A Mutual Love Of Horses Brings The Dutta Family Together Story and Photos By Julie Unger
The Dutta family is well-known in the equestrian world. Susan Dutta — most know her as Susie — is an international dressage rider, while her husband Tim and son Timmy both play polo. “We’re a family that is truly all about horses — and all about each other,” Susie said. While the family business is transporting horses through the Dutta Corp., working with horses is a passion for the family. “I’m not only a rider, but a mother and a wife. That’s also really important to me. I love my family. I love my horses. It’s not a business for me. It’s 100 percent a high-end hobby that I am really passionate about,” Susie said. “I love the sport and competing. I love the horse show. I get up in the morning to go to the barn to get ready to go to shows. I really enjoy that. I love the day-to-day stuff. I’m still a girl who loves horses. You can’t lose that. You have to love to give them treats. You have to love to play with them.” Her love affair with riding began at a young age. “I started my dressage with my first pony. I was around other event riders, and I would lengthen my stirrups and pretend I was doing their dressage part, which was part of eventing,” Susie recalled. “I was first an event rider. I rode up to the advanced level. When I was finished with young riders, I realized 50
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that I needed to find something in the equestrian sports that I knew I could carry on with, but I wasn’t going to be a top, top event rider. I switched to dressage when I was 21. I did my first Grand Prix, I think, when I was 24, so I’ve been doing it a long time.” Though dressage is typically explained to non-equestrians as “ballet on horseback,” Susie explains dressage as more like working with horses that dance. “You have an extremely fine-tuned, trained animal,” she said. “Using small aids with your body, you train them to do all sorts of different movements. It’s taking training a horse to the ultimate level.” Her hard work and dedication has paid off. Currency DC, Susie’s primary Grand Prix horse, has traveled and competed around the world. As he gets older, she is looking to bring two of her other horses into higher-level competition — Figeac DC and Dimacci DC. Some of Susie’s competitive goals this year are (Right) Timmy Dutta with Prada, Susie Dutta with Figeac DC and Tim Dutta with Nero. Prada and Nero are the family’s French bulldogs.