92 SIDELINES APRIL 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
lining, balls thrown to the kids on her back and, for a short while,
teaching able bodied children to ride. But Fish soon got bored with
that. She perfected the jog-trot runaway – carefully staying under
the child on her back while paying no attention to any commands
from either the child or those on the ground. Her first step toward
sainthood was the care she took of the children she was not
listening to.
Unfortunately Fish did not last as a therapy horse, so I acquired
her as a second horse, at first thinking I would turn her into a
beginner novice event horse to sell. But, here we are 22 years later
and she has become the horse of my heart. We evented together
for years, going to Virginia for the
Chronicle of the Horse
team
championships, and having fun and winning ribbons throughout
Area 1 (New England and New York). Fish loved eventing, and
she still tries to lull me into inattention in our trips into the back
field – waiting until she thinks she can sneak in a giant buck and
begin galloping wildly before I notice. Fish likes dressage – she
loves to show off and look beautiful, but running and jumping is
where her heart is. In dressage she tries hard, offers what she
thinks I am asking for, and then teaches me how to ask properly.
She never says no.
We are doing wonderful, we are still together, and our ages add
up to 100. Neither of us have any thoughts of retiring. It is amazing
and delightful and has happened only with the help and love of
friends, trainers, vets, and many others generous enough to share
their experience and knowledge. Fish is a saint and a healer and I
am so blessed to have shared the last 22 years with her.
On September 29, 2013, Kate and Fish became the first Century
Club Team from Rhode Island.
About the writer: Kate Champa has a Master’s Degree in Art History from Harvard
and is currently a practicing ceramic artist. She has three adult children and three
grandchildren living all over the world -- Doha, Qatar; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and
Brooklyn, New York. Kate is looking forward to another Century Ride in seven years
with Georgia O’Keeffe, a Thoroughbred cross whom she bred and has currently
trained to 2nd Level. Fish is very happy to teach her grandsons to ride whenever
they come to visit.
e
Never Too Old
By Kate Champa
I began riding at the age of eight when I
attended
boarding school at Chatham Hall in Virginia.
Chatham Hall had two very essential
things for
me: horses and riding! I competed (and won
occasionally) in the hunter/jumper world
as a
teenager and I even qualified for the Medal
Maclay Championship at the National Horse Show one year, but
I unfortunately I could not go because of school. When I grew up
we rode more on “outside courses.” I guess this may be why I
ended up as an event rider all these years later.
I met Fish when she was five. An unbacked registered Arabian
filly, she had been donated to Greenlock Therapeutic Riding
where I worked. She was pinkish grey in color (hence the name
Starfish) and she was very cooperative but clueless, as was I. It
was my job to turn her into a therapy horse. We went through the
usual, and some not so usual, backing protocols. A friend said, “To
get her used to the leg, tie some lightweight tires to the stirrups
when lunging.” That resulted in a long walk for me down the local
road to find her after she bolted. Thankfully she lost both tires. We
survived that incident and slowly we both began to learn more.
Fish had a successful career as a therapy horse, sweetly
nuzzling the small children and tolerating activities such as: long
Kate and Starfish
Photo by Amanda Sylvia Photography
Kate and Starfish eventing.
Photo by Brant Gamma
The Dressage Foundation’s Century Club is a program designed to honor senior dressage riders and their senior horses. To become a member the
ages of the horse and rider must add up to at least 100 years and they must ride any level dressage test before a judge or dressage professional.
For more information on the Dressage Foundation, please visit
.
The
Horse of
My
Heart
