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Leah Romero
 
| Las Cruces Sun-News

LAS CRUCES – A local dressage rider and her horse were inducted into the Dressage Foundation’s Century Club Saturday. The club recognizes riders and horses who have a combined age of at least 100 years.

Jane Wilmes, 74, is a native of the southern New Mexico area and has a lifelong history of riding. She did barrel racing when she was younger and has been involved in dressage since about 1991. She is also a retired Las Cruces educator, having taught English, reading and journalism at Mayfield High School for 23 years.

Wilmes explained that dressage is an English riding sport that involves going through a series of precise and controlled movements. It is one of three equestrian sports that are part of the Summer Olympics. Wilmes said it is quite a cerebral sport and requires the whole body.

“You’re thinking about how you’re riding a particular movement and how you’re going to transition into the next one,” Wilmes said. “And it’s very good exercise.”

Her horse, Travis, is 26 years old and has been with Wilmes since he was 4. He is an off-track thoroughbred who “didn’t like to run.” Wilmes said her husband found Travis for her while at a horse show in Sunland Park.

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“We used to have a big horse show every year and it was a benefit for Hospice El Paso. And he (her husband) was … kind of wandering around through the barns and there was an old man that wanted to know if he knew anybody that wanted a horse,” Wilmes said. “(The man) needed to sell him (Travis) and if he didn’t sell him, he was going to take him to the killers. Because nobody at the track would bite, because they knew he wouldn’t run. That’s how I ended up with him.”

Today, Travis is mostly retired, Wilmes said, and she has two other horses she competes with.

Wilmes has been involved with the United States Dressage Federation, which is connected to the Dressage Foundation, for about 30 years. They promote education by awarding grants to riders and clubs for training and to bring in dressage instructors. The Century Club has over 430 members nationwide, with two additional members in New Mexico. According to the foundation, the Century Club was formed in 1996 to encourage continued participation from older riders.

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On Saturday, Oct. 24, Wilmes and Travis performed a lower-level test as part of the induction and were adjudicated during the Michele Coombs Clinic and Century Ride Show at the Miller Horse Farm in La Union. She said her son and daughter-in-law were among the audience members present.

“It feels special. As Travis got older and I got older, I thought we could really do it,” Wilmes said. “There was a write up in a national magazine about a gentleman named Max Gahwyler and I just thought, ‘wow, that’s special.’ And as Travis got older and I continue to ride, I thought, ‘well I’m going to do that too.’”

Gahwyler was a dressage judge and instructor and was the person who originally suggested the formation of the Century Club.

Leah Romero is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fund and can be reached at lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

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