
From Trinidad to Wellington at the Medium Trot
While most of us who head to Bespoke Farm for the winter travel south, Margaret Bovell-Auerbach, aka Muffie, usually heads north. A resident of Trinidad, she now spends most of her time in Wellington and she and her 2007 Lusitano gelding, Divino HM, can be found taking lessons from Ruth five days a week.
Downsized from 16 horses at her riding school in Trinidad, Muffie purchased Divino four years ago. “He called to me,” she said. “That’s the best way I can say it. I knew he was to be mine.”
She started riding with Ruth the end of the first season after she purchased him. “I loooved her,” she said. “Because of circumstance, I missed the next season and I rode the entire next season with her and I’m here now.”
She said that, as a rider, she came to Ruth an emotional wreck.
“She has the patience and she is so good to be able to tap into my strengths and literally bring me back to life and tell me I can ride and that I can do this,” she said, adding that Ruth must have been frustrated with her.
“She kept saying I knew what to do but I had no self-confidence.”
She has the patience and she is so good to be able to tap into my strengths and literally bring me back to life and tell me I can ride and that I can do this.
Muffie Bovell-Auerbach
Muffie admitted that Divino had her a bit on edge.
“He was very opinionated and it was tough. He scared me a lot and I don’t ever get scared. I was afraid. No, not afraid. That’s the wrong word. I respected him. I didn’t want to push the buttons. But now, I am pushing and saying, ‘Giddyup.’ He said to me, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that two-and-a-half years ago, Mum? I would have been there for you. All you had to do was ask me!’”
When Ruth traveled north to Vermont in early May of 2018, she suggested Muffie ride with John Amber while she was away.
”It was very similar to riding with Ruth because they’re the same,” she said. “It’s about the horse and let’s get the best we can out of that horse.’
She said that Divino excels at piaffe and passage and, according to Ruth, he rocks the medium trot. Muffie worked hard during the summer to demonstrate her respect of Ruth to her.
“I don’t want her to feel I’m wasting her time. I have goals I want to accomplish.”
At the time of this post, Muffie lacks just two scores toward earning her Silver Medal and plans to tackle that in 2019. Her dream is to ride Divino in a musical freestyle. She hasn’t thought about what genre of music she would choose, just so it’s not Spanish music.
“That is my plan,” she said. ”And now that I have said it, I MUST do it!”
Looking for a new training plan? Ruth occasionally has training slots become available. Contact Ruth directly at vibaek@aol.com to be added to her Vermont or Florida waitlist. In the meanwhile, sign up for the newsletter to get first alerts on openings!