Wellington, Florida, resident Lahua Custer fulfilled her dream of earning more than 70% in the CDI Grand Prix Special when she achieved a 71.277% aboard F.J. Ramzes, a 2010 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Juventus-J. Rambiance, Rampal) owned by Wendy Sasser. Sasser burst into tears when the score was announced.

Photo ©Susan J Stickle

“This was probably overall the first ride where I felt like I was driving the bus,” Custer said. “If you touch the reins too much, he’ll just shorten just in front instead of wanting to come together. So I have to be really cautious about how I ask him to come short and compress. Today he let me in.”

Dream Come True – For Two

Sasser said it was a dream come true for her as well. “I mean. I could never do it myself because I didn’t start riding until I was in my 20s,” she said.

“We could have chosen to just make him a horse for her,” Custer said. “And, she came to me when he was 7 and she said, ‘I really want you to see what you can do with him.’ And it’s the best path I could be on.”

Custer said she and Sasser scrimped and saved to make their dreams come true. “We eat a lot of Top Ramen,” she laughed. “We kind of have sacrificed a lot of social life and vacations and spending and fancy cars. I hope that other people can realize that dreams come in different directions and our dream came about in a surprising way. And we hope to just keep going with it. I’m lucky to be on the journey with Wendy and thankful that she sacrificed her original goal and dream for one that we’re sharing.”

Knew She Really Has Something

According to Custer, Ramzes has some Thoroughbred mixed into his pedigree, making him a bit of a hot horse. Purchased by his adult amateur owner for her personal use, she and Custer realized they had something special in the gelding and the trainer took over the ride.

Winning  FEI Dressage CDI4* Grand Prix on Friday, October 24, the first CDI for the brilliant Terra Nova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, Florida with a 68.69% was the beginning of a new era for Custer and Sasser.

“My favorite part about the test today is now I’m starting to have the feeling that my horse is more and more reliable no matter what the outside circumstances,” she said. The atmosphere was electric with spectators enjoying the show and a BBQ dinner complete with a live band for entertainment.

Patience Pays

“When he was young, there would be some days where I would just kind of get on and trot around and call his owner Wendy and say, ‘Today wasn’t the day. I’m going to come back and try again tomorrow,’” Custer laughed. “And that patience really paid off. I make sure I never pushed him to the point where he was uncomfortable or stressed out. He is a real tryer and always says yes. Most of the time I ride him in a snaffle. Even though he’s huge, I almost never use a whip and little spurs and he just wants to go. He learned how to piaffe in a day.

It Began With a Yearling

It all started in 2011 in search of the the right horse for Sasser. “Wendy wanted to buy a warmblood (she’d had an Irish sport horse and a thoroughbred in the past) so we shopped around for young horses. We found Ramzes for sale as a yearling. ” recalled Custer.

He was bred at Cornell university and reasonably priced. We had hoped he’d be big enough for Wendy to ride as she’s 5’10” like me. He was meant to be her amateur mount. I began riding him after he was broke to ride by one of Hilda’s assistants at Keenridge Farm. He grew to be 17.1 hands and is large framed. As a young horse he wasn’t an extravagant mover but he had lots of energy. I rode him for a few years with the plan that once he got some show miles under his belt he’d be a good horse for Wendy. At 7 years old he started to show promise for FEI so she asked me to continue training to see how far he could go

Never Looked Back

Custer traveled from California in 2018 to Wellington to do a month of intensive training and was awarded the Dressage Foundation Carol Lavell High Performance award and never left. “I wanted to get Ramzes trained to Grand Prix and try to become competitive internationally and felt going to Wellington would help.”

“Wendy was so amazing to give up her dream of having a riding horse for herself in order to allow Ramzes to reach his potential with me as his rider. ”

But it wasn’t giving up a dream, just a new dream in the works, as Custer and the impressive Ramzes up their game, knowing what they have and going for it.

Terra Nova “European Feel”

“Terranova is a truly world class facility.” said Custer “The stabling is safe and very horse friendly. The footing is fantastic and there’s a true “European” feel. It’s been a blast to share space with the eventing horses. Great atmosphere”

With facilities like Terra Nova, The World Equestrian Center, and the established Wellington location, Dressage in the USA now has the opportunity to grow to even greater depths to maintain their world wide status.