“She Taught Me That You Had to Work For It”
The best ponies teach you life lessons, and for Paralympic gold medalist and FEI World Championships competitor Rebecca Hart, Miss Rosanna did just that.
By Glenye Oakford
4 Minute Read
Paralympic dressage gold medalist and FEI Para Dressage World Championships rider Rebecca Hart was a self-described “barn rat” as a child, working in exchange for lessons at Hobby Horse Farm in Fairview, Pennsylvania, with trainer Ray Herhold. It was there that Hart first met Miss Roseanna, a strawberry roan lesson pony of unknown origin that became Hart’s favorite.
Miss Roseanna was “never malicious,” Hart remembers, but she could be strict, and that gave Hart a foundation in some important aspects of horse-handling and riding.
“She taught me many things!” Hart recalled. “She taught me how to avoid teeth and also how to fall off, how to tuck and roll. But she was one of the sweetest and kindest ponies out there, even though she taught you how to be proper around horses and to pay attention.
“I think she taught me some very important life lessons that people can really gain from horses."
Rebecca Hart
“If you were going to a jump and it wasn’t the right moment, she’d stop on you, like she was saying, ‘Sorry, but you put me in a bad spot, and you’ve got to help me here, too.’ You had to learn to sit up, look at your line, and figure out how many strides that was and where your take-off spot was. If you didn’t, you might be jumping that jump without her!”
But it wasn’t all tough love.
“There was a creek near the barn, and you’d go down this giant hill to get to what we called ‘the flats,’ which was basically a small creek that ran through Fairview,” Hart said. “We’d go splash around in the creek and then we’d go galloping up the hill. It was a grand time.
“I think she taught me some very important life lessons that people can really gain from horses. She taught me the value of hard work and that riding is a privilege and not a right. She taught me that you could have a ton of fun doing it, but you had to work for it.
Rebecca Hart and Roseanna at Hart’s first show, at Hobby Horse Farm in Pennsylvania. “I had my purple Troxel helmet and a green sport coat,” Hart recalled. “It was so much fun, because I had worked so hard to get there.”
“She taught me how to enjoy the serious side of horses by introducing me to the show world that I have grown to love, and I truly appreciate the sport and the people. But, at the same time, it’s OK to go splash through water puddles and have fun. It’s good to enjoy the horse and learn the character and personality that each individual horse has. She taught me to embrace that and enjoy them as partners. You don’t always have to be so strict. You can just enjoy the process of figuring out the communication and the language that is riding.”
These are concepts Hart, now a Paralympic gold medalist, still applies to her riding and training program.
“I brought those lessons that Miss Roseanna taught me into my career,” Hart said. “We always make sure that we take the horses on hacks down the road. We need them to enjoy their job and their sport just as much as we do. Miss Roseanna taught me that, and I didn’t even know that’s what I was learning until I looked back on it.”
Disclaimer: This story was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of Equestrian magazine. Images depicted here may include tack or equipment that are not permitted under current USEF rules.
Photos: Rebecca Hart