END OF THE ROAD: Final salute by Rita Dunn and her sport pony D Grande Finale, clinching the USDF gold medal
It’s Never Too Late The inspiring journey of the oldest USDF gold medalist
ita Dunn, of Knoxville, TN, made history when she accepted her gold medal at the 2016 USDF convention in St. Louis in December. At 73, she’s the oldest recipient of the Federation’s highest rider achievement award. The gold medal was the culmination of a 12-year quest for Dunn and her Welsh Cob/German Riding Pony gelding, D Grande Finale. Along the way, she’s survived breast cancer and underwent knee surgery. “Finale” fractured a splint bone and was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease. On top of that, Dunn hates showing and fights show nerves at every competition. With all of that, many riders would have hung up their tack and retreated to the sidelines. But Dunn says the lure of dressage inspired her and kept her going. “It’s fascinating, learning the movements and feeling something done really well. To feel a perfect pirouette or changes—it’s just cool,” she says.
30 March 2017 • USDF CONNECTION
The Army Way Like many little girls, Dunn was horse-crazy, although horses were not part of her life. She begged for riding lessons, but her mother did not like that idea. She took piano lessons instead. When she was five years old, she wrote “I want to be a horse trainer when I grow up” in her baby book, although she had never touched a horse. “Aside from some pony rides, I didn’t sit on a horse until I was in college. I was eighteen or nineteen before I cantered.” After college, Dunn married C. Hilton Dunn, a career Army officer. The couple’s first assignment was to Germany. She hadn’t discovered dressage yet, and with two young children and the demands of a military wife overseas, she didn’t ride. Dunn sighs when she thinks about the opportunities for German dressage training that she missed. Returning stateside to Fort Ord, CA, Dunn bought a
JESSICA DUNN
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BY FRAN SEVERN-LEVY