2002 Wellington Dressage

Susan Dutta Dominates Wellington Dressage Freestyles - Page 2

Having watched Konyot and West Side Lady, Dutta felt pressure to live up to their success. "I was a little nervous because Tina did so well with the horse that I wanted to do well with her too. I just had my baby four months ago so I'm just getting fit again. This mare has a big trot to ride so there's a lot of fitness necessary to ride her well."

Dutta credits her personal trainer, Richard Egan of Wellington, Florida, for getting her into shape. She started working with him a week after giving birth to baby Timmy (named after his father Tim Dutta) and she continues to work out with Egan three times a week.

West Side Lady is a nine-year old Hanoverian mare known as ‘Fergie'; because she is "a red-haired Duchess," according to Dutta. The mare is by Westbury out of a Landberg line mare. "She's well bred," said Dutta, who purchased her from the Weiss family in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a year and four months ago. "She'll be a Grand Prix horse. She does everything. I need a chance to get to know her, so I’m going to hold her back, get her basics, and build a partnership this year. Then I'll move her to the Grand Prix in the summer after Gladstone."