Rachel Roman
‘Susy and Gemma are amazing horse women and professionals, and both very kind and funny! Our first Common Riding was my favorite day. At dinner the night before, Gemma warned us this was going to be the fastest riding we had ever done. Although I have lots of experience going fast (such as wild horses across the Mongolian steppe), I still had the pre-horse show jitters. We started riding through the town with thousands of people cheering us off with a ‘HAYYeee’ and my horse Cosmo was excited, but steady as can be. Anytime we stopped to wait, he would quiver with excitement but not put a foot wrong. It was clear he knew what was about to happen and he was excited for it, which put me at ease. On our first bolt up the hill, as he leapt over ditches with total grace, I knew this was going to be a FANTASTIC day! The quality of the horses on this ride was top notch and this was truly a horse experience, not just a vacation with horses.’