Flying Changes: magazine for northwest sporthorse enthusiasts

At 84 years of age, Carey Evans sits a horse with a style and elegance that riders half her age can envy. A major influence in Portland-area dressage since the 1950’s (see sidebar), Evans added to her accomplishments in early June by being the first woman from the northwest to qualify for the Dressage Foundation’s prestigious “Century Club.” Created in 1996, the Century Club honors those dressage riders and horses whose ages combine to equal 100 years or more and are still able to “come down the center line and perform.” Carey and her homebred 16 year-old Hannoverian/Thoroughbred mare, Enjoy—“EJ,” achieved the award by competing successfully in the Fort Vancouver chapter’s show on June 2nd. And to add icing to the cake—they won their class.

Asked later how she felt about the day, Carey answered with good humor. “This could become habit-forming,” she said, chuckling. “I haven’t competed in years and I thoroughly enjoyed it.” She was especially happy with EJ’s performance. “She can be a handful,” she said of the mare. “But she was calm and happy today. I was very pleased with her.”

Carey also had accolades for the Fort Vancouver show organizers, who put on a special luncheon in her honor after the Century Ride. “They were very nice to me,” she said, “even providing a three-step mounting block! And the food was excellent—a big improvement over how it’s been handled in the past.”

Show organizer Rose Newman was quick to add that the luncheon was a group effort. “Deborah Hausman [of Quailhurst Farm] provided those beautiful roses.” The chapter is buying the photo that Mary Cornelius took that day and Glisan Street Saddlery and the chapter purchased the frame that was awarded to Carey at the luncheon.

“We were very honored that Carey picked our show to qualify in,” Rose added. “Carey acted like it was no big deal, but if you look at the Century Club—yeah, it is rather a big deal.”Indeed it is. Since the award’s inception in 1996, only 33 horse/rider combinations throughout the United States have achieved it. The only other northwest inductees to the Century Club are Washington resident, Eugene Dueber and his horse, “VP Medley” in 2001.

A 2002 article in Flying Changes about Carey by Dallas Finn quoted her as saying that her goals were to take her horse as far [up the levels] as she could, and to “just ride as long as I can.” Today, those goals remain the same, and she continues to work toward them, as clearly evidenced by the June 2 performance.

Congratulations, Carey and EJ, and thanks for being an inspiration to any of us who have ever complained about the aches and pains of aging!

Back in 2002, when Dallas Finn wrote the first Flying Changes article on Carey, she was still riding and training several horses a day. This has changed, Carey said recently. Though her health remains good, a series of injuries and surgeries in 2005 have slowed her down a bit. A fall down stairs broke both an arm and a leg. Later that year, a run-in with two dogs at a dog park culminated with Carey’s other arm being broken, and then there was the necessary knee replacement…She is better now, but confines her riding to just her own horse these days. She also remains active in the larger horse world, and especially enjoys her Pony Club involvement. (She’s judging two rallies this summer). Since those early days in Portland, Carey has been a “big believer in Pony Club. No other youth organization gives such a wide picture [of horsemanship].” She acknowledges there are other ways to learn riding but she likes the standards Pony Club employs and its emphasis on care of the horse, skills that produce young horsemen, not just riders.

This attitude of learning things correctly and attention to detail spills over into her thoughts on other aspects of horsemanship. Asked her opinion on the current state of affairs in the dressage world, Carey echoes the sentiments of the supporters of classic training. “There are too many shortcuts,” she says. “There needs to be an emphasis on the basics. The goal should be a relaxed, happy horse…rhythmic and supple. Not just one who knows the “tricks.” Watching the octogenarian and her lovely mare, it’s not hard to see living proof of the value of the traditional approach: A beautiful horse, harmonious and happy, and the dedicated rider who brought it all about.