(“The horse in question was 34”)
The Dressage Foundation created the Century Club in 1996. To be a member the horse and rider competing in a dressage test (any level) in front of a recognized judge must total 100 or more years combing the age of the rider and the horse. To date
196 Century Rides have been performed.
I have had the pleasure to be sitting at C for two of them. A few years ago I presided over a ride that might have had some marginal qualities, but gosh darn it, they were out there doing it. The horse in question was 34 and had in her career birthed 19 foals. At that, making a Training Level ride was small potatoes! At its conclusion the show stopped, photos were taken, and the ribbon sent all the way from Lexington, KY, was presented. I did a bit of photoshopping to the commemorative picture, but the USDF Connection decided not to print it. [I would add that the rider to whom I sent the photo was thoroughly amused and was just happy with her achievement.]
More recently I judged another Century Ride—this one a First Level freestyle. The rider was 84 years old. Ten years previously I was sitting at C when the rude horse she was showing deposited her on the ground and broke her back! If you want to talk tenacity, this lady is your role model. Undeterred, ten years later she was back at it and achieved her goal!
Looking over the Dressage Foundation’s records, the highest total age of a Century combination thus far has been 113 years. The horse was 36!
I am now at that tender age when I am contemplating joining the club. But I am still spry enough (said with tongue in cheek) that I would be unwilling to do it at Intro or Training Level or at a schooling show. I’ve had a partner in mind but he’s even stiffer than I am. He may deserve the carrots and the apples but not the stress of competing anymore. Nonetheless, I find myself in my dotage doing the math from time to time. 68 years old, I’ll need a 32 year old companion. 70 years old, he’ll have to be only 30.
Any way you slice it, he had better be kind!