USDF is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! In November & December, we are shining the spotlight on riders who have also reached this milestone. Follow along all through November and December for inspiring and heartwarming stories of trials and triumphs, and fabulous photo galleries!
Here, a USDF Region 2 rider shares the story of her homebred Thoroughbred gelding, with whom she and her granddaughter competed together.
By Lynne Schramer-Miller
This is a story about my amazing, crazy, and sometimes very disobedient gelding who has been my partner for all his life. Many have helped us over the years, but this story is about Logan’s journey.
Logan Motion, or Logan, is a 22-year-old Thoroughbred gelding. He was never easy, and he kept me on my toes with never a dull moment and never knowing quite what to expect. He has had his ups and downs with soundness, but nothing we could not solve. Logan never wore shoes and was shown from Introductory Level to Prix St. Georges by my granddaughter and me. I shed many tears and suffered many bruises, but I never thought of having another horse. When we are together, this beautiful, sensitive Thoroughbred lights up my life.
I graduated with my science degree from the University of Florida and rewarded myself by purchasing Logan’s dam, Locomotion. I bred her to a Thoroughbred stallion. Locomotion was in foal when I moved back to Wisconsin, and she foaled Logan in 2001. When Logan was weaned, I sold his dam to a friend.
After he was weaned, I nearly lost him to strangles. When he was three, I decided to take him to a barn with an indoor arena, as there was no place to ride where he was. After only two days there, he was so naughty that I was told to come and get him. So back to Tracy, my daughter, he went.
My husband and I purchased some property and put up a barn with a small indoor. Riding went well until one day, Logan spooked, and I went flying. He was like sitting on a fence post, as I could do little except try to stay on. We had our ups and downs for a while, and then we spent the next two years trying to get his right lead.
When he was five, I took him to a schooling show. I managed to stay in the ring and stay on him as we tried to do a Training Level test. After a few schooling shows, it started to get better. The next year, we held a schooling show at our barn, and my granddaughter, Vanessa, started to show him. When she graduated from high school, she spent a year and a half in Florida as a working student for dressage Olympian Michael Poulin, and she took Logan with her. When she returned, she showed him at USDF-recognized competitions as a Junior, and together they earned her USDF Bronze Medal. Then she started her family, and I decided to show Logan again.
We started at Third Level with much difficulty but earned our Master’s Challenge Award at the Third Level. We stayed at Third Level for two more years. During this time, Logan suffered from many physical problems. He developed a sore back from a poorly fitted saddle, so we properly fitted him to a newly purchased saddle. We then discovered Logan had arthritis, so we changed his diet and put him on the proper supplements to manage his condition, and he did better. I also had problems with arthritis. Later, we found out he had Lymes disease and was treated.
We moved up to Fourth Level the next year and earned our Master’s Challenge Award, plus the scores needed to progress to Prix St. Georges.
That fall, I got a new saddle, which helped my riding, and Logan liked it, too. Last winter, his Lymes disease flared up, and he had to go back on medication. I also treated him for gastric ulcers over the winter.
Logan did not shed out normally this spring, so he was tested for both Cushing’s and Lymes disease again. His Lymes disease numbers were low, but the test for Cushing’s disease showed higher than normal numbers. So again, we changed his diet by adding different supplements, had him shaved, and continued to work, finally earning the scores needed for my FEI Master’s Challenge Award while also completing a Century Ride.
It has been a struggle, and a different type of horse probably would have gotten me much further, but I have enjoyed every challenge with Logan Motion. Hopefully, we can get our last two rides for my USDF Silver Medal, but if not, it has been a fun journey regardless.
