Second to go in a class of 23 starters, Susan McLean watched her score of 69.815% on Bob Marlin go up on the scoreboard and then had an agonizing wait of more than three hours for the Fourth Level Adult Amateur (AA) class to finish. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the scores and told her family not to reveal where she had finished — in the top 10, she hoped. She only discovered that she had won when she collected her sash for the awards ceremony.

Photo – After three decades out of the saddle, Susan McLean was tempted back and won the Fourth Level AA accolade riding the 15.2-hand Bob Marlin to 69.815%. (SusanJStickle.com)

“I was in shock, and I started crying,” said McLean, who travelled 12 hours from her home near Orlando, FL, to Finals. “I’m a little overwhelmed. We had a really good warm-up, but I wasn’t expecting to win. I knew in our canter work that we had it, especially through the flying changes.”

Begging Begins

McLean rode as a child, including some dressage on Arabians, then took a 29-year break from horses. She took up lessons with her eldest daughter Bailey and, a couple of years later “the begging for a horse commenced.” They bought Bob Marlin, who is a 15.2-hand Weser-Ems by Bogiboy, from Germany three years ago.

“He wound up being a little too complicated for her, so I started riding him,” explained McLean, who helps run the family business, the juice company Uncle Matt’s Organic. “Bob Marlin is brilliantly smart and all business in the ring. Bailey wants me to turn him into a grand prix horse and then hand him over — we are already starting the piaffe/passage.”

Wildest Dream

McLean, who trains with Katie Freeman and has never ridden beyond fourth level before, added, “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get to do this again, but then I had a kid who restarted it all. We’re making the best memories together.”

Competition resumes on Saturday, November 9, with 14 championship titles up for grabs from First Level to Grand Prix. Follow the action via the USDF Facebook page and the US Dressage Finals website, plus live online streaming of all the action from the Alltech Arena on USEF Network. To learn more about the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® and read daily news, visit the official US Dressage Finals event website. Start times and results can be found on www.horseshowoffice.com.