This mother-daughter duo takes turns winning on a third-generation homebred mare.

Many mothers and daughters have been known to share clothes, shoes, maybe even cars. But for the last two years, Susan and Kristin Posner have taken things a step further and shared an FEI-level dressage horse.

“I wanted to give Kristin the opportunity of riding an upper level horse and learning that way,” Susan said. “They have really clicked this year.”

Kristin and Susan ride Touchee at the Intermediaire I level, winning at shows throughout the Midwest. In fact,
at Majestic View Dressage I (Ohio) in June, Susan won a class of Intermediaire I on Touchee, while Kristin rode the mare to win the junior/young rider freestyle class.

“I kind of got thrown into riding Touchee,” said Kristin. “Right before my 16th birthday, my mom broke her arm. We were scheduled to go to a horse show, so I had to take over and ride all the clients’ horses and Touchee.”

Kristin received her U.S. Dressage Federation bronze medal on Touchee at that show, despite the fact that she’d only started riding her two weeks before the competition.

“That was really cool, and ever since then, we’ve ridden her together,” said Kristin. “I got my silver medal on her this year.”

Touchee is practically a family member herself, since Susan competed Touchee’s grand-dam, Tundra, and dam, Tudaya, to the Grand Prix level. And Touchee (Leonidas—Tudaya), an 11-year-old Trakhener, has presented the Posners with the fourth generation—a 3-year-old son by Tigre.

Both women care more about the animals than about winning, said Hilda Gurney, who has taught the Posners and is a good friend of the family.

“The horses like to go for them, and they bring out the beauty of the horse, which is what dressage should be all about,” said Gurney. “They’re exemplary members of the horse community; they work hard, they do a wonderful job and they’re lovely people. They’re exactly the kind of people we want in the sport.”

Mother and daughter are active volunteers in the dressage community, and Kristin won the USDF Youth Volunteer of the Year Award in 2008.

“There were tears in my eyes [watching Kristin accept the award],” Susan said. “I’m so proud of her. She works very hard, and she’s genuine about what she does. It was overwhelming for me.”

“Volunteering is a big part about what we do. It’s a part of us,” Kristin said. “I think everyone should experience every part of a horse show, not just ride in one. I think they should help and see what it’s like on the other side, so they understand all the hard work that goes into it. I don’t think enough people do that, and without people willing to do all the work behind the scenes, we aren’t going to have horse shows.”

Doing Whatever It Takes

Susan and Kristin approach each day as a team, running a training and teaching business in Lexington, Ky. Susan has been a big part of the burgeoning dressage scene in the state.

“I was one of the very first riders in Kentucky with an upper level horse,” Susan said. “When I moved back here [in 1986], there were no shows here. We had to drive five or six hours. We got involved in the Midsouth Dressage and Combined Training Association and started putting on dressage shows. Then it grew, and the Kentucky Dressage Association started.”

Susan, an R-rated judge, stays busy judging two weekends a month during the show season and showing on the weekends she’s not judging.

“I’m a big believer in giving back to the sport. I’m running for USDF Region 2 director. I’ve been vice president of MSDCTA dressage; I’m in my second six-year term. There aren’t many professionals who give back to the sport, but it’s just something we’ve always done. My parents were very involved with horse shows, so they instilled that in me,” said Susan.

Susan passes that philosophy on to her students, too. “If they’re going to ride in the show, they come and help set up arenas,” she said. “Some help during the show. My whole group pitches in to help give back.”

Susan taught Kristin to pitch in from an early age. “Kristin started when she was 6 years old, running the awards table. She had absolute control over those ribbons and knew what to do,” Susan said.

Now 21, Kristin, a senior majoring in athletic training at Georgetown College (Ky.), has filled just about every role at a horse show, including graphic design for programs and prize lists. She particularly enjoyed scribing for a para equestrian competition.

“That was a really rewarding experience, and I want to scribe again for them in 2010 at the World Equestrian Games. Those riders are amazing to watch and so inspiring. It makes you stop complaining when you see someone with no legs riding and enjoying themselves so much,” Kristin said.

The Posners’ students, like Sarah Martin, who brought her Arabian-Friesian cross to the Posners barn last year, also appreciate their generosity.

“I went to an Arabian horse show this spring, and Kristin came out and spent three or four days just helping me,” Martin said. “She’d help me get ready, calm me down, read my test. Not everybody is willing to be so nice and helpful, standing in 90-degree weather for you.”

They Have Plans For Touchee

Not every mother would give up the chance to ride a talented FEI-level horse, either. But Susan sees Kristin riding Touchee as an essential educational step for both of them. And she is quick to dispel the thought that she handed her daughter a made horse.

“Touchee is by no means easy. It took two years to get her into a double bridle. She was very happy in her snaffle. We had to play around to find a combination of bits that worked,” Susan said.

“She’s a mare, for sure,” Kristin added about the elegant gray. “She thinks a lot and she’s very smart, so you need to be a few steps ahead of her. She’s challenging to ride. But I don’t know if it would be as fun to ride her if she weren’t as challenging.”

Kristin has done clinics with Sue Blinks and George Williams and gets help from Gurney on occasion, but her mother is her primary trainer.

“It’s just like anything, it gets frustrating sometimes. I think she expects more out of me than a normal trainer would,” Kristin said.

“Some days, I get more nervous when she rides than I ever do when I ride,” Susan said. “I don’t want her to be frustrated or disappointed. She’s always been a very natural rider. She’s hard on herself sometimes, so I try and temper that a little bit so that she doesn’t beat herself up.”

Kristin has had a wide breadth of experience due to growing up in Susan’s training barn. She’s currently competing a Morgan and a Quarter Horse with a cutting horse background.

“I’ve grown up riding everybody else’s horses. I’ve gotten to ride pretty much every single horse that’s come through the barn. I’ve ridden different breeds, different types, different levels. It’s been nice because I don’t think a lot of people get to learn that way,” she said.

“Being exposed to all those different horses has really brought me to where I am now. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to ride all those different horses, I don’t know that I’d be riding as well as I am now. When it’s not a big warmblood with a lot of movement, you have to work really hard to get the points and be correct and impressive to do well.”

Putting It All Together

One of the biggest lessons Susan, 52, has taught Kristin is making the best with what you have. That’s one reason Susan started breeding horses.

“Not having a lot of money, I can’t go out and buy a horse, so I’ve bred them. And I’ve been very fortunate that they’ve all turned out to be very nice dressage horses,” Susan said. “I just think it’s a big sense of accomplishment to be able to say I’ve bred, raised and trained them.”

The dynasty started with Tundra, a gray Trakehner mare. Susan had been bitten by the dressage bug at age 9 while her father was stationed in Germany. By 1980, she’d made her way to California with her first Grand Prix horse, Tundra, to train with Gurney. She was there to see Gurney ride Keen in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and even got to ride the famous Thoroughbred herself.

“When I came back to Kentucky, I was really worried because I didn’t have anyone to help me,” Susan recalled. “Hilda said to me, ‘You’re a good rider, and you’ve trained this mare to Grand Prix. No one can ever take that away from you.’ I still remember that.”

Susan also trained Tundra’s daughter, Tudaya, to Grand Prix. And Susan sees Grand Prix in Touchee’s future. “We’re just polishing off the piaffe-passage transitions and putting it all together,” Susan said.

For Kristin’s 16th birthday, Susan sent her daughter to California to ride with Gurney for a week.

“Susan is just a beautiful woman; she’s a great trainer of horses, a wonderful teacher, and she’s so good at running horse shows. They’re both hard working, and they love the horses. They take fabulous care of their horses. Horse care is very important to them, and their horses are always beautifully turned out,” Gurney said of Susan and Kristin.

In keeping with the Posners’ goal to bring out the best in every horse, Martin has seen her Arabian-Friesian cross make enormous progress in the year he’s been with the Posners.

“His breeding does present challenges. But Susan is able to identify just what it is about him—the way he carries his head or is tight in his back—that needs work and hone in on that and is able to communicate that to me,” Martin said.

“Other [people] might be as encouraging to a lower level rider but not have the experience to take them to higher levels. They have both. In the short time I’ve been there, I’ve really been able to see my goals and ambitions come to fruition. That’s an amazing quality they have—to be able to help you achieve those things.”