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Exerpts on Nancy Later FROM
A BABY IN A BASKET TO INTERNATIONAL LEVELS, COMPETITION RIDER LOVES TAKING CARE
OF HER HORSES Nancy
Later didn't have much chance to be anything but a competition horseback rider
whan at the age of six months, her parents wrapped her in blankets, packed her
in a basket on the back of a horse and competed her in a lead line class at the
world famous Devon Horse Show in Main Line, Philadelphia. As the Philadelphia
Inquirer noted at a time, as the only child in a basket on horseback she slept
contentedly through half the class and bawled at the top of her lungs when her
parents tried to take her off the pony named Chief Snooks. Nancy
... is still competing at the Devon Horse Show. But instead of being swaddled
in blankets, she wears the elegant attire of long black boots, tail coat and top
hat of an international level dressage rider. And
since that first lead line class in a basket, her career in the horse world so
far has included three different horses on the Developing Horse List maintained
by the United States Equestrian Team which is responsible for selecting American
teams for the Olympics and other international contests. Born
to a family in which horse sports were important, Ms. Later grew up and went to
school in Rhode Island. After leaving school, she immersed herself in the horse
world putting in the long hours and hard work to get a chnce to learn from multi-Olympians
Lendon Gray, Jessica Ransehausen and Belinda Nairn. On
Diamont, a horse owned by Ms. Nairn, she was on a silver medallist Young Rider
Championship team in 1984. She went on to ride her horse Ballotage to New England
Dressage Association champion at Prix St. George and Intermediaire I and reserve
champion at the highest level of Grand Prix in 1986, 1987 and 1988. She
has been working with her partner, Oded Shimoni, a US-based World Equestrian Games
competitor, since 1992, first as manager of their horse business that alternates
between New York in summer and Florida in the winter and now as a rider and trainer.
In
1995, she qualified for the US Olympic Festival with her horse Wickenden, but
the event was canceled days beforeit was to start because of the outbreak of a
horse virus. She was also on the gold medal winning Can-Am Challenge team. Wickenden
made the USET Developing Horse list in 1996. She made the list again in both 1997
and 1998 with a customer-owned horse, Florin, and then with her own mount, Berlin.
After
training in Germany with Berlin in 1998 and taking care of Shimoni's competition
mounts preparing for the World Games in 1998 and the European Championships in
1999, her parents bought Katinko, a young horse Nancy found in Holland which she
is competing successfully at the top American Horse Shows Association level classes.
Although
successful in the competition arena, Ms. Later admits her real dream is to one
day own a farm that cares for and rehabilitates injured and sick horses. "If it
ever came to a choice that I could only compete or take care of horses, " she
says with conviction, "taking care of horses would come first." She's haad a least
as much practice in the care and handling of horses as she has training and competing.
As
well as being responsible for up to two dozen of their own and customers' horses
year round and during the six month stints in Florida in winter and New York in
summer, Ms. Later took on the extra duties of caring for Oded's competition horses
for their months' long training and competition schedules in Europe in the summers
of 1998 and 1999. The
real challenge was Shimoni's World Games mount, Amora, a 17-year-old mare whose
willingness to give her best and Nancy's day-to-day care kept her fit and seemingly
happy through the grueling training and competition schedule insteaad of justly
deserved retirement in a lush paddock. "We could never have done it without Nancy,"
Shimoni said. "I'm tough and demanding when it comes to care of the horses. But
I don't compare with Nancy. She works magic with the horses. They seem to know
she cares for them first and the rider second." In
the horse world, Americans are credited with providing the best care for their
horses compared with most other countries. Among her peers, Ms. Later is rated
at the top. She has gained so much knowledge from a lifrtime of working with and
caring for horses, that leading international competition riders have asked her
to give teaching seminars at their stables to customers and employees. "Caring
for these wonderful guys who give so much and so willingly for us is a fantastic
feeling," she says of the horses who tower over her diminutive 5-foot, 2-inch
figure in her stable. "And when you can pass what you know to someone else who
will use it to car for their horses, then that's the best feeling." | 
