-old German Hanoverian mare Biscaya by Breitling W. She
purchased her sight unseen on Jan’s recommendation. Biscaya
came out of quarantine in late August 2013
Getting To Know Judy:
If you could interview anyone in the world who
would it be?
Jon Bon Jovi, only because I would love to sit in a chair
across from him. I told my husband, Sean, that I’d leave him
for Jon Bon Jovi. I like his music, but it’s mostly that he’s
gorgeous. That’s not anything new; Sean will laugh at that
one.
What is one of your biggest pet peeves?
When people leave the lights on in the barn.
What is your definition of happiness?
Be content in the moment. That’s what I’ve figured out as
I’ve gotten older.
Who are your biggest fans?
My parents, but they were two different people in the way
they showed it. Mom was a great mom, because she’d say
‘just do your best and we love you anyway.’ My mother also
used to kiss Maestro on the nose. I’d get all ready for my test
and she’d be helping me getting the boots and hat and so
on. She would have her pink or red lipstick on and she’d kiss
him. I’d be going down the centerline with this kiss spot on his
nose. I wouldn’t know until I got off. When you are 15 or 16
years old, you don’t want that kiss spot on your horse’s nose
in the show ring! Dad was the scoreboard watcher, so we
never had to check the scores. He would come back to the
barn and say either, ‘you got a great score and you won the
class’ or ‘you got this score and you were third.’ My husband
Sean is also my biggest supporter.
