“It took a city, not a village, of people to treat this horse!” ENOUGH When Enough is
pulled suspensories, inflamed tendons, torn muscles and joint arthritis. Instead it was a rollercoaster ride of bizarre conditions and unusual surgeries for this promising horse, his owner, and a multitude of professionals. Soundness issues with our horses can be disappointing,
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stressful, expensive and just plain exhausting. Yet as responsible and caring horse owners, we try to do right by the horse. How much pain is he in? What’s the root of the problem, or maybe multiple problems? Can we make him more comfortable? Have we tried every possible treatment? When do we say “enough is enough?”
FINDING ROMME Linda Smith of Loxahatchee, Florida, has a resume that most dressage competitors could only dream of having. Growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, she competed in hunters and jumpers and equitation (Medal Maclay) and was seventh at the AHSA Medal Finals in Madison Square Garden at age thirteen. Active in the local Pony Club, she also eventually won the National Individual “A” Pony Club Championship. Settling into three-day eventing, Linda worked with the likes of Mike Plumb and Major VonVisy, and she was asked to ride as a member of the three day squad at the USET. Later, more attracted to dressage, she met Anne Gribbons who helped her find her first Warmblood, a beautiful Swedish three year old named Cyrus. While managing Anne’s farm, she and Cyrus trained up to Grand Prix. Next she went to Germany to study with Herbert Rehbein for almost 18 months. Then she returned to the U.S., competed here, and next returned to Germany to train and compete internationally for another one and a half years in Grand Prix. Other trainers she worked with were Harry Boldt and Hubertus Schmidt. To date Linda has trained three horses herself to Grand Prix, and in 2002, after settling into her own farm in South Florida, she found herself needing her next mount.
48 March/April 2011
Linda Smith and Romme warm up at a show in Wellington, FL. Photo by Kitty Schachter
Shopping in northern Germany, Linda at last tried
a four-year old that she describes as “the most even, straight, balanced and supple horse I ever sat on. He was unusually ambidextrous, and he had a wonderful canter.” Romme was a beautiful bay Dutch Warmblood by Krack C, a very popular dressage stallion, and his dam was by Cocktail. By all accounts Romme was a fabulous dressage prospect. He had bloodlines, character, presence, natural balance and straightness. Linda was very excited to find what she was hoping to be her “once-in-a-lifetime” horse.
ROUGH START In November of 2002, after Romme’s flight to Miami and three-day quarantine, when the shipping van pulled up to deliver Linda’s new horse, Romme literally leapt off the tractor trailer barely touching the ramp. The driver exclaimed to Linda, “This horse is crazy!” Assuming he was slightly traumatized from his first big travelling adventure across the Atlantic, Linda didn’t worry and let him settle in for a few days on her farm. The third day, she decided to put him on the lunge line only to discover that the horse was off, somehow stiff behind, and just not right. She made numerous calls to the shipping transport company, the agent and the quarantine trying to find out if there was some kind of accident that also might explain
his story is about a very talented Dutch Warmblood gelding who endured six years of soundness problems and three surgeries. The journey of reaching his early retirement is worth sharing since it wasn’t your typical
by Liz Cornell
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