Adult amateurs, it’s your time to shine! We are featuring all things adult amateur throughout the month of April.
Dressage riders who are designated as an adult amateur with USEF are eligible for amateur-exclusive year-end award divisions, including Master’s Challenge, Vintage Cup, Adequan®/USDF Adult Amateur Awards, All-Breeds Awards, and more!
An adult amateur credits the leased horses of her past for preparing her to ride her heart horse down the centerline of champions.
By Mary Galle
From the time I was 12 years old, I was a lessee. Having leased eight horses over the course of twenty years, I learned a great deal from each one and loved them all.
When it came to riding, it was a leased horse who took me down centerline for my first test at every level, from Training through Intermediate I; a leased horse who gave me my first flying change, lines of tempis, half passes, and pirouettes; a leased horse who helped me earn my USDF Bronze and Silver Medals, and another danced with me for a Silver Freestyle Bar.
When it came to life, it was a leased horse who helped me decide to become a veterinarian, a leased horse that gave me a neck to cry into after my father’s passing, and a leased horse who helped me redefine my relationship with horses – and, in many ways, my identity – when I made the incredibly difficult decision to transition from equine veterinary medicine to small animal practice.
Although I knew they were always borrowed and never mine to keep, my life felt full because of them. Of course, opportunities to purchase my own horse would pop up, but they never materialized; the match wasn’t right, the timing wasn’t right, or both. And that was okay with me. I knew I wanted to own a horse eventually, but I was learning so much from the horses that people shared with me.
One day, my trainer, Heather, approached me about a few sales horses she had recently acquired. She suggested I start considering what comes after the horse I was leasing at the time returned to his owner. I laughed, thinking this was another one of those situations that would end up the same as it always did. I told her I would meet the sales horses if she wanted me to, but it was unlikely to end in a purchase agreement.
This is how I found myself on a cold March day in Minnesota, armed with a cookie for each horse, and walking to the end of a quiet barn aisle. I entered each horse’s stall and jokingly asked, “Are you my horse?” I gave them their cookies, offered pets, admired each of them, and whispered that they would soon make someone very happy, then saw myself out.
And then I entered Benny’s stall.
Staring out of his frosted window, he turned toward me when I asked him the same question I had asked the others. He gave me a soft nuzzle with his nose and stood quietly, taking me in with his eyes just inches from mine. Something magical shifted in the silence, as I watched our individual breaths meet and swirl together in the light coming through the window. As I stepped out of his stall, completely speechless and feeling a little like the wind had been knocked out of me, I latched his door, knowing Benny had answered “yes.”
One week later, I rode him for the first time. At the end of the lesson, Heather asked me what I thought – and when I wanted to schedule rides on the other horses. I told her we didn’t need to schedule anything else. I had found my horse. She smirked, as if she had known all along, and told me she would send over the purchase agreement.
That first show season, in 2024, was Benny’s first show season ever, and the first time I got to go down centerline with MY horse. As we completed our final halt and salute in that first test, reality hit me all at once. The emotion was overwhelming. I left that arena with tears in my eyes, and our assistant trainer, Kjirsten, met me at the gate, asking what was wrong.
“It’s just that… he’s mine, you know?” I said.
She paused for a moment, then smiled in recognition, patting Benny’s neck. “Yeah,” she said. “I do know.”
That season was about growth. Benny gained valuable experience in larger show environments, and our bond became stronger. My Salden Training teammates quickly picked up on a phrase I used often when talking about him, and it became a running joke: any mention of Benny would inevitably be followed by a chorus of, “I JUST LOVE HIM SO MUCH!”
For the 2025 season, I had my sights set on competing at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® for the first time. At the Great American/USDF Region 4 Championships in St. Louis, Benny rose to the occasion, and together, we earned our ticket to Finals at First and Second Levels, as well as both Freestyles.
From the moment we set foot on the World Equestrian Center property, a sense of calm settled over me. Simply being there felt like an accomplishment in itself. Of course, I wanted us to perform well, but more than anything, it felt like it was an opportunity to showcase our partnership.
Benny exceeded my every expectation. In only his second show season, he handled the atmosphere of a massive indoor venue with confidence and composure, bringing home ribbons in every class, including a Reserve Champion sash in the Second Level Adult Amateur Freestyle Championship.
One of my favorite moments came outside of the arena, though. During a break, Heather was scrolling through her phone when she paused and looked at me with raised eyebrows, then turned the screen to me. It was a post from USDF’s official social media page congratulating the competitors, including a striking photo of Benny with a ribbon around his neck – and a rider who looked equal parts joyful, exhausted, and completely content. Then I realized that the rider was me, and yet again, came the tears.
My journey with horses has always been a practice in patience and trusting the process. Time and time again, horses have taught me to listen, to stay present, and to accept their guidance on the path ahead. Looking back, I feel like the right horses always found me, each one offering to teach the lessons I needed to learn before I could move forward. This process has brought me so much joy, and it’s tempting to sit here and give all of the credit for that happiness to Benny. But the story wouldn’t be accurately told if I did.
Because in the end, it was the leased horses who prepared me for my heart horse.
