When she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma 10 years ago, amateur rider Alice Tarjan made a pact with herself—if she was able, she wanted to compete at Dressage At Devon (Pa.) before she died.

Fast forward to 2015, and she’s cancer-free, met that goal many times over and is preparing for the biggest show of her career—the CDI*** Grand Prix at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival on Feb. 4-8 in Wellington, Fla.

Tarjan ended last year by earning the adult amateur Grand Prix championship at the U.S. Dressage Finals (Ky.) and the reserve championship in the adult amateur Intermediaire B division with Elfenfeuer, an 8-year-old Oldenburg mare (Florencio—Elfensonne, Sion).

“I had cancer 10 years ago and was really sick, so I’m not a big person for predicting the future,” she said. “I don’t have big goals. I just ride for every day and enjoy every day and that’s it. It goes where it goes.”

And her dressage career has gone to places she never expected. Tarjan grew up eventing in New Jersey and continued riding through college before attending law school at Seton Hall (N.J.).

She was diagnosed with cancer soon after graduating, and endured chemotherapy for four months. The experience changed her perspective, so, with a newfound interest in dressage, she started with a young horse.

“When I started recovering, I thought, ‘Wow, if I could just ride at Devon, that would be so cool,” she said. “I looked at the prize list and found that the easiest way to ride at Devon was to ride in the 3-year-old Materiale, because you didn’t have to qualify. I had no money at the time and thought the easiest way to ride in the Materiale was to get a foal. I thought, ‘If I live three years, I could train the foal and die and I’ll be happy.’”

That foal, a Hanoverian stallion named Somer Hit (Sandro Hit—Rhussia), made her dream of Devon come true in 2007, when he competed in a yearling dressage breeding class with handler Bruce Griffin.

They returned again in 2009 to win the 3-year-old colt and gelding materiale with Tarjan in the irons, and two more times before they won the 6-year-old Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Championship (Ill.) in 2012. Tarjan recently sold him to a rider in California.

“I really enjoy bringing the young horses along,” said Tarjan, 35. “I live for the training. The showing’s not a big thing for me. The young horse classes are a lot of fun and I think it’s a great opportunity to get the young horses out and exposed to the show atmosphere, but for me it’s all about the training. I love the communication and trying to get them to understand what I have to say.”

Alice Tarjan’s dream of competing at Dressage at Devon came true with Somer Hit. Photo by Lisa Slade

Her love of young horses brought her to Elfenfeuer, or “Fury” as she’s known around the barn, four years ago.

Tarjan bought the mare from Judy Yancey, who’d bought her to be a broodmare. When the mare wasn’t able to get pregnant, Yancey decided to find her a riding home. So what drew Tarjan to a chestnut mare?

“I thought she was pretty, so I bought her!” said Tarjan, referring to Fury’s beautiful flaxen color. “I figured if she wouldn’t be a dressage horse, I could jump her or do something else with her.

“I like mares,” she added. “I pretty much only buy mares for the most part. I’m not a big gelding person, mainly because I figure if they get hurt, I don’t want to retire a lame gelding at 6. I buy mares and if they ever get hurt, I can breed them, which I’m more than happy to do.”

According to Tarjan, Fury’s personality isn’t even close to what her barn name implies.

“I think like with a lot of upper level horses, she’s pretty hot,” she said. “She certainly scared me quite a few times when [was young and] she would run off and she still does! It certainly wasn’t always easy, but she’s learned everything really quickly and she tries hard. She always works for you. She’s 8 this year and has already done a Grand Prix, which is young. It’s easy for her. Spooky things in the environment will set her off, but the rideability at home is super.”

The pair competed in smaller shows last year at Grand Prix and Intermediaire and won their first three classes in Florida this year before contesting their first CDI at the AGDF 3 in January.

“She’s very green but she’s so honest about it,” she said. “We make a ton of mistakes, which I think is to be expected, but she never says ‘No.’ I have to figure out how to ride the test, but she’s always happy to do whatever you want her to do. She has a super attitude about it.”

Tarjan, Frenchtown, N.J., had never competed at Grand Prix before last year, but she talked with her trainers—Robert Dover, Catherine Haddad-Staller and Lauren Chumley—who advised her to go for it.

 “The half passes need some work, but she’s very reliable in the piaffe and passage. She never quits,” she said. “She still has to sit more and get a lot more strength and self-carriage. We just need time. We’re figuring it out in front of everybody instead of at home, but I figure, life is short and I’ve got a horse I can show so we’ll go out there and have some fun and see how it goes.”

Now that she’s got her first CDI jitters out of the way, Tarjan is hoping have Fury a bit more settled in her tests and keep working on her own ring craft.

“I was definitely nervous [the first time], but I figure I’ve got nothing to prove! We don’t know what we’re doing and I’ll be the first one to tell anybody that,” she said with a laugh. “It’s kind of amazing to ride in the same arena as the people you look up to your whole life growing up. That’s amazing—what a cool experience.”

Tarjan balances riding Fury, five young dressage horses and two jumpers that she keeps for fun to foxhunt with, while working as an attorney part-time. She and her husband of four years, Dennis, own real estate companies and a trucking and rigging company that allows her schedule to be flexible.

“It takes a team to do this and to get to this level,” she said. “There are lots of people who have helped me along the way. You can’t get anywhere on your own, that’s for sure.”

Keep up with all the news from the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CDI***** with the Chronicle, as reporter Lindsay Berreth is in Florida to bring you great photos, the stories behind the big wins, and more all weekend. Check in at www.chronofhorse.com to find out how Alice Tarjan and all the other riders do.